Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-02-04-Speech-1-045"
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"en.20020204.4.1-045"2
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"Mr President, with acute drug-related deaths standing at 7,000 to 8,000 a year, my Group will be supporting very strongly the report by Mr Oostlander and the fight against illicit drug trafficking.
We can be assured that any report by Mr Oostlander is backed by a great sense of purpose and integrity. I have known him for a long time and I am absolutely certain that he means what he says in this particular report. With 3,000 miles of coastline around Ireland, the possibility of illicit drug smuggling is always present. Cooperation at European level is therefore not only to be welcomed but is also essential. I look forward to more concrete proposals at EU level as to how the EU can further help us keep drugs not only out of Ireland but also out of the rest of Europe.
What sort of a message do Members want to send from this Parliament? Drugs like heroin and crack cocaine are okay? I do not accept that. The decision has to be up to the Members of this House. But the choice is clear: either you support Mr Oostlander or you send out the dangerous message that heroin and synthetic drugs for personal use and distribution are acceptable.
Amendment No 28 by the PSE Group, the Verts/ALE Group and the GUE/NGL Group and others cannot be misinterpreted: "... users who produce, acquire and/or possess drugs for personal use and users who supply drugs to others without the intention of making a profit are excluded from the scope of this framework decision." Therefore, it is all right to supply heroin to children or to adults, as long as you do not want to make a profit from it. Who in fact makes the profit? It is the great drug barons whom we seem to tolerate. We seem to be able to pursue the terrorists responsible for the horrific events of 11 September, but it seems to be beyond us to tackle international drug terrorists.
We must know who they are. In fact the murder of the journalist Veronica Guerin in my country galvanised politicians and police into action which smashed a savage gangster culture in Ireland. Unfortunately, those gangsters have been replaced by other younger and even more vicious criminals. During the past week, on business in the inner city in my constituency, I witnessed whole complexes riven by drugs. They must be tackled. The people who are producing this cocaine and heroin, and causing such havoc in our cities and towns and the countryside, must be stopped. Mr Oostlander's report is a small but very important step in that direction. This report has all the integrity that is expected of this Parliament. I thank him for his efforts in this respect."@en1
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