FRANCE
The Committee on Information and Research on Cannabis (CIRC) has sent via mail to 577 MPs, 577 small packages containing a joint as a symbol request for the opening of a parliamentary debate on the matter.
(LIBERATION 10-12/12, LE MONDE, 11-12/12, DIE PRESSE, SUDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, 11/12)
THE NETHERLANDS
The municipality of Amsterdam has decided to regulate the selling of MDMA pills, produced mainly in the country. The spokesperson for the Mayor has declared that the current lack of controls on the variety and the quality of the product constitutes a serious danger for consumers' health.
(EL PAIS, FRANKFURTER ZEITUNG, SUDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, 12/12)
ITALY
In her answer to an article published in the Sole 24 Ore, Carla Rossi, Professor of Statistics and member of CORA, states that the increase in deaths by OD in 1994/1995 is not related to the decriminalization of drug-related crimes after the 1993 referendum promoted by the lista Pannella. The increase in deaths is due to the active principle contained in heroin bought on the streets and to the average age of the consumers.
(IL SOLE 24 ORE, 12/12)
GREAT BRITAIN
In a document sent to every school issued by the National Association of Head Teachers, it is stated that elementary schools should provide pupils with phone numbers of support center on drugs. In the text it is pointed out how children aged five have more information on the matter than their teachers. The majority of the pupils live in communities where drug abuse is the norm, and where they become addicted to solvents at 8 or 9.
(THE TIMES, 11/12)
SPAIN
The Supreme Court has condemned to four months in jail, and to a 500,000 pesetas fine, four directors of the Asociacion Ramons Santos de Estudios sobre Cannabis. In 1993, the four members cultivated cannabis for personal use. This last sentence overrules a previous one that absolved the indicted.
(EL PAIS, 11/12)
ITALY
Being "alternative" and having a lifestyle similar to those of the Jamaican Rastafarians, can be a help for impunity for marihuana consumption. With this justification the prosecutor of Forlì (a small city near Bologna) has asked for the dismissal of a case regarding a "follower of Bob Marley" denounced for having been caught with a kilo of marihuana at home. The judge has stated that there was no evidence of dealing and that the quality of the pot was not good.
(CORSERA, IL MESSAGGERO, LA REPUBBLICA, 12/12)
GREAT BRITAIN
There has been an increase in the number of girls raped after having been forced to assume "legal" tranquilizers sold in pharmacies. These girls hunt pubs searching for MDMA, but they are sold medicines like Roipnol and then raped.
(THE TIMES 16/12)
GREAT BRITAIN
British politicians and physicians favor experiments on the medical aspects of hashish, so that, before its commercialization, strict and severe controls on the quality can be done. This position has been announced by David Evans, a Tory MP, who has, on the other hand, refused the proposal of his Italian colleague EuroRadical Gianfranco Dell'Alba on the liberalization.
(SUDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG, 13/12)
BOLIVIA
The Third Drugs Report has been recently issued: 70,000 Bolivian farmers live out of coca leaves. In over 10,000 laboratories the crop is refined and turned into cocaine. A German officer has been appointed to hinder the trafficking to Germany. His only hope is that everything that starts will have an end; this struggle started 60 years ago and has never stopped.
(DER SPIEGEL 15/12)
SWITZERLAND
Zurich - with 99 votes in favor and 58 against, the Regional Assembly of the Zurich canton has adopted a resolution in which it is asked to delete cannabis derivatives from the Swiss list of "soft drugs".
(NEUE ZUERCHER ZEITUNG 16/12)
SWITZERLAND
After the failure of the initiative "Youths Without Drugs" the 4 parties that support the Government have decided to work together on the revision of narcotic laws. As a first step the working group has suggested the update of the controlled distribution of heroin in order to reach 800 new addicts. The experiment will expire at the end of the year.
(NEUE ZUERCHER ZEITUNG 16/12)
BOLIVIA
During last weekend, at the presence of the Bolivian President, Mr. Banzer, farmers of the Chapare region have destroyed 7,000 hectares of cocaine field. The governmental program sets a reimbursement of $2,500 for each hectare.
(FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE 22/12)
GERMANY
Schwerin - Paedagogium is the name of a private institute that has recently introduced an anti-drug test among its 80 students from 13 to 20. Every week a student is chosen for the urinal test. The initiative has ignited a debate in Maclenburg with the exception of the parents of the youngster, they all have given their written permission to the test.
(SUEDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG 27/12)
FRANCE
A survey by IFOP on 1,000 people, recently published in the "Quotidien du medicin", states that 87% of French people is of the opinion that drug-addicts are ill; 88% thinks that they should be mandatory treated.
