WAR ON DRUGS 'HAS ENRICHED CARTELS'

Campaigners Criticise Draft Paper for Not Including Harm Reduction Tactics

United Nations member states are set to paper over their differences
today and sign up to 10 more years of the much-criticised "war on
drugs" at a drugs summit in Vienna. A draft policy declaration tabled
at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs last night did not mention the
innovation that campaigners had hoped for: "harm reduction"
strategies such as needle exchange programmes to prevent the spread
of HIV, or even legalisation and regulation to help erode the power
of traffickers and drug lords.

The summit comes in the wake of high-profile indictments of the UN's
drug strategy. A European Commission report published on Tuesday said
the strategy had not made any progress in cutting supply and demand.

Antonio Maria Costa, the executive director of the UN Office on Drugs
and Crime, said that "measurable progress" had been made.

Opening the Vienna talks, he said addiction to illicit drugs had
"stabilised" in the past few years but admitted that a "dramatic
unintended consequence" of the battle to stamp out the illicit trade
was that drug cartels had become so rich they could destabilise
impoverished and vulnerable nations in Africa and South America.

"When mafias can buy elections, candidates, political parties, in a
word, power, the consequences can only be highly destabilising" he said.

"While ghettoes burn, West Africa is under attack [by Latin American
traffickers transporting cocaine to Europe], drug cartels threaten
Central America and drug money penetrates bankrupt financial institutions".

World markets were still supplied with about 1,000 tons of heroin,
1,000 tons of cocaine and large volumes of marijuana, cannabis resin
and synthetic drugs, Mr Costa said. He warned against the
legalisation of drugs - which has attracted renewed support -as "a
dangerous wager".

"Drugs are not harmful because they are controlled - they are
controlled because they are harmful. The fact that certain unlawful
transactions are hard to control does not mean that they should be made legal."

Britain and other EU countries including Germany, the Netherlands,
Romania, Portugal, Spain, Finland and Slovenia, will file
reservations on the draft declaration, diplomats indicated.

Alan Campbell, who led the UK delegation, said that the British
delegates were disappointed with the outcome.

"We will of course be signing up to the declaration, but there are a
number of criticisms we will be making and I think making them quite clear."

Britain had supported the inclusion of harm reduction strategies in
the document and Mr Campbell said he did not think the emerging
strategy was " bold enough".

Campaigning groups including Human Rights Watch and the International
Aids Society said the proposed political declaration lacked
"critically important measures for treating and stemming the spread of HIV".

Craig McClure, from the International Aids Society, said: "This
political declaration fails public health. The international
commitment to fight HIV, the denial of any reference in the
declaration to life-saving harm reduction programmes is unacceptable
and unconscionable."

Protesters carrying placards which read "The war on drugs destroys
lives" and "Drug law isolates" greeted delegates as they arrived at
the summit. Fake $1,000 bank notes with Mr Costa's picture under the
inscription, "The United Nations of Prohibition" were also handed out.