Year 4 #9, May 7 1998
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Weekly Action Report on Drug Policies
Edited by the CORA - Radical Antiprohibitionist Coordination, federated to
- TRP-Transnational Radical Party (NGO, consultive status, I)
- The Global Coalition for Alternatives to the Drug War
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director: Vincenzo Donvito
All rights reserved
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http://www.agora.stm.it/coranet
mailto:cora.news@agora.it
9.0 CORA'S CONGRESS IN PARIS
The Cora congress will meet in Paris from the 5th to the 7th of June. The congress will propose the opening of a campaign called "Prohibitionism on drugs: a crime against mankind", and will examine if and how antiprohibitionists should run in the next Eurpean elections. The meeting will take place in a hall of the National Assembly.
ITALY/UN/DEPENALIZATION OF CANNABIS
A decree of the Italian government was supposed to abolish sanctions and depenalize cultivation and personal and/or group use of cannabis. It seems instead that minimum coercive policies will be substituted by very heavy fines. Cora sees this as a political swindle, and wonders if the government intends to bring this stance in front of the U.N. General Assembly on drugs, where it would come in conflict with French and Swedish extremism.
ITALY/FREE DISTRIBUTION OF HASHISH
Action of this kind has been carried out by members of the Lista Pannella and of the Radical Transnational Party in order to promote a new law. In addition to Marco Pannella, who has already been condemned in the past, also Olivier Dupuis, secretary of the RTP and member of the EP, Gianfranco Dell'Alba, member of the PE, and Eric Picard, secretary of the Cora are being now heard by the Magistrate.
RTP/MARIJUANA MARCH/NEW YORK
The Radical Transnational Party has participated in the "Marijuana March" in New York to stop the actual war that has been launched for fifteen years against cannabis consumers and to fight the "War On Drugs".
ITALY/CORA/SECRETARY OF PDS
The secretary of the PDS Massimo D'Alema declares that "The conditions are today still premature to follow a non-prohibitionist policy". The Cora answers that in politics conditions have to be created.
PRT/ERADICATION OF DRUG CULTIVATION
While on one side the EU expresses lack of faith in the agreement between the UNCDP and the Talebanis, on the other Pino Arlacchi, in charge of drug policies for the UN is carrying out, as said in a RTP press release, his hypocritical, violence and corruption generating project of extirpating drug cultivations from Bolivia to Afghanistan.
ITALY/TALEBANI
The Italian Senate asks that the Arlacchi plan in Afghanistan become effective only if the Talebanis accept to respect human rights. The Cora is wondering what the "Anti-drug Tzar" will do now. Will he complain to the President of the Senate as he did with the President of the European Commission about the antiprohibitionist views of European commissar Emma Bonino?
ITALY/DEPENALIZATION
The Justice Commission of the Italian Senate has decided to depenalize cultivation for personal use and group consuming of cannabis. The Cora values this as a positive fact, but is still prudent because there is still no word about "free exchange" , which is the real core of the question, and hopes that parliament will confront such an absence.
000001 29/04/98
E.U. / F
ASSOCIATIONS
L'EVENEMENT DU JEUDI
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The State Audit Court is going to publish a first resume on wealth accumulated by 'Le Patriarche', an association for social reintegration of drug-attics. In only two years its wealth in real estate has gone from 0 to 41 millions of French F. Responsible of this situation are also those public authorities that have continued to finance the association ever since 1993.
000007 22/04/98
E.U. / GB
DRUG ADDICTION
THE TIMES
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A study of the Home Office reveals that upon ten arrested six are drug consumers, above all on heroin, crack and anfetamines. The relationship between drugs and crime is augmenting constantly, and the government should keep this fact present if it intends to effectively fight crime.
000008 22/04/98
EUROPE / SWITZERLAND
DRUG ADDICTION
NEUE ZUERCHER Z.
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The Glarona Canton is adopting a drug policy that is in line with the government one. Such a policy stands on four principles: prevention, reduction of drug damage on society, therapy and repression. Its strategy lies in distribution of sterile hypodermic needles, offering targeted jobs to drug victims and in the creation of a central multi-functioning public health service.
000009 27/04/98
EUROPE / RUSSIA
DRUG ADDICTION
FRANKFURTER
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The Council For Foreign Policy And Defence says that drug-attics have tripled in the past five years, forseeing that they will become three million by 1998. Drug addiction is most frequent among the very young in degraded areas, students, in the army and in jails. Drug traffic is able to recycle a billion dollars a year through restaurants and casinos, but above all in telecommunications and energy resources.
000002 23/04/98
E.U. / I
INFORMATIONS
LA REPUBBLICA
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The Italian government will invest eight billion Lire in an anti-drug campaign wich should reach millions of people through all media and, above all, discotheques. Nonetheless, some people dislike 'Be sharp, don't get hurt', wich is the slogan used by the campaign, on the basis of its ambiguity. Others, insted, just think it's ugly.
000003 26/04/98
E.U. / GB
INFORMATIONS
THE TIMES
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The government has intituted a new anti drug plan wich represents a radical turning point, going from coersion to prevention. A greater part of funding will go to informing drug- attics and taking care of their health. The resources destined to persecute hashish and marijuana cunsumers will, instead, be reduced.
000004 23/04/98
E.U. / I
LAW
CORRIERE DELLA SERA
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The government is going to present a project for a new law on drugs wich will include the depenalization of group use of hashish and marijuana and their cultivation for personal use. This announcement has caused bitter criticism on the part of the Partito Popolare, Forza Italia and Alleanza Nazionale.
000011 06/05/98
E.U. / ITALIA
LAW
CORRIERE DELLA SERA
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The Justice Commission of the Senate has voted in favour of depenalization of cultivation for personal use and group consuming of hashish and marijuana, although sanctions like suspension of driver's licence remain. Center-right parties voted against.
000005 23/04/98
AMERICAS / COLOMBIA
NARCOMAFIA
LIBERATION
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The chief of police forces claims that drug traffickers do not operate any more in criminal organizations of the 'Pablo Escobar' kind, but in structures wich are smaller and more difficult to isolate, and that the drug question will have no solution if countries don't take a stance against those who recieve and distribute the drugs.
000006 29/04/98
ASIA / AFGHANISTAN
PRODUCERS
LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR
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The Talebanis, through the use of money from drug traffic, are at one time financing the war inside Afghanistan and beckoming indipendent of the aide of the only countries which have given them recognition, namely Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. The United States also are eager to find a point of contact with the Talebanis, greatly because of Afghani gas and oil resources.
000010 30/04/98
WORLD
WAR ON DRUGS
DIE PRESSE
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39 countries have met in Vienna under the presidency of U.N.'s commissar for anti-drug policies Pino Arlacchi to debate on illegal traffic and on the theme of organized crime, in order to find common strategies of action.
000012 06/05/98
E.U. / I
WAR ON DRUGS
LA STAMPA / LA REPUBBLICA
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The Seante has voted against the UN antidrug plan for Afghanistan, which has been prepared by the UNDCP under the guidance of Pino Arlacchi, with two motions inspired by the criticisms expressed by European Commissar Emma Bonino who calls for a suspension of the plan until respect of human rights is reached in Afghanistan.