(LIBERATION 17/12)
ITALY
Researchers at the Universita' Cattolica Sacro Cuore of Rome have experimented a new method of rapid rehabilitation from opium derivatives, a UROD-like therapy prolonged for a few days in order to fight abstinence. The experiment has proved effective in 40% of the patients treated, while UROD was in 25% of the cases.
(IL GIORNALE 17/12)
U.S.
Dennis Peron, Ethan Nadelman and the Nobel for Economics Milton Friedman, are apparently leading a moderate antiprohibition movement in the States. They all have appealed to President Clinton requesting the legalization of soft drugs and the regulation of hard ones. Their interventions against prohibition as the cause of criminality and health problems are starting to leave a trace in the public opinion.
(CORSERA 29/12)
U.S.
The Clinton administration is launching an anti-drug campaign with commercials broadcast on all media: radio, TV, Internet etc. Cost of the campaign $195 million.
(IHT, 23/12)
SWITZERLAND
There is a decrease in the number of victims of drugs. In 1997, according to police statistics, there has been a drop of 1/3. Police and experts agree both on the positive influence of the controlled distribution of heroin to chronic addicts and the use of methadone. The President of the Italian Parliamentary Committee on Justice, Hon. Giuliano Pisapia (communist) has said that this could become an example that should be followed also in Italy.
(CORSERA 28-29/12, IL GIORNALE 28/12)
ITALY
According to the final report of the Minister of Internal Affairs on the national public order situation, marijuana imports from Albania have become a multinational trafficking: five tons have been confiscated in 1996, 42 this year. The national anti-mafia prosecutor has recently launched the biggest campaign against illicit trafficking of Italian-Albanian Mafias. The transnational mobs buy and sell drugs, weapons and immigrants.
(LA REPUBBLICA 24-29/12, LA STAMPA 29/12)
U.S.
California - Despite the result of Proposition 215 (the referendum for the legalization of medical marijuana), the local Appeal Court has decided to prohibit the selling of the substance.
(LIBERATION 15/12)
PORTUGAL
Like the President of the Republic and other Socialist MPs, the mayor of Lisbon, Mr. Joao Soares, favors the universal decriminalization of soft drugs. Mr. Soares has proposed a meeting of representatives of big cities at a European level in order to address the issue throughout the continent.
(EL PAIS 28/12)
GREAT BRITAIN
The "Independent on Sunday" is campaigning for the decriminalization of cannabis targeting Tony Blair. The initiative started almost a year ago, and promoted by its editor in chief, Rosie Boycott, former alcoholic and addict, has increased the number of issues sold up to 15,000.
(PANORAMA 29/12)
GREAT BRITAIN
After a phone call denouncing the dealing activities of a son of an undersecretary of the Labor Government from the director of The Mirror, the case "Joints of the Government" is dividing the political scene. The guy is 17, and his name will not be published for legal reasons, but the episode has re-ignited the antiprohibition campaign of the "Independent on Sunday", pointing out the hypocrisy of the whole situation.
(THE TIMES 24-28/12, CORSERA 29/12)
SPAIN
A decision of the Court of the Bilbao province states that the interruption of rehabilitation treatments by sending "criminal" patients to prison, has a perverse effect in the social rehabilitation of convicted people. The sentence criticizes the national Penal Code on alternatives to prison considering the current Code as more restrictive than the previous one and goes against the jurisprudence of the Supreme Tribunal.
(EL PAIS 21/12)
FRANCE
Paris - On December 12-13, the Ministry of Health has convened 300 experts on drug abuse issues. All experts agree on the depenalization. Secretary of State for Health, Bernard Kouchner, has said that the reform of the 1970 law on drugs is not a taboo and can be taken into consideration.
AMERICAS
U.S. and Panama have agreed on the creation of an international anti-drug center in Panama City. The institution will allow the States to maintain a military presence in the county even after 1999 when the channel will be handed over to Panama. Other nations like Brazil and Mexico will be asked to participate in the operation.
(FINANCIAL TIMES 29/12)
MEXICO
CIA is training some Mexican military officials in order to establish an effective network of anti-drug troops all over the country. Despite criticism about its possible effects on the most respected Mexican institution and the risk of corruption, the initiative is proceeding.
(INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, 30/12)
ITALY
Rome - After the campaign launched by Marco Pannella, leader of the Italian antiprohibition movement, the mayor of the Italy's capital, Francesco Rutelli (member of the Transnational Radical Party) has agreed to experiment the controlled distribution of heroin to chronic heroin addicts.
(L'ESPRESSO, 8/1)
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