Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/1999-11-18-Speech-4-289"
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"en.19991118.15.4-289"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, I must confess that I am no fundamentalist where this matter is concerned and I respect those who hold different opinions. I particularly respect the opinion that has just been expressed by Mr Watson, whom I hold in great esteem.
But I do not believe that in the name of efficiency, we can lay aside principles, and I shall start with such just such a matter of principle: we believe that drugs are an evil that must be fought. They are a vice that weakens the will, which ensnares the individual in a dependency which enslaves and depersonalises him or her, which destroys social bonds and relationships, which creates delinquency and makes society less safe, and which sustains world-wide criminal networks that defy States’ power and law.
We think that it is obvious that we have to wage an uncompromising war against drugs. This message is clearly made in Mrs Giannakou-Koutsikou’s report and deserves our applause. Indeed, this is a problem of this day and age and is extremely worrying. We know that drugs affect all countries and all social classes, and we also know that Europe’s enlargement towards the East dramatically shows the urgent need for efficient measures now that monitoring, which is already difficult, is going to become even more difficult. We know that this is a growing problem. According to the report by the European Monitoring Centre, cannabis is still the most widely consumed drug throughout the European Union, although it is heroin that causes the most problems in terms of requests for treatment, drug-related deaths, HIV infection and social exclusion.
The same report, furthermore, shows an increase in the consumption in Europe of new synthetic drugs such as ecstasy, as well as an increase in the consumption of more traditional drugs such as LSD and amphetamines. And all of this becomes more frightening if we consider that, at the moment, drug-related crime and the scale of drug trafficking represent around 8% of world trade.
We agree that this problem must be tackled from three angles: by reducing demand, by controlling drug trafficking and by combating drug addiction. We agree that public awareness campaigns must be implemented and, at the same time, that we must strengthen prevention networks. In the area of treatment, we must give support to high-quality programmes aimed at the whole community, using educational methods, including those targeting the prison population, together with initiatives designed to promote the reduction of risk, one example of which is the needle exchange programme.
With regard to reducing the availability of drugs, we must continue and increase our support to producing countries, so that they include in their priorities the reduction of demand and programmes for destroying crops, the destruction of laboratories and the prevention of trafficking. For this reason, the political will required by this report must become reality. If we limit ourselves to fine words, the conclusion will have to be that there has not been the political will. This can be measured by the efficiency of the actions and the public resources placed in the service of this fight. The report highlights the fact, and rightly so, that the budgetary resources are inadequate. This Parliament does not have the right to ask the Member States for greater commitment and greater investment in the fight against drugs if it does not lead by example on an issue for which it has responsibility. The main European instrument in this struggle is the European Monitoring Centre in Lisbon. We expect a great deal from its work, in terms of a better understanding of the phenomenon, in terms of the existence of data and comparable information, and, above all, in terms of monitoring, identifying and proposals to ban dangerous substances placed on the market.
This is why we proposed amendments to this report. They were, in essence, accepted and seek to strengthen the role of the Monitoring Centre and to provide it with the necessary financial means for its work. The other thing that our citizens are asking from us here is clarity. Giving fine speeches is not enough. We must take decisions and release resources which correspond to the commitment that we claim to have in this vital fight against organised crime for the sake of human dignity."@en1
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