Attention:

Mrs. Rosalynde Harris: NGO Committee on Narcotic Drugs - New York

Mrs. Eva Tongue: NGO Committee on Narcotic Drugs - Vienna

Cc.

Mrs. Eileene McCaffrity: UNDCP, Vienna

Mr. Vincent McClean, UNDCP Representative, New York

New York, April 21, 1998

Dear Mrs Harris,

Following the meetings of the NGO Committee on Narcotic Drugs, both in Vienna and in New York, many of our organizations submitted, before the agreed deadline of March 15, individual formal requests for panel discussions on drug related issues in occasion of the UN General Assembly Special Session on Narcotic Drugs, to be held in the Conference room that UNDCP kindly reserved for NGOs parallel activities.

Having considered the conspicuous amount of requests sent to your attention, our organizations decided to rationalize the scope of our presence during the UNGASS, through the consolidation of the proposals for a unique discussion that will focus on drug policy reforms from different angles.

For this reason we agreed among us on a joint proposal for a panel discussion, that will cover the issues proposed individually by our organizations. Among others:

- Drug Control and Human Rights

- Drug Control and development

- The revision of the UN Conventions on Narcotic drugs

- Drug prohibition vs. Drug regulation

- Drugs and Democracy

- The Dutch experience

- The cannabis depenalization campaign

- Harm Reduction and the "War on Drugs"

We request the panel to be held on Tuesday, June 9, from 1 to 4 p.m. in Conference Room 4. Our organizations will be delighted to organize this section keeping in close communication with the NGOs Committees. Please, feel free to let us know any suggestions you may have on other issues that you think could fit in our program.

We are looking forward to your confirmation in order to start the actual organization of the event. Best regards.

Sincerely yours,

Ken Bluestone (UN Representative Catholic Institute for International Relations, NGO with consultative status)

Marco Cappato ( UN representative, transnational Radical Party, NGO with consultative status)

Kevin Zeese (Common Sense for Drug Policy, Global Coalition for Alternatives to the Drug War)

Joep Oomen (ENCOD), on behalf of the following organizations:

Accion Andina

AG-Drogen

AMEC

Andean Information Network

Arbeitsgruppe Schweiz Kolumbien

Boliviacentrum Antwerpen

Centro Peruano de Estudios Sociales

Centro de Investigacio y Educacion Popular

Coordinadora Nacional de Productores Agrpecuarios

Coordinadora por la normalizacion del cannabis

Desarollo Rural; Integral Sustentable

Drug Peace Institute

Dutch Drugs Policy Foundation

Drug Users Rights Forum

Drug Policy Review Group

El Cogollo

Gesellschaft fur Bedrohte (ECOSOC consultative status)

Gruppo Abele

Gruppo Volontariato Civile

IDIC

Institute for African Alternatives

JES - KIEL

Kaleidoscope Project

Komite Internazionalistak

John Mordaunt Trust

Research centre for information, education and action on drugs

SEAMP - CD - RDI

SHARAN

Transnational Institute (ECOSOC consultative status)

Harry Bego (The Global Coalition for Alternatives to the Drug War), on behalf of the following organizations:

American Antiprohibition League, Portland, Or.

American Society for Action on Pain (ASAP),

Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party (ALCP)Arkansas Law Reform Group,

Association for Emancipatory Drug Policy (DEBED),Auto Support des Usagers de Drogues (ASUD),British Columbia Anti-Prohibition League (BCAPL),Campaign for Equity-Restorative Justice (CERJ),

Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp (CRRH)Campaign to Legalise Cannabis International Association (CLCIA),The Cannabis Freedom Fund,

Christians For Reform,Compassionate Care Alliance,Coordinamento Radicale Antiproibizionista (CORA),Detroit Organizational Needs In Treatment (DONT),Dogwood Center, Dawn Day,Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii (DPFH)

Drug Policy Forum of Texas (DPFT)

Drug Policy Reform Group of St. PaulDrug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet),Drug Users Rights Forum (DURF),

Dutch Drug Policy Foundation,El Cogollo, Revista Cannae1bica, Entheogen Awareness Committee

Fachforum Drogen des GAJB

Green Prisoners Release

HANF! Magazine

Hanfparade

Help End Marijuana Prohibition SA (Hemp SA)

HempWorld

HighLife

Houston NORML

Human Rights and the Drug War Exhibit Project

Instituto de Documentacion e Investigacion del Cannabis (IDIC)Kansas State Lobbyists for Cannabis Law Refor "Kne Bossem" - The NPO for Changing Israeli Drug Laws

Legalise Cannabis!

The Legalize! InitiativeLibertarian Party of Kosciusko County

Media Awareness Project (MAP)

Medical Marijuana Advocating Coalition,

The Medical Marijuana Magazine

Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse (MAMA) National Alliance of Methadone Advocates (NAMA) National Organisation for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)NORML New ZealandNew South Wales Users & AIDS AssociationNovember CoalitionOld Grove Neighborhood AllianceOrange County Hemp Council (OCHC)Oregonians for Personal Privacy (OPP)Recreational Drugs CommitteeSons and Daughters of SuburbiaSwedish Cannabis Association (SCA)Swedish National Association for the Rights of Drug UsersTransformWashington Hemp Education Network

Title: For a revision of the UN Conventions on Narcotic drugs

- The US Drug War domestic and international effects (Ethan Nadelmann, Director, The Lindesmith Center);

- Human Rights and Drug Control: the perspective of drugs-linked crops growers; (ENCOD)

- Legalization of drugs and civil disobedience (Olivier Dupuis, Secretary General, Radical Party, Member of the European Parliament)

- Drug prohibition vs. Drug regulation (Kevin Zeese, President, Common Sense for Drug Policy)

- Drugs and Democracy: an Andean perspective (ENCOD)

- The Dutch experience (Freek Polak, Global Coalition for alternatives to the Drug War)

- The cannabis depenalization campaign (speakers to be determined)

- Drugs Consumption and Human Rights: a consumer perspective (ENCOD)

- Harm Reduction and the War on Drugs (Allan Clear, Executive director, The Harm Reduction Coalition)

American Antiprohibition League, Arthur Livermore, board member,

Portland, Or.

