A Forum on Drug legalization will be held at the Zappion Center this Thursday, 22 November at 5pm, until 24 November, called by Radical Party and International Anti-Prohibitionist League. In this opening address to the Forum, Nobel Prize economist Milton Friedman states:

"It is most fitting that htis 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 have raised demands to provide treatment for drug addicts rather than jail. Greek parlamentarians are taking the most forward-looking initiative in the EEC as they prepare themselves to draw up new laws for January. 30 deputies will hear a debate between free-market legalizers and advocates of state-controlled drug distribution. "The resignation of U.S. drug czar, William Bennett, the day after elections shows that the "war on drugs" is being lost. Our Athens Forum is a beginning to show the world thet the debate needs to be around how to legalize drugs," said IAL president Marie-Andree Bertrand.

Two Italian Deputies, Marco Taradash and Emma Bonino, President of Radical Party were arrested on 5 November on the steps of New York's City Hall for attempting to give clean needles to the Major of New York. The AIDS epidemic has exploded there, partly as a result of government banning the use of clean syringes. Said Anthony Herman, IAL Executive Secretary, "Time is running out. As the deaths and prison populations continue to mount, we in Athens have an historical obligation to correct inhumane U.S. policies: at home, AIDS transmitted by a lack of clean needles, and abroad, the obsession with eliminating coca leaf production in Latin America."

Former Colombian ambassador to France, Senor Enrique Gomez Hurtado, will explain why his country is moving towards peace negotiations with cocaine traffickers. Dr. Baldomero Caceres, a coca leaf expert and representative of Peru's state coca leaf company, ENACO, will explain why President Fujimori is refusing U.S. military aid to eradicate coca plantations. They call for the right of Peru to export its green coca-leaf products such as tea bags. Each year U.S. companies export millions of dollar worth of tobacco to South America, according to MEP Taradash, and it is hypocritical to deny peasants an alternative to the illicit cocaine economy.

Amongst some of the world experts addressing the Forum:

Jose Manuel SANCHEZ GARCIA: Head of the Spanish Policemen's Union, Dr. John MARKS: Liverpool's pioneering doctor who, by prescribing legal clean heroin to addicts, and by working with Liverpool police to provide free, clean needles, has drastically reduced AIDS-related deaths, Yannis TSEKLENIS : World renowned dress designer who, togehter with fellow Athenian businessmen, has provided the main encouragement for the Forum. Dr. Lester GRINSPOON : Harvard Medical School expert on medical uses of marijuana -- for glaucoma and nausea caused by chemotherapy, Richard STEVENSON : Leading British free market economist, Manuela CARMENA CASTRILLO : Madrid judge, responsible for prisons.

List of Foreign Participants

Hannes ALPHEIS

Representative of City of Hamburg where both the Mayor and the Chief of Police support drug legalization - GERMANY.

Javier ANDRADE

Anthropologist and author of only major book on drug trafficking from young users'perspective, Fundacion Nuestros Jovenes - ECUADOR.

Giancarlo ARNAO

Physician and co-founder of the Coordinamento Radicale Antiproibizionista - ITALY.

Vana BARENGHI

Journalit, Secretary of Coordinamento Radicale Antiproibizionista - ITALY.

Anita BENNETT

Television journalist, Committee for an Open Debate on Drugs, formerly of Amnesty International Secretariat - BRITAIN.

Marie-Andree BERTRAND

Criminologist, member of 1972 Le Dain drug Commission in former Trudeau government, President of IAL - CANADA.

Emma BONINO

Deputy in Italian Parliament, President of the Radical Party, campaigner for women's right to abortion and divorce - ITALY.

Francis CABALLERO

Barrister, author of Le Droit de la Drogue - FRANCE.

Baldomero CACERES

Representative of Peru's state coca leaf company, ENACO, former Vice-Rector of the University of Cusco - PERU.

Manuela CARMENA CASTRILLO

Magistrate in Madrid responsible for prison, founder of "Alternative Platform on Drugs" - SPAIN.

