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EU
Parliament
Delays
Vote
on
Drug
Commission
Report
1/15/98
We reported last week that British Prime Minister Tony Blair had ordered
all 60 of his Labourite EP's to vote against the report of the EU Drug
Commission which recommended a harm reduction approach, including the decriminalization
of cannabis, as official policy for the soon-to-be established Union. Reports
reaching us this week were that many of the 60 would abstain, rather than
vote one way or the other. In any case, it looked like it would be impossible
to get the Report passed without the British Labourites.
Now comes news that on Tuesday, the EU Parliament voted 252 to 223 in
favor of postponing the vote. This was reported as a victory for the report
by Dutch radio, considering its slim chance of passing at this time. What
is certain is that this issue will remain contentious in Europe as governments
and even populations within most of the individual nations remain divided
over the best way to proceed with regard to drug policy. Unlike in the
US, and despite heavy US pressure in favor of strict Prohibitionism and
against rational debate, drug policy in Europe is being widely discussed,
and the momentum, if not the advantage, is certainly on the side of those
advocating a change in the US-led status quo, as evidenced by ongoing events.
The Week Online will of course keep you up to date on developments in
Europe and elsewhere. Things will no doubt heat up even further as the
UN special session on narcotics, scheduled for early June, approaches.
(ERRATA: Last week's article on the EU vote contained a typo: The strict
prohibitionist amendments were submitted by Sweden, not Switzerland. Our
apologies to the Swiss, whose heroin maintenance programs are in the vanguard
of drug policy reform.)
-- END --
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Issue #25, 1/15/98
Vasconcellos Calls for Medical Marijuana Access in Face of Federal Action Against Clubs | Defense Fund Established for Buyers' Club Defendants | Washington State Bill Authorizing Medical Marijuana to be Considered: Your responses needed! | Pentagon Proposes Ending Military Border Patrols | President Clinton Signs Directive: Authorizes $200 Million to try to Reduce Drugs Use... in Prisons | EU Parliament Delays Vote on Drug Commission Report | Colombian Foreign Minister: "If US Doesn't Certify Us, There Will be a Political Earthquake" | British Medical Journal, Lancet, Calls on US to Act on Needle Exchange | New Australian Harm Reduction-Based Drug-Ed Program Sends Kids to Teach Kids | Nuclear Cruiser USS California Deployed in Drug War | Harm Reduction Workshop in Boston
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