Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-03-08-Speech-1-129"

Predicate	Value (sorted: default)
rdf:type	lpv_eu:Speech2
dcterms:Date	"2004-03-08"^^xsd:date2
dcterms:Is Part Of	lp_eu:Criminal acts and penalties in the field of drug trafficking2
dcterms:Language	"en"^^xsd:language2
lpv:document identification number	"en.20040308.10.1-129"2
lpv:hasSubsequent	lp_eu:2004-03-08-Speech-1-1302
lpv:speaker	lp:Niall Andrews2
lpv:spoken text	"Madam President, we need to wage a concerted war on drugs. Mr Oostlander's report is part of this approach at EU level and is to be welcomed. Mr Oostlander has been one of the great contributors to this Parliament. Drugs are a commodity and are being traded on the open market in our towns and cities. The facts are inescapable. Since the fall of the Taliban, drug production has increased tenfold, bringing misery and addiction to many and huge profits for the pushers. The Taliban and al-Qa'ida have turned to drug revenues to pay for their insurgency and terror. Drugs are the hard currency for weapons and are funding terrorism. On a recent visit to Iran I learnt that almost 5 000 Iranian soldiers have been killed by Afghan drug smugglers. It is a great credit to these soldiers and to the Iranian Government that they have tried to stem the flow of heroin destined for the streets of Europe. Each year, more people die as a result of heroin addiction in Ireland than die in car accidents. Afghanistan's vast opium fields are feeding a multi-million dollar drugs business. Three quarters of the world's opium was produced in Afghanistan last year. The opium trade is now said to provide work for 7% of the Afghan population. The UN believes that last year USD 2.3 billion were generated by the drug trade in the major opium-growing areas in Afghanistan. Opium farmers are earning ten times as much as the policemen or soldiers whose task it is to enforce the law against growing opium. UN drugs officials in Afghanistan are calling for balanced measures that encourage farmers to find alternative income and increase the legal risk to anyone involved in the trade. Drug cartels in Colombia and Afghanistan are in contact. This new development must be stopped and the proceeds of their crimes tracked down and confiscated. I welcome Mr Oostlander's report and hope that this House will take seriously the need to be ruthless in tracking down the members of these drug cartels."@en1
lpv:spokenAs	member; Committee on Citizens' Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs (2002-01-17--2004-07-19)3 unknown; Fianna Fáil Party (1999-07-20--2004-07-19)3 member; Temporary committee on improving safety at sea (2003-11-20--2004-04-21)3 member; Members from the European Parliament to the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the Agreement between the African, Caribbean and Pacific States and the European Union (ACP-EU) (2002-02-06--2004-07-19)3 treasurer; UEN (2003-05-21--2004-07-19)3 substitute; Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy (2002-01-17--2004-07-19)3
lpv:unclassifiedMetadata	"Andrews (UEN )."1

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