CND/WRITTEN STATEMENT OF THE TRP

Commission on Narcotic Drugs

acting as preparatory body for the Special Session of the General Assembly devoted to the fight against the illicit production, sale, demand, traffic and distribution of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and related activities

Second session

Vienna, 16-20 March 1998

STATEMENT OF THE TRANSNATIONAL RADICAL PARTY

Item 2 (c), "Consideration of elements for inclusion in a draft political declaration".

delivered on 17 March 1998

The purpose of the political declaration is to contribute to mustering the political will to increase the number of States parties to international treaties, and to advance their full implementation of the Conventions. Even if we recognize that it is too late for obtaining radical changes to the overall UN approach, we are convinced that some changes are needed in order to preserve fundamental rights, the rule of law, as well as common sense. In our opinion the proposed documents should need to be balanced with further considerations on:

- disproportionate penalties,

- freedom of expression,

- therapeutic freedom,

- HIV/AIDS.

1. DISPROPORTIONATE PENALTIES

"No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". Art. 5, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The UN International Conventions on Narcotic Drugs establish a "minimum threshold" of prohibitionist laws and penalties that should be respected by the singatories. What is not included is a sort of "maximum threshold" that should prevent disproportionate penalties to be commended. Some States party to the Conventions commend the death penalty and life sentences for the simple consumption of illicit drugs. Such penalties should be considered inhuman or disproportionate if applied to persons whose only guilt is self-harming.

We therefore propose to include in the political declaration, or take into consideration, the following pragraph:

"The General Assembly, in the fight against illicit drugs, calls upon Member States to fully respect the principle of proportionality of penalties to the crimes committed, and therefore strongly discourages the sentencing of individuals to death or to life imprisonment for non-violent crimes, such as drug consumption. In these cases administrative sanctions and medical treatment should be generally preferred."

2. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression (...)". Art.19, Univesal Declaration of Human Rights.

State parties to the 1988 Conventions are required to make incitement or inducement to take drugs a criminal offence. In recently issued UN agencies' documents, namely the 1997 Report by the International Narcotics Control Board, public statements and political campaigns in favor of the decriminalization, legalization or medical prescription of some illicit substances are dangerously confused with the incitements and inducements to take drugs. These arguments risk to extend prohibition policies on narcotic drugs, to open and frank debates on the matter. We therefore propose the following paragraph to be included, or take into consideration, in the preparation of the political declaration:

"The General Assembly, in its strong commitment to the total implementation of the International Conventions on Narcotic Drugs, reaffirms freedom of expression and the legitimacy of any opinion or political proposal aimed at countering drug abuse and/or at reducing drug-related harms through alternative approaches to remain essential in a transparent debate on the issue".

3. THERAPEUTIC FREEDOM

"Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care (...)" Art.25, Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In the majority of UN Member States, physicians face prohibitions in prescribing treatments considered necessary for their patients. These prohibitions include the prohibition of medical use of illicit substances for drug abusers, (e.g. congrolled heroin for heroin addicts), and for non abusers, (e.g. marijuana-based tratments for people with cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS and other diseases). Consequently, the right for the patient to be treated with the most appropriate treatment, on a scientifically based opinion, is seriously violated.

Therefore, we propose to include in the political declaration the following pragraph:

"The General Assembly invites Member States to recognize therapeutic freedom as a fundamental Human Right, which implies the right for physicians to prescribe any substance that they consider to be the most appropriate for a given treatment."*

* This same request has been submitted to the European Parliament by more than 400 medics from all over Europe, last January in Strasbourg.

4. AVAILABILITY OF STERILE SYRINGES

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is still the first cause of death for heroin addicts the world over. It is beyond any doubt, that the availability of sterile syringes is a determinant factor that could lead to the decrease of the syringe-sharing practice among heroin addicts. Any restrictions imposed on the selling of sterile syringes, or their mandatory medical prescirption, have a direct negative impact on the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

We therefore propose to take into consideration or to include in the political declaration the following pragraph:

"The General Assembly calls upon Member States to implement measures such as the availability of sterile syringes without medical prscription, in order to prevent the HIV/AIDS epidemic (among drug users)."