Rue Belliard 97
c/o European Parliament
Rem 5.08
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Tel:+32-2-230.41.21 - 646.26.31
Fax:+32-2-230.36.70
E-mail: cora.belgique@agora.stm.it
----------------NEWS FROM CORA-------------------
* EMMA BONINO, European Commissioner,
will make the opening remarks
( Thursday, Dec. 5th at 15.50)
of the VIII CORA congress that will be held in Brussels until Dec. 7th. Whoever is interested in participating in the event may send a fax to: fax# +32-2-230.36.70 or e-mail: cora.belgique@agora.stm.it
---------------NEWS FROM THE WORLD---------------
SWITZERLAND * New Politics * On the Sept. 17th the Council of States approved, with 32 votes in favor and five votes opposed, a political project on the subject of drugs that foresees the controlled administration of drugs for therapeutic use. The project will proceed now to examination by the National Council.
(NEUE ZURCHER ZEITUNG, 18/09)
BARBADOS/CARIBBEAN * Drug Power * The islands of the western Caribbean have become the node for the traffic of cocaine and heroin arriving in the United States and for banks that launder drug money. The problem is relevant for the island of San Juan, Puerto Rico, because it is a U.S. territory, and once drugs arrive there they may be shipped more easily to the rest of the nation. Jonathan Winer, deputy assistant of the Secretary of State for the war against crime, says: "This happens because the islands of the Caribbean have many ports and airports and the governments do not have much money, and for these reasons corruption and the penetration of drug dealers, even into the governments, fuels this phenomenon."
(INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, 25/09)
FRANCE * Drug Power * Drugs: the new gold of the world. Three Hundred and Fifty billion francs are invested every year in Western economies. The production, traffic, and consumption of drugs are in a state of vertiginous expansion. To the point - explain Alain Labrousse and Michel Koutouzis of the Geopolitical Observatory on Drugs - that in the world there is not one place in which dirty money is not transferred. " various nations know that they would not survive if there banking secrets and status as a fiscal paradise were suppressed."
(LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR, 25/09)
ITALY * New Politics * Investigation. Does Anti-Prohibitionism work? The grass is always greener on the other side. In Turin, they want marijuana to be tolerated as it is in Amsterdam, and the controlled distribution of heroin, as it is in Zurich. Are there risks? What is the history of these experiences? A trip to the countries that have already chosen legalization.
(L'ESPRESSO, 26/09)
U.S.A * New Drugs * Texas. The case of a 17-year old female volleyball player, who died within 24 hours of taking a new drug, has placed health officials and police on alert. GHB, or gamma hydroxy-butrate, has recently become very popular among young people who hang out in discos. Also known as "Liquid X" or "Easy Lay," the drug is easy to produce, even at home, thanks to instructions that can be obtained easily in any library or on the Internet.
(TIME, 30/09)
U.S.A. * Study * A Columbia University study reveals that 22% of American adolescents are likely to use drugs. The number of youths between the ages of 12 and 17 who have used marijuana or hallucinogens has doubled since last year.
(INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, 24/09; L'EVENEMENT DU JEUDI, 25/09)
U.S.A. * Drug Tests * It is becoming common practice among businesses to submit employees and job applicants to drug tests. According to a recent study, the number of companies who've adopted this method has increased by 277% since the method was introduced. The greatest increase was registered between the years 1988-1993, but the number of employees subject to it continues to grow, and those who result positive are immediately fired. It is estimated that in 1996 1/3 of all U.S. workers will have to take a drug test. The test permits businesses to avoid paying unnecessary sick day compensation to personnel and to diminish the number of on the job accidents. The associations for civil liberties are of a contrary opinion.
(INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, 20/09)
AFGHANISTAN * Drug Power * The Taliban fundamentalists control 75% of the poppy plantations, and use the profits from sales to buy arms. Afghanistan continues to be the principal source of heroin in the West. Many citizens blame the U.S., who sent arms to their country, and consider the flow of drugs a just response to the arms dealing that is currently drenching their country in blood. According to the, the deaths caused by drugs in the west are the counterpart of the Afghani dead.
(NEWSWEEK, 30/09)
COLOMBIA * Drug Power * Four kilograms of heroin were found hidden in the luggage compartment aboard the aeroplane of Colombian President Samper thanks, it seems, to an anonymous phone call. According to the Minister of Justice Medellin, it is an attempt to embarrass the President, who is preparing to travel to UN Headquarters in New York to participate in a discussion on the drug trade.
(CORSERA, EL PAIS, IL GIORNALE, IL MESSAGERO, LA REPUBBLICA 22/09, FINANCIAL TIMES, INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, LE FIGARO 23/09. LE MONDE, NEUE ZUERCHER ZEITUNG 24/09, SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG 24-25/09)
U.S.A. * Drug Power * From the investigation of "Freeway Rick," the king of cocaine trafficking in California in the early '80's, the story of the "Nicaraguan Connection" is coming to light. Today it is known who his supplier was: the CIA. The US government decided to finance the anti-sandinista guerrillas through the sale of crack, a form of crystallized cocaine, to the black community in the inner cities. The black representatives in Congress have called for a Congressional investigation. The CIA denies the claims. President Clinton has asked the head of the anti-drug commission to investigate the issue further.
