Brussels, 29/10/2003 (Agence Europe) - Drug consumption and youths: this is the theme of the conference that is being organised, this Thursday 30 and Friday 31st in Malaga, by the European Parliament, in collaboration with the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA, Lisbon), the Spanish government delegation for the national drug action plan, the regional government of Andalusia and the city council of Malaga. Politicians, scientists and experts from across Europe will have open discussions and exchange their experiences in the fight against this scourge, in order to try to define, at the European level, priorities for this battle. Among the persons present will be the Commissioner responsible for youth policy Viviane Reding, the President of the EP Committee on Citizen's Freedoms and Rights, Justice and Home Affairs, Jorge Salvador Hernandez Mollar (Partido Popular), and the President of the EMCDDA Administrative Council Marcel Reimen.
Mr Hernandez Mollar will use this opportunity to recall that the EU still has a long way to go before achieving its objective detailed in its action plan for drugs, namely to considerably reduce the consumption of drugs among youths aged under 18 by 2004. He also noted that the solution would be to invest more in prevention for vulnerable persons and for whom drug consumption is the highest. Mr Reimen, for his part, stated his hope that the Malaga conference would allow for 'positive progress' in the fight against drug consumption among youths.
Let us note that this conference takes place a few days after the launch, last week in Strasbourg, of the EMCDDA 2003 report on the state of the drug problem (see EUROPE of 24 October, p. 18).