Social consequences of and responses to drug misuse in member states

THE PRESIDENT. – I call Mr Eörsi, who will speak on behalf of the Liberal Democratic and Reformers’ Group.

Mr EÖRSI (Hungary). – Mr Balazs Bocsa is a schoolboy in the rural city of Kaposvar. His teachers like him and he anticipated a wonderful career. It happens sometimes that poor kids meet others when marijuana is going around, or hash. Now once he gave one gram of hashish to his friend, who smoked. When Mr Balazs Bocsa gave the hash to his friend, he became a dealer. Believe it or not, the second instance court sentenced him to three years of imprisonment. He has recently celebrated his eighteenth birthday, and a few weeks ago he started his three years of jail. The President of Hungary does not wish to deal with Mr Balazs Bocsa’s plea to grant him a pardon. The Hungarian Government is explicitly proud of introducing the toughest anti-drug policies in the criminal courts.

I find such behaviour the real misuse of drug policies. To spread propaganda to show how strongly the government is fighting drug consumption, it puts young children in prison and breaks their lives.

The Liberal Group is aware that drug consumption is an extremely serious problem throughout Europe. However, we believe that such a serious problem should not be addressed by the penal code. Drug consumption should be decriminalised. We are aware that there are serious cases of drug consumption but we believe that they should be dealt with not in the criminal courts but with medical treatment. We believe that if a person is heavily addicted to drugs, that person is already in trouble. No authority should push him or her even deeper into trouble. All assistance should be provided to enable the individual to come out of drugs. There is no doubt that imprisonment is anything but a help.

I am clearly instructed by my group to say that more effort should be paid to prevention. Education and information needs to be provided to our kids so that they will be aware of where drug consumption will lead. We must convince them that drug consumption is a bad thing.

On behalf of the Liberal Group, I plead that all authorities should pardon Mr Balazs Bocsa of Kaposvar in Hungary and thousands of his colleagues who live throughout Europe, whose lives are about to be broken. It is my plea that there should be international co-operation to introduce prevention measures. As a result, the consumption of drugs will decrease.

THE PRESIDENT. – Thank you, Mr Eörsi. The next speaker is Mr Magnusson.

2002. január 24.