Oct.31 - Nov. 4, 1990

The Mayflower Hotel

Preliminary schedule

Theme: The great issues of drug policy

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 31

6-8 p.m. Registration

Reception

8 p.m. Tour of Washington

THURSDAY, NOV. 1

8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Registration

9 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. Press conference/ plenary session

9-10:30 a.m. Public officials

10:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Learned professions

12:15 - 2 p.m. Lunch on your own

2:15 - 5:30 p.m. Meetings of organizations

2:15 - 3:45 p.m. First session of five groups

4 - 5:30 p.m. Second session of five groups

8 p.m. Stephen Wade Show

FRIDAY, NOV. 2

8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Registration

9 - 12:15 p.m. Workshops

9 - 10:30 a.m . First session of concurrent w.s.

1. The drug war in Latin America

2. The renewal of the English model

3. Why Marijuana should be treated separately

4. The police in the crossfire

5. Drugs, violence and crime

10:45 - 12:15 p.m. Second session of concurrent w.s.

6. Crack, part 1: Myths and Mystifications

7. Marijuana's utility beyond medicine

8. Is Europe going Dutch?

9. The growing threat of drug testing

10. Alternative models of reform

12:30 - 2 p.m. Luncheon

2:15 - 5:30 p.m. Workshops

2:15 - 3:45 p.m. Third session of concurrent w.s.

11. Crack, Part 2: A cross-cultural perspective

12. The effects of the drug war on medical treatment

13. Preventing drug abuse thru education

14. Impact of the drug war on civil liberties

15. The importance of the international reform movement

3:15 - 5 p.m

16. TV shows/workshops

17. Corruption of public officials

Medical marijuana

4 - 5:30 p.m. Fourth session of concurrent w.s.

18. Drug use: the real hazards

19. Problems caused in North-South relations by

Prohibitionism

20. New issues in drug treatment

21. Developing a college-level drug curriculum

22. Practical realities of the reform movement

7 p.m. Marakesh event

SATURDAY, NOV. 3

8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Registration

9 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.Plenary

9 - 10:30 a.m. Assess. of Amer. drug war

10:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. International reformers

12:30 - 2 p.m. Advisory Board Lunch

2:15 - 5:30 p.m. Workshops

2:15 - 3:45 p.m. Fifth session of concur. w.s.

23. Psychopharmacology of drugs

24. Addiction: Is it a disease?

25. Problems caused in East-West relations by

Prohibitionism

26. Psychology of the negative view of drugs

3:15 - 5 p.m.

27. TV shows/workshops

28. Bill of rights

Legalization

4 - 5:30 Sixth session of concur. w.s.

29. Needle exchange prevents the spreas of AIDS

30. A public health strategy in drug control

31. Racism in the war on drugs

32. The military's role in the drug war.

6 - 7 p.m. Reception

7 - 10 p.m. Awards banquet

SUNDAY, NOV.4

10 a.m. - 1 p.m. General session

Wrap up breakfast

CLEAN NEEDLES TO NEW YORK

Europeans join New York efforts to provide basic health care.

Embargoed for: 10 a.m. (New York time)

Monday, 5th November 1990

The Brussels-based International Anti-Prohibitionist League declared today its intention to support clandestine syringe-exchange schemes in New York City. The practical aspects of this commitment - including the donation of syringes to representatives of the New York street agencies working with intravenous drug users - will be announced today at a press conference in New York. League President Marie-Andrée Bertrand will be joined by Marco Taradash, Member of the European Parliament, Emma Bonino, President of the Radical Party and Member of the Italian Parliament, and by Dr. John Marks and Mr. Alan Parry, joint architects of the pioneering needle-exchange schemes in Liverpool, England.

Italian anti-prohibitionist Marco Taradash stated in Parliament: "The War on Drugs is promoting delayed-action genocide in New York, with thousands of intravenous drug users contracting the HIV virus through the sharing of contaminated needles. This is a public health problem which affects not only New Yorkers, but the whole world. Further police repression of drug users is no answer."

League secretary Anthony Henman added: "America has long led the world in humanitarian assistance to areas affected by major plagues and disasters. Why, then, is the richest city on earth not able to save the lives of its own citizens? That is why our members, in Europe and throughout the world, will be raising money for clean needles to New York. We must show up the hypocrisy of the War on Drugs and shame America into changing its policies."

The statistics on New York's AIDS epidemic are shocking:

- of New York's approximate 200,000 intravenous drug users, fully 70 % are estimated to be HIV positive.

- in certain neighbourhoods, such as the South Bronx, up to 25 % of ALL adult men may have been infected by HIV, largely as the result of illicit drug use.

This health disaster can only be contained by overcoming ingrained prejudices against drug users and by supporting more sensible and hygienic injection practices. A good example is provided by Liverpool, a city which by the mid-1980's had become notorious for decay, unemployment, and the high prevalence of heroin consumption. Between late 1986 and the end of 1989, up to a million syringes were distributed free in Merseyside, the area centred on Liverpool, with the result that considerably less than 1 % of the 15,000 local intravenous drug users (IVDUs) have contracted the HIV virus. In fact, there are only 15 known cases of seropositive drug users in Merseyside - out of a total of over 2,000 who have been tested for HIV. These figures compare dramatically not only with those from New York, but also with those from the major cities of Scotland (50 % of IVDUs with HIV) and from the London area (5 to 10 % of IVDUs with HIV).

The message from Liverpool, therefore, is crystal clear:

CLEAN NEEDLES SAVE LIVES.

International action, no less than local pressure, is necessary to bring this point home to the authorities in New York City. Woodrow Myers, the city's Health Commissioner, stated to the New York Times (April 10, 1990) that he could not conceive of any scientific evidence that would persuade him of the worth of syringe-exchange schemes. He said: "I am ideologically opposed to government distribution of needles".

In denouncing the ideological agenda of the War on Drugs - and pointing out that it amounts, in effect, to official connivance with genocide - we are calling for a truly humane end enlightened drug policy. We are calling for CLEAN NEEDLES TO NEW YORK.