Cannabis concerns set to put ministers on warpath

By David Cronin

Date: 15/07/04

EU JUSTICE ministers will be urged to clamp down on the trade in cannabis, amid rising concern about the medical effects of the "soft" drug.

A working party of the Council of Ministers is considering the creation of joint police teams, involving officers from Europol and different member states, dedicated to breaking up networks of cannabis traffickers. In addition, it suggests that governments should consider cracking down on internet sites that encourage the cultivation or consumption of cannabis.

The suggestions have been tabled as part of the discussions on setting an EU drugs strategy for 2005-12. The Dutch presidency has set a target of having that strategy finalized by early November and approved at the December summit.

The working party on drugs has prepared its proposals in response to reports that cannabis use is rising and that the potency of supplies is rising.

In the past week a new study indicating that cannabis can cause mental illness has been published. Research by the Yale University School of Medicine found that a number of people injected with the main active ingredient in the drug over a three-year period demonstrated such symptoms as paranoia and memory loss.

The emphasis on repressive measures in the proposals appears to be contradicting the more liberal policies towards cannabis agreed at national level in some member states in recent years. Belgium, Portugal, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic have decriminalized the possession of the drug in small quantities. The UK, Spain and Germany have also reassessed their approach to illegal drugs.

Former Interpol chief Raymond Kendall has been prominent in advocating a reassessment of how the international "war on drugs" should be fought. "The view generally speaking among the law enforcement community is that prosecuting everyone is not the right approach," he told European Voice. "Something has to be done with drug abusers - not by sending them through the criminal justice system but by obliging them to go into treatment."

Outgoing Italian Radical MEP Marco Cappato, a campaigner for the legalization of drugs, said: "The failure of prohibitionism on drugs is leading policymakers to move to the prohibition of ideas and thoughts. If they do something like that, I will make my website available for hosting any ideas and thoughts that could be seen to violate the law they want to create."

A document drawn up the Dutch presidency bemoans the "poor coordination" between the various bodies dealing with drugs. It states that new structures are needed to link the EU with such international bodies as the World Health Organization and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Because most of the drugs consumed in the EU are imported, the paper recommends that more liaison officers from the Union's police forces should be posted to third countries. The western Balkans are cited as a region deserving special attention. Albania was named the biggest producer of cannabis in Europe, followed by the Netherlands, in a report published by the UNODC last month.

A Dutch diplomat said his government was trying to facilitate discussions, rather than be prescriptive. "We are not trying to sell the Dutch policy abroad," he said.

Although the Netherlands has long been regarded as the European country with the most relaxed attitude towards drug use, its centre-right government has been anxious to shed that image.

Last year, for example, it moved against "drugs tourism" by deciding that "coffee shops" along the country's border with Germany could only sell cannabis to Dutch residents.

A Council of the European Union working party is looking into the creation of joint police teams, involving officers from Europol and Member States, dedicated to breaking up networks of cannabis traffickers. There are growing concerns about the link between cannabis use and mental illness.