MARCO TARADASH MEETS EXPONENTS OF THE POLICE, OF THE POLITICAL MILIEU, AND EXPERTS IN THE DRUG PROBLEM. ONE HUNDRED PEOPLE TAKE PART IN THE ANTIPROHIBITIONIST CONFERENCE.

Following is a synthesis of the two-day Congress by Eduardo Rozsa, a radical from Budapest.

Tuesday 5 March 1991

1. MEETING BETWEEN TARADASH AND THE MAYOR OF BUDAPEST, GABOR DEMSZKY (LEAGUE OF FREE DEMOCRATS)

The meeting was attended by Gabor Demszky, mayor of Budapest, Istvan Sebesi, the mayor's councillor for international relations and member of the transnational Radical Party. Marco Taradash, member of the European Parliament, participated in the meeting accompanied by Anna Tothfalusi and Eduardo Rozsa, who are both members of the transnational Radical Party.

During the meeting, Marco Taradash illustrated the positions of the International Antiprohibitionist League and of the Radical Party as regards the general context of the drug problem, and commented on the possibility of the formation of a link between the countries of the former Communist Eastern Europe and West European countries, similar to that which already exists between the United States of America and Central and Latin America for drug trafficking; this would tremendously boost the illicit marketing of drugs, including hard drugs...

Gabor Demszky thanked Taradash for his concern and interest and for the information he provided. He thereafter explained that in Hungary there is a coordinated anti-drug activity, which relies chiefly on research centres such as those directed by Dr. Gerevich, whose action in the field of prevention is yielding excellent results. The mayor also informed Taradash that in the near future he intends to appoint one of the collaborators of Dr. Gerevich as councillor to deal with the problem of drug addicts, working full time for the Municipality of Budapest. The mayor continued saying that "we too view the problem of drugs not as a juridical-criminal problem, but more precisely as a social problem, which must be dealt with accordingly".

Demszky concluded saying that in his opinion, the fact that the nominal value of the Hungarian currency (forint) is not convertible represents a barrier against a massive marketing of drugs. This is why Hungary is not, according to the mayor, an immediate target for the major criminal organizations who trade drugs. Marco Taradash thanked the mayor for his hospitality and concluded the meeting saying that the interest of the International Antiprohibitionist League toward Hungary is based on the fact that this country is "still in time" to gear for the invasion of criminal organizations, and that it is necessary to develop a campaign to illustrate the risks that would ensue if the problem were treated with exclusively repressive means. He also asked the mayor for his help to organize an international antiprohibitionist seminar to be held in Budapest in June this year, which will be attended by several antiprohibitionist exponents and Hungarians experts in the field; the objective of the seminar is to complete

a exchange of information that could be of mutual use.

Taradash concluded his exposé presenting the papers of the Frankfurt Resolution and other documents issued by the International Antiprohibitionist League to Demszky. The mayor thanked him for his interest and concern, and said that the municipality of Budapest would endorse this project within the limits of its possibilities.

2. AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DAILY NEWSPAPER NEPSZABADSAG

In the headquarters of the Radical Party, Marco Taradash received journalist Agnes Federer of the Hungarian Nepszabadsag daily newspaper, with whom he talked about the drug problem.

3. MEETING BETWEEN MARCO TARADASH AND THE CITIZENS AND THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE HUNGARIAN PRESS, AT THE INTERCONTINENTAL HOTEL, 18:00.

During the meeting, which lasted about two hours and which was attended by about one hundred people, Taradash illustrated the antiprohibitionist positions, in relation to the future increase in drug trading activities toward the newly-established democracies of Central Europe, adding that these countries are nonetheless still in time to tackle the problem, avoiding the mistakes made in Western Europe, mistakes which have had tremendous consequences, both in the criminalization of drug consumption and - as a result of an indiscriminate repression - in the loss of control over the market and the channels of distribution of drugs.

Taradash explained that the only thing achieved with prohibition - apart from the risk of violating citizens' rights - is the criminalization of the consumer, and the development of a circuit of juvenile crime against which police forces, at least in Europe, have proved to be completely ineffective.

During the debate, the journalists and the public asked several questions and make remarks, both in favour and against antiprohibitionism, in some cases showing a complete ignorance of the problem, and raised issues manipulated by the official stance according to which consumption = crime. The members of the Radical party were contacted at the end of the meeting by the Hungarian press, and delivered a series of interviews to Hungarian mass medias.

At the end of the conference, the Hungarian radicals announced the creation of a Radical Antiprohibitionist Coordination, whose acronym in Hungarian is A.R.KO.

Wednesday 6 March 1991

4. MEETING BETWEEN MARCO TARADASH AND OFFICIALS OF THE NATIONAL HUNGARIAN POLICE FORCE.

The meeting, which took place in the National Command of the Police, was attended by Marco Taradash and Eduardo Rozsa, a Hungarian radical, Dr. Gyozo Szabo, Captain General of the Hungarian Police, national and general police commander, Lieutenant Colonel Laszlo Kiss, head of the National Department for drug enforcement, and Dr. Colonel Imre Kovalovszki, head of the RREE department of the National Hungarian Police and Director of the Hungarian Interpol Agency.