American Society for Action on Pain (ASAP), Skip Baker, president, Williamsburg

Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party (ALCP), Brandon Hutchison, secretary, Canterbury, New Zealand.

Arkansas Law Reform Group, T.E. Kezele, representative, Fayetteville,

AR

Association for Emancipatory Drug Policy (DEBED), Martine Hutsebaut, chair, Brussels

Auto Support des Usagers de Drogues (ASUD), Jimmy Kempfer, porte parole, Paris

British Columbia Anti-Prohibition League (BCAPL), Joanne Oake, representative, Victoria, B.C., Canada

Campaign for Equity-Restorative Justice (CERJ), John Wilmerding, general secretary, Brattleboro, VT

Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp (CRRH), D. P. Stanford, coordinator, Portland, Or.

Campaign to Legalise Cannabis International Association (CLCIA), Alun

Buffry, coordinator, Norwich

The Cannabis Freedom Fund, Chuck Conrad, director, Los Angeles

Christians For Reform, Kent Watson, co-founder, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Common Sense for Drug Policy (CSDP), Kevin Zeese, president, Falls=

Church, VA=20

Compassionate Care Alliance, Ann McCormick, chair, Darlington, Rhode=

Island

Coordinamento Radicale Antiproibizionista (CORA), Eric Picard,

secretary, Brussels

Detroit Organizational Needs In Treatment (DONT), Aaron Rolnick,=

Davison, MI

Dogwood Center, Dawn Day, director, Princeton, NJ

Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii (DPFH), Donald Topping, president,=

Honolulu, Hawaii

Drug Policy Forum of Texas (DPFT), G. Alan Robison, executive director,=

Houston

Drug Policy Reform Group of St. Paul, Paul Bischke, coordinator, St.=

Paul, Maine

Drug Reform Coordination Network (DRCNet), Adam Smith, associate=

director, Washington

Drug Users Rights Forum (DURF), Andria Efthimiou-Mordaunt, coordinator,=

London

Dutch Drug Policy Foundation, Freek Polak, board member, Amsterdam

El Cogollo, Revista Cann=E1bica, Esteban Escobar, coordinator, Zaragoza

Entheogen Awareness Committee, Michael Silva, public relations, Los=

Angeles

Fachforum Drogen des GAJB, Daniela Noll, Christian Schlicht,=

coordinators, Mannheim

Green Prisoners Release, Henk Poncin, founder, Amsterdam

HANF! Magazine, J=F6rg Jenetzky, chief editor, Bielefeld

Hanfparade, Martin M=FCncheberg, coordinator, Berlin

Help End Marijuana Prohibition SA (Hemp SA), Andrew Duffy,=

representative, Adelaide, Australia

HempWorld, Mari Kane, publisher, Forestville, California

HighLife, opinie en lifestyle magazine, Cliff Creemer, chief editor,=

Amsterdam

Houston NORML, Steve Nolin, vice-president, Houston, Tx

Human Rights and the Drug War Exhibit Project, Mikki Bach, coordinator,=

El Cerrito, Cal.

Instituto de Documentaci=F3n e Investigaci=F3n del Cannabis (IDIC), B.=

de Tudela, coordinator, Zaragoza

Kansas State Lobbyists for Cannabis Law Reform, Debby Moore, founder,=

Wichita

"Kne Bossem" - The NPO for Changing Israeli Drug Laws, Shlomi Sandak,=

chair

Legalise Cannabis!, Derek Williams, coordinator, Norwich, UK.

The Legalize! Initiative, Harry Bego, coordinator, Utrecht

Libertarian Party of Kosciusko County, Michael Houze, chair, Pierceton,=

Indiana

Media Awareness Project (MAP), Mark Greer, executive director

Medical Marijuana Advocating Coalition, Toni Leeman, president, Fort=

Lauderdale, FL

The Medical Marijuana Magazine, Peter McWilliams, publisher, Los=

Angeles

Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse (MAMA), Sandee Burbank, director,=

Mosier, OR

National Alliance of Methadone Advocates (NAMA), Joycelyn Woods,=

executive vice president

National Organisation for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), Keith=

Stroup, executive director

NORML New Zealand, Chris Fowlie, board member, Auckland

New South Wales Users & AIDS Association, Susan McGuckin, information=

officer, Sydney

November Coalition, Nora Callahan, director, Colville, Washington

Old Grove Neighborhood Alliance, Marcello Aurelio Lanfranchi, chair,=

Oakland, California

Orange County Hemp Council (OCHC), Dave Myers, coordinator, Orange=

County, California

Oregonians for Personal Privacy (OPP), George Stephano-Rose,=

coordinator, Eugene, Oregon

Recreational Drugs Committee, Erik van Ree, chair, Amsterdam.

Sons and Daughters of Suburbia, Samuel O. Simpson, founder, Blacksburg,=

Virginia=20

Swedish Cannabis Association (SCA), Mikael Linden, coordinator, Malm=F6

Swedish National Association for the Rights of Drug Users, Thomas=

Gilek, president, Stockholm

Transform, Danny Kushlick, director, Bristol

Transnational Radical Party (TRP), Olivier Dupuis, secretary general,=

Brussels

Washington Hemp Education Network, David L. Edwards, representative,=

Olympia, Washington,