THE BULLETTIN the newsweekly of the capital of europe, page 21

may 9, 1996

by Cleveland Moffett

The Flemish association of "recreational" drug-users has called for the abolition of repressive laws against cannabis and other banned substances. At a parliamentary hearing, spokesman Jean Blanquart of De Bond voor een Emancipatorisch Drugbeleid (Debed) argued that the consumption of drugs does not lead inexorably to addiction and delinquency.

"The drug problem is not synonymous with drug use," he said. Far from denying that a problem exists, Blanquart made the point that as an association of drug consumers, Debed are "in the front line" of the battle between abuse and repression.

"We are seen as the enemy," he objected, "because the police are waging a war against the users rather than against drugs per se". As a result, they are treated as though they belong to the criminal underworld. "It is drug 'prohibitionism' that creates delinquency," he insisted.

The Debed representative urged that there should be a separate emergency number for drug users in the event of an overdose - fear of the police is the main reason why people in serious trouble don't call for help until it is too late. On a more controversial topic, Debed has called for "open houses", meaning supervised locations where individuals can consume drugs legally.

As proponents of depenalization, they would like to see 0.5 percent of the

annual budget for police security turned over to five such houses in the main cities of Belgium. Debed suggests that the experiment be conducted for two years to test its impact on the crime rate and on public health generally.

The Flemish group was followed by a spokesman for the Walloon association Citoyens Comme Les Autres (CCLA). Didier De Vleeschouwer said that men and women who take drugs for recreational purposes share exactly the same moral values as any other lawabiding segment of society. He called for a change in the 1975 anti-drug legislation so that individuals in the privacy of their homes should be allowed to consume drugs either alone or with friends.

For more information on the subject, telephone Coordination Radicale Antiprohibitionniste (Cora) on 511.60.76. or fax 230.36.70.