My question relates to the need for other EU member states to tighten their laws on the use of drugs and the action taken by the Government in this regard. There is considerable concern that less stringent drug laws in other EU countries, such as the Netherlands, are facilitating the trafficking of addictive and dangerous drugs. I am sorry the Minister for Justice is not present as she has adopted a soft approach to this matter.
The French President, Jacques Chirac, recently indicated that the French Government intended to put pressure on Holland to tighten its tolerant drugs policy in view of its implications for other EU member states. An organisation in Holland, Concerned Citizens, has expressed considerable disquite about their government's tolerant policy. Recently, in the city of Hulst, a local referendum indicated that 96 per cent of the population rejected the tolerant policy which allowed cannabis to be sold in coffee shops. The mayor of Hulst will be hosting an international seminar at the end of this month on the need for Holland to recognise its obligations to other EU states.
As the Dutch currently hold the EU Presidency, I strongly urge the incoming Taoiseach, the Minister for Foreign Affairs or the Minister for Justice to support our French counterparts in bringing pressure to bear on the Dutch. We read daily in our newspapers about Irish drug barons operating from Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Drugs trafficking is an international problem which requires a firm international response.
I wish to quote the following from a document published by Concerned Citizens:
One of the urgent matters to be discussed by the EU during this period [the Dutch Presidency] is drug control. The Dutch Government have continued to maintain their permissive attitude towards drugs for years now, and they have promoted their policy as both `human' and `successful' whenever possible within the EU. At the November 1996 meeting of the EU Council of Minister [Ireland had the Presidency at that time], the Dutch Government were given a `green light' to continue their drug policy. This `success' was greeted in the Dutch Parliament as a `victory' for the Dutch position.
Bowing to international pressure, the Dutch Government have recently `sharpened up' their policy, e.g. by closing down a number of `coffee shops'. In practice, the Dutch Government have allowed new `coffee shops' to be opened. Also, they have given an `allowance' of 500 grams of cannabis... to be stored in the shops.
I do not know how many grammes are used to make a joint, but if a quarter of a gramme is needed for one joint, we are talking about 2,000 joints being lawfully sold in these coffee shops. The document further states:
This is a very important step towards `legalising' the local sale of cannabis. Previously, there was no formal `allowance'. Further examples can be given of how the Dutch Government will say one thing to satisfy international demands for more restrictions on drugs and do something else at home.
As time is limited I cannot detail the other useful points in this circular, but the Concerned Citizens project has the following aims which the people of this country would share: to put drug control policy issues at the top of the EU agenda; to prevent the spread of permissive attitudes within the EU, particularly during the Dutch term of the EU Presidency; to check the facts on the domestic drug problem presented by the Dutch Government and, whenever possible, to present sound, scientific, epidemiological or legal evidence to show the seriousness of the problem; and to co-ordinate the efforts of EU member states to achieve a common restrictive drug policy based on the United Nations international drug conventions.
In a letter dated 29 November 1996 to the head of an organisation in Holland, Mr. Karel Gunning, President of the Landelijk Comite Drug-preventie, a drugs prevention committee, the Minister for Justice stated:
Dear Mr. Gunning,
I write to thank you most sincerely for the information concerning the harmonisation of European drugs policy for the meeting of EU Justice Ministers.
I am very grateful to receive all such information from your organisation and look forward to hearing from you again.
There would be nothing wrong with that letter were it not for the fact that the Minister presided over a meeting of EU Justice Ministers from which the Dutch came away with more liberalisation rather than less. I would like some comment from the Minister or her Department regarding our policy on this issue. Ireland should fully support the French position, along with other EU member states, in bringing pressure to bear on the Dutch Government. Drugs are not dangerous because they are illegal — they are illegal because they are dangerous.