ABSTRACT: An international conference on "European Cities at the Centre of Drug-Trafficking" was held from 20-22 November in Frankfurt last year. It was promoted by the Frankfurt City Council. An important Resolution, proposed by representatives from Amsterdam, Hamburg, Zurich and Frankfurt itself, was passed at the Conference, which was attended by chiefs of police, national health service doctors and important figures who all recognized the ineffectiveness of the prohibition policy on drugs.

We are publishing an excerpt from the "Frankfurt Resolution" which represents a real milestone on the road to legalization, because of its official nature and the possibilities of cooperation it offers with local government.

(The Party New, n.2, July 1991)

1. The attempt to eliminate drugs and drug-taking from our society has failed. Despite all our efforts, there is still a demand for narcotics, and there is also every indication that we shall have to live with drugs and drug-users in the future.

2. The use of drugs has its roots in the failings of society and cannot, therefore, be prevented by specific policies. At best, these polices can only control and limit the consumption of drugs and the effects of drug-taking. The majority of people who use drugs do so for a brief period in their lives, which ends when they become mature enough to do without them. The drug laws should help, rather than hinder, this maturing process.

3. Fighting drug addiction with the law only, forcing people to abstain, and offering assistance merely to those who do abstain, has proved useless. There is still a demand for drugs, the social and medical problems experienced by drug-users are on the increase, the number of addicts who have contracted the HIV virus is rising steadily, the number of deaths is increasing, the trafficking in drugs is becoming more widespread and profitable, and city-dwellers live in increasing fear of drug-pushing and the crimes it provokes.

4. Drug problems are not confined to the effects of the drugs themselves, but arise from their illegal consumption which results in drugs circulating at a prohibitive cost, and that have been "cut" with other substances so that the actual dose cannot be ascertained. The illegal consumption of drugs is the main cause of the suffering and death of an addict, and of drug-related crimes. Crime is the alternative to assistance and therapy for many addicts today, and this overloads both the police and the legal system.

5. The majority of drug-users live in the cities, or come into the cities, because this is where the drugs are sold, where the drug centres are and where they can obtain assistance. The majority of our cities are drug-infested, but they have very little say in political decisions concerning drugs; indeed, it would seem that the greater the problem, the less influence they have.