Work of the Multidisciplinary Symposium on Drug Dependence (Strasbourg, 20-24 March 1972)

Recommendation 679 (1972)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

Assembly debate on 19 October 1972 (12th Sitting) (see Doc. 3156, report of the Committee on Social and Health Questions). Text adopted by the Assembly on 19 October 1972 (12th Sitting).

The Assembly,

1. Having regard to the report on and the conclusions of the Multidisciplinary Symposium on Drug Dependence held in Strasbourg, from 20-24 March 1972, in accordance with a decision taken by the Committee of Ministers and in pursuance of Assembly Resolution 457 (1970) ;

2. Considering that drug dependence continues to be a major and still aggravating problem in the Council of Europe member States ;

3. Believing that any measures taken to counteract the abuse of drugs will be inadequate until there is sufficient knowledge about the interaction between the main factors involved in drug abuse leading to dependence : man, the environment and the drugs themselves ;

4. Being of the opinion that the Council of Europe, in collaboration with the competent specialised agencies of the United Nations, has an important role to play in strengthening and co-ordinating the action taken in its member States with regard to the prevention, treatment and control of drug dependence ;

5. Noting that the recommendations adopted by the Multidisciplinary Symposium on Drug Dependence are to a large extent in accordance with the proposals put forward in Assembly Recommendation 609 (1970) on the public health and legal aspects of drug dependence,

6. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers :

a promote a common approach by member States to the drug problem, ensuring that national legislations are sufficiently flexible to permit appropriate measures to be applied to the different types of offences, on the lines set out in the annex to Recommendation 609 (1970) - in particular its paragraph A3 - containing proposals for legal action and for harmonisation of penal provisions in member States, as well as the recommendations of the Multidisciplinary Symposium on Drug Dependence ;

b set up a special multidisciplinary committee of experts on drug dependence which should closely collaborate with the International Control Board on Narcotic Drugs, the United Nations Narcotics Division, the World Health Organisation and other competent international organisations, and invite the Commission of the European Communities and the governments of European non-member States to participate in the work of this committee and its possible subcommittees from the very beginning ;

c instruct this multidisciplinary committee to define the Council of Europe's role in the field of drug dependence, and in particular :

6.3.1 to work out a system for the collection and diffusion of information on activities and developments in the field of drug dependence in the States which have been invited to the multidisciplinary symposium, with a view to promoting the co-ordination of the activities on the prevention, treatment and control of drug dependence in these States ;

6.3.2 to evaluate the results obtained by different methods of treatment and rehabilitation of drug dependent persons, in order that new approaches to these methods can be based on sound knowledge ;

6.3.3 to initiate and promote research into the interaction between the factors involved in drug abuse leading to drug dependence - man, the environment and the drugs themselves - in order to improve knowledge of the main causes of drug dependence ;

6.3.4 to elaborate an informative publication on drug dependence destined for the medical and teaching professions, psychologists, social workers, youth leaders and parents ;

6.3.5 to work out a code of ethics for the advertising of dependence-producing substances ;

7. Further recommends that the Committee of Ministers invite the governments of the Council of Europe member States :

a to implement the recommendations adopted by the Multidisciplinary Symposium on Drug Dependence which require action at national level ;

b to become parties to and implement at the national level as soon as possible the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 30 March 1961 and the amending Protocol of 25 March 1972, the Convention on Psycho-tropic Substances of 21 February 1971, the European Convention on the International Validity of Criminal Judgments of 28 May 1970, and the European Convention on the Transfer of Proceedings in Criminal Matters of 15 May 1972.