(LA REPUBBLICA 22/09, SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG 23/09)
GERMANY * Anti-Prohibitionism * The deputy of the Green party in the Bundestag, Knoche, solicits the distribution of Ecstasy. The government coalition reprimands him for underestimating the dangers associated with the use of this drug and for ignoring the effort made to limit the demand for narcotics.
(FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG 20/09)
BOLIVIA * Prohibitionism * One thousand cocaine growers have reached La Paz to protest the social programs of the government which, among other things, calls for the destruction of their plantations. After one month, and a march of over one hundred kilometers, they want to participate in the manifestations of protest together with five thousand other "cocaleros" who are expected to arrive in the coming days at the administrative capital of Bolivia.
(SEUDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, 25/09)
GERMANY * New Drugs * The federal government has prepared the eighth decree to insert in law number four against "drugs of the discos" and other substances. "Drugs of the discos" are synthetic drugs defined as hazardous to one's health and belonging to a group of amphetamine derivatives classified as Ecstasy. According to the Federal Criminology Office, since June of 1995, at least 54 types of Ecstasy are circulating in Germany.
(SEUDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, 26/09)
HOLLAND * New Drugs * In 1995, 83% of Ecstasy pills (XTC) circulating in Europe came from Holland. According to the Interpol, in this market the Benelux nations are the "Colombia" of Europe. The Ecstasy industry in Holland has consolidated itself well and is now expanding to Poland and Asia. Asia is considered the market of the future. Today, an ecstasy pill costs a Dutch buyer 15 Dutch guilders; in Singapore it costs 130.
(DIE ZEIT, 27/09)
SWITZERLAND * Legalization * Walter Schmid, director of the Swiss Center against Alcoholism from 1958-1966, explains in an article how the concept of drugs changes from one epoch to the next, and from one culture and geographic locus to another. His proposal would be to tax the substances considered dangerous (alcohol, tobacco, narcotics) in a special article of the Constitution. The objective would be to create financial means to remedy the damage caused by abuse of substances that are contrary to personal and family health.
(NEUE ZUERCHER ZEITUNG, 30/09)
SPAIN-MOROCCO * War against Drugs * The October 2nd encounter between the Foreign Ministers of Spain and Morocco aims to place an obstacle between drug trafficking and illegal immigration. The delegations of these two nations have prepared a plan to enforce and coordinate the instruments used in the war against drug traffic between the two countries.
(EL PAIS, 30/09)
U.S.A. * New Drugs * Until recently, "GHB" was a drug whose use was to be opportunely limited. In powder or grains, this product has long been used by body builders for the loss of weight and as a tranquilizer. Mixed with alcohol, it assumes a powerful euphoric quality. Its effects are similar to those of Rohypnol, which is already subject to polemics that threaten its insertion into the LSD category. "GHB" is its chemical equivalent, and can be produced easily at home in large quantities thanks to the availability of recipes on the Internet.
(LE MONDE, 01/10)
HOLLAND * Drugs and Power * After the pressure exercised by border authorities of its European neighbors, as of October 1st Holland's drug laws will change. The use of drugs will only be tolerated in places under strict control. Coffee shops will be subject to stricter controls, and will not be allowed to sell more than 5 grams, as opposed to the 30 gram limit that was tolerated previously. Retailers will not be allowed to keep more than 1/2 of one kilo in the warehouse. In the case of violations, penalties of up to two years in prison will be dispensed; minors will be disallowed access to coffeeshops; and to whom tries to sell drugs near schools harsh penalties will be imposed.
(EL PAIS, 01/10)
FRANCE * New Drugs * A mushroom known as psycocilobin, if ingested, produces hallucinatory effects. It can be found anywhere in France, where its appraisers are many. Andre Merle, substitute attorney of Besancon, has begun a hard war against the consumers of this drug.
(L'EXPRESS, 26/09)
COLOMBIA * Without Words * Ernesto Samper has consecrated the totality of his recent intervention before the General assembly of the UN on the war against drugs by stating that they are "the principal menace to the security and stability of the world. We do not wish to continue to be incriminated when we are the nation that has suffered the most and that has paid the highest economic and social price in this war."
(LE FIGARO, 25/09)
U.S.A. * War on Drugs * The US government has created a list of 60 nations, among them Great Britain and its former colonies, whose banks are suspect in the laundering of drug money. The sanction: if these countries do not adopt strict measures to reduce this practice, Washington will arrest all of the suspect bankers and financiers who work in America. Under particular scrutiny by the administration are the islands of the Caribbean due to the easy access created by their banks.
(THE TIMES 29/09)
ITALY * War on Drugs * Naples: for the last six years the president of an art institute has requested that its students be subject to drug tests once a month by the Italian police. The inspections are without warning: four dogs sniff the students for drugs before they enter their classrooms. For six years no one noticed, and today the superintendent of schools states that "it is a loss for the school, with the fear that young people can no longer be convinced to take drugs."
(CORSERA, IL MESSAGERO, 02/09)
U.S.A. * War on Drugs * Experts warn that the drug world has changed. Political rhetoric no longer addresses the problem: in the 60's and 70's consumers of drugs were primarily university students and young adults; today they are people under twenty years of age. In contrast to the 1980's, the boom years of imported cocaine, today drug use is for the greater part focused on marijuana, which is cultivated by the people who smoke it. This means that the methods used for repression must be different than those experimented with against cocaine and heroin.
(INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, 26/09)
