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Ferre
Cannabis Sacrament Minister.
Joined: 14 Apr 2003
Posts: 7295
Location: Amsterdam
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 Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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Ok guys, we did it! all the emails and letters we have been writing to European parliament members have had positive effects...
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Here are some thoughts about the implication of the approval of the report
yesterday on the EU Drug Strategy on Drugs for 2005-2012.
The report (the almost final version can be read on:
http://www2.europarl.eu.int/omk/sipade2?PUBREF=-//EP//NONSGML+REPORT+A6-2004-0067+0+DOC+PDF+V0//EN&L=EN&LEVEL=2&NAV=S&LSTDOC=Y
- The definitive version of the report will be published soon on the
ENCOD website.
The tight approval, with 285 votes in favour and 271 against, means that
there have been quite some discussion going on inside the political groups
in the European Parliament. Apparently, some members of the traditionally
conservative groups like the PPE (European People's Party, Christian
Democrat) have voted in favour. We spoke to some of them (especially from
Eastern European Countries) and our impression was that they were very
grateful to receive confirmation of the doubts they have themselves on
official drug policies already.
What happens is that the division between for and against prohibition in
Europe is not only poolitical but also geographical. Especially the
Scandinavian representatives have been quite active in blocking any
discussion on alternatives to prohibition, but their opposition is loosing
more and more credibility.
In the report, the European parliament is quite clear in proposing a
fundamental change of course in European drug policy, maintaining among
others that:
- The EU drug action plan of 2000-2004 has been a failure
(this is a political conclusion of the statistics we all are aware of but
which have been ignored by authorities until now)
- Harm and damage reduction should be the crucial elements of drug policies
(harm reduction is established as the basis and not the supplement of drug
polícies)
- Support has to be given to the research on the benefitial uses of
cannabis, coca and opium
(this is the beginning of the end of the prohibition of these three plants,
as there exists overwhelming evidence of their positive values)
- A more concrete involvement of civil society is needed
(this means a defeat of the European governments and institutions that have
systematically denied the participation of civil society in the political
decision-making process - see www.encod.org/contest.htm for a report on that)
Concerning the EU Strategy, it is now to the European Council of Ministers
to adopt this strategy taking into account the recommendations of the EP
report. They have to do this tomorrow, Friday 17 december, so most probably
they will not take into account the report at all (this is European
bureaucracy you know)
However, the approval of the report means that the European Parliament can
now put pressure on the European Commission, the executive power in the EU,
to apply the recommendations in the concrete application of this strategy,
which is called the Drug Action Plan.
ENCOD has proposed the Commission to organise a broad conference in the
first half of 2005, where the course of EU drug policies should be
discussed with a significant participation of civil society. Our position
towards the Commission on this issue has of course become much stronger now.
All in all, the report sends a very clear message to the European
authorities and citizens, that Europe is ready for a turning point in its
approach to the global drugs issue. A political dilemma can be solved. For
the first time in history, a parliament of such high reputation as the EP
has expressed the need to end conventional thinking about drugs.
On the other hand, several MEPs and assistants visited the ENCOD
information stand that was established in the corridors of the European
Parliament in Strassbourg. Among them, some drank a cup of trimate
(consisting of anise, camomile and coca leaves) offered by ENCOD and the
Andean Council of Coca Producers. Trimate, like other coca derivates, was a
part of an exposition on the benefitial uses that can be made of plants
that are currently declared illegal by the UN Single Convention on Narcotic
Drugs.
The fact that this happened is big news in the Andean countries. Coca
producers can start to use the example in their conversations with the
government in order to obtain a definitive end to the attitude of
submission to the US Administration, the UNODC that presses them for more
repressive policies on coca. They can also strengthen the argument towards
the European Union countries to add to the until now disappointing
'alternative development' programmes the possibility to use the coca leaves
for commericalisation of coca products in Europe.
Among the MEPs who visited the ENCOD stand, the president of the EP's
Delegation for Relations with the countries of the Andean Community (Alain
LIPIETZ, Member of the Green Group for France) declared that Europe "needs
to change its policies concerning traditional cultivation of plants like
the coca leaf, in order to stop the repression that these generate not only
against the people involved, but also against the environment, affected by
the violent way in which this cultivation is approached today (fumigations,
forced ertradication, militarisation)."
In a meeting with Bolivian MP Dionisio NUÑEZ (who took part in the ENCOD
delegation in Strassbourg), Lipietz said he was willing to start official
conversations between the European and Latinamerican Parliament (that will
meet in Lima in May 2005) in order to make progress in the legislative
process towards the depenalisation of the commercialisation of coca
products in Europe.
Please follow our website for the latest info...
Best wishes,
Joep
EUROPEAN COALITION FOR JUST AND EFFECTIVE DRUG POLICIES (ENCOD)
Lange Lozanastraat 14
2018 Antwerpen
Belgium
Tel. 00 32 (0)3 237 7436
Fax. 00 32 (0)3 237 0225
E-mail:encod@glo.be
Website: www.encod.org
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Torkel
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
Joined: 23 Nov 2004
Posts: 1396
Location: West Virginia, USA
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| Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 4:20 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks, Ferre...this is a step in the right direction and great news to start the day! 
Now, the rest of the world needs to put the USA in it's place and tell them (USA) to back off & stfu.
Peace,
Torkel
_________________
Miller vs U.S. (230 F 2nd 486,489): "The claim and exercise of a Constitutional right cannot be converted into a crime."
Miranda vs Arizona (384 U.S. 436, 125): "Where rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no rule-making or legislation which would abrogate them."
HAGANS vs LAVINE (415 US 533 N-3,note 5): "Once JURISDICTION is challenged it must be proven by the Plaintiff." |
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TSRev.
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
Joined: 02 Sep 2004
Posts: 295
Location: Emerald Empire
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| Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 5:03 pm Post subject: |
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 It is really encouraging to see governments taking a rational look at these issues.
Now if we could cure the reefer madness in the divided states of america... |
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VWBusman
Cannabis Sacrament Minister
Joined: 14 Dec 2004
Posts: 52
Location: FL-Tampa
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| Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2004 5:05 pm Post subject: |
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| TSRev. wrote: |
It is really encouraging to see governments taking a rational look at these issues.
Now if we could cure the reefer madness in the divided states of america... |
That isn't going to be easy, big money here prevents it...
See "The Emporer Wears No Clothes" by Jack Herr. |
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