Brussels, 20/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - With the adoption on 20 February of the report by British Labour member Paul Flynn, the social affairs committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe felt that the Council of Europe member states should gear their drugs policies to the social consequences of drug abuse (decease, illness, drug-related crime). He insisted on the need to objectively assess the success or failure of the various European policies on drugs.
In a draft recommendation, the committee proposes the approach adopted by Switzerland, which has, since 1994, considerably reduced the number of drug-related deaths by using prevention and treatment programmes, however controversial (for example, the exchange of syringes, injection rooms, supplies of heroin to highly dependent addicts, housing and employment programmes for drug users). The recommendation also notes that the United Kingdom and Sweden have chosen to apply severe legal sanctions for the possession and use of drugs, despite proof that such a method is ineffective. The text will be examined by the standing committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe during its meeting in Istanbul from 21 to 23 May 2000.