DROGUE: CACOPHONIE DANS L'UNION
[Drugs: Cacophony in the European Union]

[sub-headlines]: On the day before the opening of the European Week for the
Prevention of Drug Addicition, legislation varies from one country to the
next. In France, the debate on decriminalisation of certain substances has
never been able to be conducted calmly.

Even though the European Week for the Prevention of Drug Addiction (SEPT)
begins Monday and will continue through the 22nd of November, the member
states of the European Union have still not succeeded in harmonising their
legislation concerning illegal drugs.

The only exceptions concern the traffic in drugs and money laundering. From
1999, the Treaty of Amsterdam will permit an effective collaboration
between the various police forces, customs, and fiscal authorites of the
countries of the European Union. But concerning the use of drugs, penal
sanctions, and the sale of drugs, the law varies from one country to the
next. Between the Dutch indulgence and the French intransigence, some of
our neighbors have found a middle way. Their aim, more or less long-term:
to let legislation evolve calmly in a way considered by many as inadaptive.

Thus the Germans can smoke cannabis without fear, since April 1994, with
the condition that it is in small quantity and for private use. Last week
the Green Party, now an active part of the government, had hoped to move
quickly in proposing that "soft" drugs be legalized. Their hopes were
dashed, but for how long will this continue?

In Belgium in the past few months, tolerance for cannabis smoking is now
established. Consumption is not decriminalised, but repression is avoided.
In Denmark, cannbis users are also tolerated.

A Controversial Experiment

Spain and Italy, more comprehensively and permissively, have simply
decriminalised personal consumption of any and all drugs. In the U.K. and
Ireland, consumption of drugs is likewise authorised, with the exception of
opium. Holland, the leader in this domain, has established a distinction
between soft and hard drugs that began 22 yers ago. Cannabis enthusiasts
can buy between 5 and 30 grams in the "coffee-shops". As for hard drugs,
they are tolerated with the condition that one has no more than 5 grams.

The Swiss, though they are not part of the European Union, will vote at the
end of November for or against the legalisation of consumption and commerce
in all the now-illegal drugs. This small country has been a pioneer in the
controlled distribution of heroin to addicts. This controversial
experiment, certain aspects of which have attracted the attention of the
French Secretry of Health, Bernard Kouchner, has also begun in Great
Britain and Holland.

And finally, France remains with Portugal, Luxembourg, Greece, Finland and
Sweden as one of the most repressive regimes concerning drugs.

In France, the law of 1970, often severely criticised by specialists,
forbids and punishes the use of drugs. The detractors of the law do not
cease in their insistence that it is obsolete and should be revised,
especially when one in three young people admit having tried hashish.
[note: in French, "haschisch" is ofetn used to indicate cannabis in
whatever form.] On Februry 3, 1995, the report of the Henrion Commission
pleaded for a controlled legalisation of cannabis and recommended the
modification of the law concerning hard drugs, all the while maintaining
the principle of punishment: "In three years, the situation has not
improved," Professor Henrion bitterly insists. "Cannabis users are more and
more numerous, and the use of ecstasy and synthetics has exploded (see
included graphs). But the subject remains taboo."

And it is regrettable that the politicians confuse the decriminalisation of
use, and the repression of traffic: "The facts remain only very dimly
recognised by our contemporaries. But is is time to force some recognition
of the situation. Rather than having a symbolic law which is not always
applied, it would be more intelligent to design regulations for those over
16 yers old, while warning them of the risks they might encounter by the
regular use of cannabis."

Stop Demonising Drugs

Last June, the report of Professer Roques upset Prohibitionist convictions
when it revised downward the negative effects of cannabis and classed
alcohol as a hard drug.

Along with the prime minister Lionel Jospin, Bernard Kouchner has always
been against decriminalisation. Contrarily, he favored regulations which
established a distinction between hard and soft drugs, taking into account
alcohol, tobacco, and tranquilisers. It would not be surprising that the
report just submitted to the prime minister by Nicole Maestracci, president
of MILDT (Inter-minister project for the fight against drugs and
addiction), in office since last June, continues with this idea. The former
magistrate preaches a better objectivity toward different substances.

"If we desire some progress", she confides to her partners, "we have to
change our practices. The law, subject to international treaties on drugs,
cannot be radically changed, but we can perhaps make recommendations. To
open the debate freed from taboo and prejudice would be a good start, as
well as separating the issue as it concerns children and adults. We must
stop demonising drugs, without at the same time under-estimating the
problems presented by drugs. We should simply tell the truth to the young."

Checked-by: Richard Lake