In April 2009 Volume 3, Number 118 of the ECAD NEWSLETTER was published.
The basic themes included in it are:
- Human being in the centre of our policy
- Drug tourists are not welcome
- Overcrowded prisons create HIV time-bomb
- Drug use: an overview ofgeneral population surveys in Europe
- Teenagers drink less – thanks to change in parenrs’ attitudes
- Dutch polise use mini helicopter to sniff out cannabis
- Court rules khat illegal in Malta
Here are some accents of the themes:
Drug tourists are not welcome
At the 16th ECAD Conference in Göteborg, the mayor of the Belgian city of Visé called for solidarity with the smaller cities which are forced to deal with the consequences of the coffee shop policy of the neighbouring Dutch city of Maastricht.
The mayor of Maastricht Gerd Leers came up with a proposal to transform the coffee-shops in Limburg province – the southern part of the country – into „clubs” for members. The proposal implies that in order to purchase cannabis a membership will be needed which might take a couple of days to obtain.
Overcrowded prisons create HIV time-bomb
HIV spread through drug abuse is rampant in overcrowded prisons across the world, posing a health risk to society when infacted inmates are released, the head of the U.N. drugs and crimes agency said on a press-conference in Vienna, report Reuters.
The United Nations has led a 54-year campaign to improve prisons, developing a set of standarts for how they should be run and how inmates should be treated. Antonio Maria Costa said the United Nations needed to encourage countries to follow these standarts and to look at alternatives to prison for minor crimes to ease overcrowding.
Teenagers drink less – thanks to change in parents’ attitudes
Swedish experience: in spite of the increasing quantity of alcohol advertisements and illegal import of alcohol into Sweden, during the last 7 years the alcohol consumption among the Swedish adolescence decreased. The explanation Swedish experts seek in the change of parents’ attitudes and in a recently outlined trend to sobriety among the youngsters. Seven years ago it was common the parents to treat their teenage kids with alcohol at home. Today only some per cent does it. The changed attitudes are tthe result of an active aducational compaign among the parents of teenage children.
Swiss Research: Teenagers who have strong relationship with their parents may start drinking at a later age- which may, in turn, lessen their risk of developing alcohol problems.