29/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - The vice-president of the European Parliament's civil liberties committee, Giusto Catania (GUE/NGL, Italy), has roundly criticised the United Nations strategy to combat drug addiction, saying that it had led to an unprecedented rise in drug use in the EU. This 'war on drugs' strategy on which the EU's 2005-2008 anti-drugs programme was based, was falling apart, explains Catania in a press release following the publication on 22 November of the OEDT's 2007 report (see EUROPE 9552). Catania said that Commissioner Franco Frattini should come up with a new plan for 2008-2012 with changed priorities because otherwise the situation would get even worse. Catania pointed out that cannabis was more widely distributed in the United States, where tougher legislation exists, than in the Netherlands which has more tolerant laws. A year ago, Catania called for the resignation of the executive director of the United Nations anti-drugs office, Antonio Maria Costa (see EUROPE 9304). (B.C.)