Europe and Latin America prepare to break ranks with the United States' War on Drugs, whose failure has recently been underscored by the resignation of Washington's drug czar, William Bennett.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A Forum on Drug Legalization will be held in Athens on 22-24 November, with the support of the Greek Government's youth secretariat. In his opening address to the Forum, Nobel Prize economist Milton Friedman states:

"It is most fitting that this conference is taking place in Athens, the birthplace of democracy. We must all work together to end this drug tragedy. Prohibition is making the whole legal structure of society corrupt."

Recent prison riots in Athens have renewed calls for the release of prisoners held for drug law violations. Sponsored by leading businessmen, the Forum will focus on the emerging debate between free-market legalizers and the proponents of state-controlled drug distribution. Qualified spokespersons, including doctors, judges, and police officials, will compare the experience of cities in Europe which have encouraged pragmatic policies - Amsterdam, Liverpool, Hamburg, Zurich, and Madrid.

Two Italian Radical Party, deputies, Marco Taradash and Emma Bonino, recently arrested while presenting clean needles to the Mayor of New York, will describe how the ongoing AIDS epidemic in that city has resulted from opposition to syringe exchange schemes. Anthony Henman, Executive Secretary of the IAL, therefore calls for an ambitious and humane campaign:

"Time is running out. As the deaths, casualties and prison populations continue to mount, we have an historical obligation to correct misguided U.S.policies: in the domestic sphere, AIDS transmitted by a lack of clean needles, and in foreign policy, the obsession with eliminating coca leaf production in the Andes."

Enrique Gómez Hurtado, former Colombian ambassador to France, will explain why his country is moving towards peace negotiations with cocaine traffickers. Peruvian experts will also justify President Fujimori's recent decision refusing American military aid to eradicate coca plantations. They defend the immediate resumption of legitimate green coca-leaf exports. MEP Marco Taradash, in a motion to the European Parliament, emphasized: "This will educate demand for a more healthy form of coca, and offer peasants a viable alternative to the illicit cocaine economy." ENDS

Further Information: Mme. Ana Frazao, on Brussels (322) 284.2579

or 230.4121. Fax: (322) 230.3670.