Maria Luisa CESONI

Lawyer specialising in drugs, organizer of European Campaign for Drug Information, including 1990 seminar for the Council of Europe - SWITZERLAND.

Peter COHEN

Sociologist, author of the only comprehensive study of cocaine use in an European city, Amsterdam - NETHERLANDS.

Antonio CONTARDO

Businessman, fundraiser and consultant to the World Wildlife Foundation - SPAIN.

Andrew CORNWALL

Legal expert working with British solicitors on drug offenses, founder of the Legalise Cannabis Campaign - BRITAIN.

Rosa DEL OLMO

Author, Lecturer in Criminology, University of Caracas - VENEZUELA.

Jose Luis DIEZ RIPOLLES

Lecturer in Criminal Law, University of Malaga - SPAIN.

Dr. Lester GRINSPOON

Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, international expert on Marijuana and its medical uses, member of the Drug Policy Foundation - USA.

Enrique GOMEZ HURTADO

Colombian Ambassador to France from 1979 - 82, newspaper editor, brother of Alvaro Gomez Hurtado, Conservative anti-prohibitionist candidate in recent elections - COLOMBIA.

Anthony HENMAN

Writer and anthropologist, author of Mama Coca and Big Deal: The Politics of Illicit Drug Business, former member of the State Drug Council of Sao Paulo - BRITAIN.

Pierre JOSET

Lawyer, founder of Swiss Anti-Prohibitionist League - SWITZERLAND.

Slave GORJUP

Editor, founder of Anti-Prohibitionist League of Slovenia - YUGOSLAVIA.

Dirk KOPF

Sociologist at the University of Amsterdam, expert on legal marijuana coffee houses - NETHERLANDS.

Amato LAMBERTI

Sociologist, University of Naples, and Director of the Osservatorio sulla Camorra - ITALY.

Dr. John MARKS

Consultant Psychiatrist for drug addicts in Liverpool, pioneer in prescribing legal heroin - BRITAIN.

Renato NICOLINI

Italian Communist Party, former Mayor of Rome and now responsible for its Cultural Sector - ITALY.

Roberto ORTEGON

Adviser to Colombian President's Youth Council, Director of Medellin Sports Council - COLOMBIA.

Marco PANNELLA

Member of the European Parliament, founding member of the Radical Party, campaigner for conscienlious objection and other human rights - ITALY.

Alan PARRY

Drugs and HIV Co-ordinator for City of Liverpool, joint architect of drug harm-reduction programme with Dr.Marks - BRITAIN.

Christian-Nils ROBERT

Professor of Law, Geneva, Swiss Anti-Prohibitionist League - SWITZERLAND.

Jean-Luc ROBERT

Parliamentary assistant, Organizer of the January 1991 International Drug Symposium in Brussels, Member of CORA - BELGIUM.

Wijnand SENGERS

Psychiatrist, representative to Athens of the European Movement for the Normalisation of Drug Policy - NETHERLANDS.

Sinn STERN

AIDS outreach worker and clean needle campaigner, Montefiore Hospital, New York City - USA.

Jose Manuel SANCHEZ GARCIA

Police inspector, Representative of the Spanish Policemen's Union - SPAIN.

Richard STEVENSON

Hoalth economist, University of Liverpool, advocate of free market solution to drug prohibition - BRITAIN.

Marco TARADASH

Journalist, Member of the European Parliament, elected on an anti-prohibitionist platform, Secretary of Coordinamento Radicale Antiproibizionista - ITALY.

Massimo TEODORI

Member of the Italian Parliament, Radical Party - ITALY.

Georg THAMM

Journalist, founder of the German Association for Research and Therapy of Drug Addict, recently presented with an award for his efforts by the German Police Union - GERMANY.

Henk Jan VAN VLIET

Lawyer, Director of the Metropolink Study and Research Center - NETHERLANDS.

Leo ZAAL

Head of the Narcotics Brigade for the Amsterdam City Police - NETHERLANDS.

Kevin ZEESE

Vice-President of the Drug Policy Foundation, attorney and defender of constitutional drugs cases - USA.