Reform of the Conventions on drugs

The committee adopted the own-initiative report by Kathalijne Maria BUITENWEG (Greens/EFA, NL) including a proposal for a recommendation of the European Parliament to the Council on the reform of the Conventions on drugs drawn up by Marco CAPPATO and 108 other signatories. Pointing out that the overwhelming majority of crimes and offences committed in the EU consisted of drug-related petty crime and organised crime connected with drugs, the committee agreed with the UN that there was an urgent need to fight drug dependence and the crime connected with it. However, it added that research and evidence-based assessment were needed in order to determine whether the policies pursued on the basis of the UN Convention on drugs were effective. The EU representatives due to attend the UN Ministerial Conference in Vienna in April 2003 were urged to call for a detailed evaluation of how effective the implementation of the Conventions actually was, to be followed up by a UN Conference in 2004 to debate the findings of that evaluation and possibly consider amending the Conventions. In this connection, the report pointed out that the Conventions included provisions for changes to be made, in particular the reclassification of the substances listed as well as amendment of the text itself. The committee also made a number of other recommendations, including a call for medical studies to be carried out into the consequences of long-term drug abuse involving cannabis, heroin and psychotropic and other drug substances. In addition, it stressed that all drugs should be classified in accordance with the scientific evidence of risk to human health. Finally, it called on the Member States to take specific measures to prevent drug marketing on the Internet. �