An unprecedented meeting was held on July 15th. The senior representatives of Germany, Luxembourg e Malta gathered to discuss the legalization of marijuana in purpose recreational in Europe.
The first of one series of meetings multilateral meetings that could involve other European Union countries was held at Senningen Castle, Luxembourg.
The debate, started by a general presentation by the director of the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), Alexis Goosdeel, on policies of the European Union on cannabis, was divided into three sessions.
The first two focused on international and European law and the third, however, examined the various ones opportunities and challenges for the evaluation of public health and safety policy objectives in the context of international and European law.
The promoters argue that meetings between member states can be decisive, both to coordinate future regulations, both to face possible resistances by the United Nations (UN), which currently prevents the legalization of marijuana.
The repression has failed: we need to change our approach
At the end of the conference the ministers of Germany, Luxembourg and Malta released a joint statement emphasizing that "the status quo is not a sustainable option."
"We, Ministers or high representatives of Ministers of the national governments of Germany, Luxembourg and Malta, have met to discuss the different aspects of cannabis regulation for non-medical and non-scientific uses." - And again - "It is necessary to re-evaluate our cannabis policies and take into account recent developments in this sector, to further strengthen responses health and social, such as prevention programs, treatment and harm reduction interventions and to find new approaches beyond prohibition-based drug policies."
According to the Prime Minister of Justice of Luxembourg, Sam Tanson, “Almost half a century after our law criminalizing drug-related behavior came into force, Luxembourg still pursues a policy focused primarily on repression. However, as our statistics show, the failure of this approach cannot be denied and the time has come to develop a new approach, based on dialogue with the States that have made the same observation and the European and international institutions".
Finally we remember that according to a recent survey conducted by Hanway Associates, which examined eight EU countries, i55% of citizens Europeans He is in favor of legalizing marijuana.
