CONCLUSIONS OF THE COUNCIL AND THE MINISTERS FOR HEALTH, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL of 3 December 1990 on reducing the demand for narcotic and psychotropic substances (90/C 329/06)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES AND THE MINISTERS FOR HEALTH, MEETING WITHIN THE COUNCIL,

Having regard to the interim report and the guidelines for a European plan to combat drugs approved by the European Council in Dublin on 25 and 26 June 1990,

Having noted the task which the European Committee for the fight against drugs (Celad) assigned to the ad hoc Working Party on Drug Abuse, namely to examine the aspects relating to drug demand reduction contained in the preliminary draft European plan to combat drugs, drawn up by the current Presidency of Celad, and to prepare a document on the subject;

In the light of the thorough work carried out by the ad hoc Working Party on Drug Abuse in preparing that document;

Having noted that at its meeting of 19 and 20 November 1990 Celad used the findings of that work in its European plan to combat drugs, to be submitted by Celad to the Rome European Council on 13 and 14 December 1990;

Having examined, furthermore, the report drawn up by the Commission in conjunction with the Member States on demand reduction policies in the Member States, requested of the Commission by the European Council in Dublin on 25 and 26 June 1990;

Express their appreciation of the work carried out by the ad hoc Working Party and the Commission;

Suggest that the European Council, at its meeting of 13 and 14 December 1990, approves the paragraph on demand reduction in the draft European plan to combat drugs proposed by Celad, in view of the important health-related objectives which it contains and which the Council supports;

Take note of the conclusions of the report on demand reduction policies, which the Commission forwarded to the Council;

Identify, amongst social and health measures, the following as the most urgent of the measures defined by Celad in the European plan to combat drugs and as being in keeping with the needs emphasized by the Commission in its report on demand reduction policies in the Member States:

1. The intensification of prevention measures in each Member State, aimed at the general population and high-risk groups.

2.The intensification of measures in the Member States, to extend the range of effective methods for treating drug addiction by:

(a) developing services providing the main therapeutic options, where appropriate in an integrated fashion, with special emphasis on those groups among which the continued use of drugs entails serious subsequent risks to their health;

(b) analysing, updating and applying the various methods of treatment assessment.

3. The intensification of intervention in the Member States of proven efficacy in obtaining and maintaining the social and occupational integration of addicts.

4.The intensification in the Member States of those activities and in-service training of qualified staff in the prevention, treatment and social integration sectors,

INVITE THE COMMISSION:

(a) to promote the Community-wide exchange of information, concerning in particular information and educational material on prevention, approaches to treatment and measures taken on social and occupational integration;

(b) to promote the exchange of information on the methods used to evaluate the efficacy of the different measures taken and, in close cooperation with the Member States, to explore the possibility of improving methods of evaluation, enabling the Member States to use compatible and comparable evaluation methods;

(c) to draw up regular reports, in collaboration with the Member States, on demand reduction policies;

(d) to carry out a feasibility study on the organization within the Community of regular training and update courses for qualified staff on themes which, because of their novelty and/or special nature, have not yet been sufficiently developed and studied;

Invite finally the ad hoc Working Party on Drug Abuse to act on any requests from Celad to examine the social and health aspects of studies concerning a Drugs Monitoring Centre and to report to the Council.