EMCDDA WELCOMES GERMAN DRUGS CO-ORDINATOR TO LISBON

On 11 February, at the start of a two-day fact-finding visit to Portugal,
Christa Nickels, German National Drugs Co-ordinator and Parliamentary
Under-Secretary for Health, visited the European Monitoring Centre for
Drugs and Drugs Addiction (EMCDDA), Lisbon.

With Germany currently holding the presidency of the European Council, the
purpose of Ms Nickels' visit to Portugal was to gather information on the
drug problem in Europe in general, and in Portugal in particular. Her main
interest was the EMCDDA's work on comparable information across the
European Union Member States. Through the information and data it provides,
the Centre's Annual Report on the State of the Drug Problem in the European
Member States offers a unique overall picture of the actual situation in
the 15 Member States.

The Director of the EMCDDA, Georges Estievenart, introduced the activities
of the Centre to the German delegation, demonstrating the Centre's various
systems for collecting, analysing and disseminating information.

Ms Nickels was very impressed by the presentation of the EMCDDA's
Three-Year Work Programme (1998-2000). She expressed an interest in hearing
how information collected at a local and regional level could be used to
achieve a complete European overview. Ways of collecting data often varied
across Europe and she observed that it could not always be easy to collect
information in the form required. The overlap between the use of licit and
illicit drugs was also discussed within the context of the Centre's overall
remit as was the need to maintain the Centre's scientific independence from
European law enforcement bodies. Mrs Nickels commented that the work of the
Centre was of great interest to policy makers and welcomed the opportunity
to hear about its tasks and objectives in such detail.

Ms Nickels' visit continues today with meetings with prominent figures in
the drugs field in Portugal, including Deputy Prime Minister responsible
for drugs, José Socrates, and Portuguese Under-Secretary for Health,
Francisco Ventura Ramos. The German delegation will be accompanied by
Portuguese National Drugs Co-ordinator, Alexandre Rosa.

The EMCDDA is one of 11 independent European Community agencies focusing on
specific topics ranging from improving working conditions and the
environment to combating racism and drugs. The Centre's mission is to
provide Europe's citizens, drug practitioners and politicians with the
information they need to take appropriate action on drugs and related
problems. The EMCDDA's main tasks are: collecting and analysing existing
information on drugs; improving data-comparison methods; disseminating this
information; and co-operating with European and international bodies and
organisations and with non-EU countries.

For further information, please contact: Wolfgang Götz, EMCDDA, Rua da Cruz
de Santa Apolonia, 23-25, PT-1149-045 Lisbon. Tel: (+351 1) 811 3000; Fax:
(+351 1) 813 1711.

News in Brief:

The Frankfurter Neue Presse (http://www.rhein-main.net/) carried a brief
report of:

"THE CONFESSION OF TOP MODEL KATIE MOSS"

London. At twelve years of age she stole gin. As a teenager she drank
champagne for breakfast, and as a Supermodel she didn't leave home without
her 'comforter'. Now she speaks regularly at meetings of Alcoholics
Anonymous. The first topmodel to do so, she broke the silence and told the
British magazine "The Face" what insiders had long known: alcohol and drugs
are as much a part of the high fashion model scene as mink and
strobe-lights. "Before every show there is champagne. Always. Even at ten
in the morning." Then there is always marihuana on the go. "In France and
London we could smoke joints all day long." When Hollywood star Hohnny Depp
left her, 25 year old Kate Moss, multi-millionaire, began a cure at a
private London clinic. "Now," she says, "I'm dry."

Frankfurter Neue Presse 1999