After Taradash had given some information concerning the positions and the activities of the International Antiprohibitionist League and on the project of organizing a scientific seminar in Budapest in June 1991, Dr. Gyozo Szabo replied thanking the member of the European Parliament for the concern shown toward the situation of drugs in Hungary. He then informed him of the international consultations under way in Hungary with English, French, Italian, German and Ditch specialized agencies. He continued adding that "we are unprepared to face the future and possible tide of crime connected to the drug trade" and also stated that "we are willing to take part on a seminar in Budapest, where we will delegate our top experts, who will contribute to the seminar illustrating our experiences in this field".

Thereafter, Dr. Antal Kacziba informed that "the Hungarian penal law does not represent a strict prohibitionist stance; the consumption of drugs and of substitute substances is not punished, in that the consumers of such substances are considered sick people and are treated as such. Our objective is not to punish them but to cure them. Clearly, Kacziba continued, the situation is totally different for those who participate in peddling or producing drugs". He said that "the complete liberalization of drugs would represent a danger for Hungarian society. If Sweden and The Netherlands, that are countries whose society and economy are more developed and advances, are not able to take radical antiprohibitionist measures, even less can we". "Even if the revision of the Hungarian penal code, scheduled for the next two years, seems to lead us toward a toughening of the legislation faced to this issue, my personal position is that to punish consumers is pointless". Kacziba also said that the "Hungarian government has

decided to create a new agency charged with handling such HEALTH PROBLEM, and large sums are being invested for this purpose". He also remarked that he does not consider an explosion in hard drug consumption in Hungary possible for the moment, because the purchasing power in freely convertible currencies is limited, even if there have been "cases of purchase of these costlier drugs in Vienna, not in exchange for money, but through bartering; for example, a dose of LDS can be obtained with two cases of Soviet champagne, given that the cost in Vienna is about $50, a huge and impossible sum for the Hungarians.

During the meeting, Eduard Rosza informed the representatives of the Hungarian National Police of the decision to create a new organization, called A.R.KO., the Hungarian equivalent of the CORA, the Radical Antiprohibitionist Coordination, which will operate in the Radical Party's headquarters in Budapest. The members of the organizational committee are Istvan Sebesi, Anna Tothfalusi and Eduard Rozsa, all members of the Radical Party.

5. MEETING WITH DR. JOZSEF GEREVICH, PRESIDENT OF THE DRUG PROGRAM OF THE NATIONAL HEALTH COMMITTEE.

Marco Taradash received Dr. Gerevich, a world renowned expert in the problem of drugs in Hungary in the Radical party's headquarters. During the meeting, the Hungarian psychiatrist offered his contribution and integration in the antiprohibitionist programs of the International Antiprohibitionist League. At the conclusion of the meeting, Dr. Gerevich also stated: "when I received the Radical Party's material on the antiprohibitionist issue I realized I was an antiprohibitionist". Dr. Gerevich is the most famous specialist in the field in Hungary. He is the founder of a school which formed all the Hungarian experts in the field.

6. MEETING BETWEEN MARCO TARADASH AND THE HUNGARIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT DR. FERENC GREZSA OF THE HUNGARIAN DEMOCRATIC FORUM, VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE OF THE HUNGARIAN PARLIAMENT, IN CHARGE OF THE DRUG PROBLEM IN THE COMMITTEE.

During the meeting, Taradash informed Dr. Grezsa about the activities of the International Antiprohibitionist League, which Dr. Grezsa already knew about, and offered his help to extend the exchange of information between the League and the Hungarian Parliamentary Committee, which he is the Vice-President of. He also stated he was willing to inform his colleagues of the Committee on the results of the meeting, and would inform the members of the parliamentary group of the Hungarian Democratic Forum, the leading force of the government coalition in Hungary. Grezsa said he was interested in taking part in the seminar to be held in June, and expressed his wish to cooperate with the A.R.KO.

7. MEETING WITH THE COUNCILLOR OF THE MINISTER OF HEALTH OF THE HUNGARIAN REPUBLIC.

Marco Taradash was received at the Ministry of Health by one of the minister's young councillors. During the meeting, Taradash illustrated the positions of the International Antiprohibitionist League, and the programs of the Hungarian radicals to start operating on the antiprohibitionist coordination also in Hungary. The councillor said that even though he does not consider an escalation in drug abuse in Hungary as imminent, he does agree in the fact that it is necessary to start acting on prevention and to prepare the health officials that will be in charge of curing drug addicts in the future, given that he too considers the problem a health problem and not a criminal problem. He gave an extensive report of his experiences in Germany, where he studied psychiatry, and advanced the hypothesis that Hungary's conservative forces will strongly oppose the complete liberalization of drug consumption, even if he considers this perspective as one of the most feasible instruments to tackle the problem. He said he wo

uld be glad to attend the seminar announced by Marco Taradash for June in Budapest.

8. TELEVISED INTERVIEW FOR THE POLICE ACADEMY OF BUDAPEST.

The last appointment for Marco Taradash in Budapest was a meeting-interview with several young pupils of the Police Academy of Budapest, who declared their intention to work in the police section devoted to the problem of drugs. After a brief conversation, considering the fact that the future police officers had attended the conference on the previous days, a brief interview with Marco Taradash on antiprohibitionist positions was recorded. The tape, as the police officers explained, shall be screened on the Police Academy's video network, and will be included in a more extensive video program, during which the different positions and opinions on drugs will be presented.