(b) RESOLUTION A3-0341/91 on education for health and drugs misuse in the Member States of the European Community and the Council of Europe

The European Parliament,

- having regard to Rule 121 of its Rules of Procedure;

- having regard to the 1982 recommendations of the Assembly of the Council of Europe on the role of health education in preventing drug dependency (R(82) 5),

- having regard to its resolution of 9 October 1986 on the drugs problem, based on the report and recommendation of its Committee of Inquiry on the drugs problem (1),

(1) OJ No C 283, 10.11.1986, p. 80.

- noting the resolution of the International Labour Organization in 1987 concerning measures against drug and alcohol abuse in working and social life,

- having regard to the Council resolution 89/C3/01 of 23 November 1988 on health education in school; welcoming the consequent creation of a working party of representatives of Member States on health education in schools,

- having regard to the motion for a resolution by Mr Pimenta on doping in sport (B3-0624/90),

- having regard to the report of the Committee on Youth, Culture, Education, the Media and Sport (A3-0341/91),

A. welcoming the priority given to demand reduction policies at the World Ministerial Summit on drugs in London in April 1990;

B. welcoming the Council resolution of 30 November 1990 on Community action to combat the use of drugs, including the abuse of medicinal products, particularly in sport;

C. welcoming the Council of 3 December 1990 on the role of education in the fight against drugs and the Council resolution of 29 November 1990 on reducing the demand for narcotic and psychotropic substances;

D. approving the priority accorded to demand reduction policies in the European plan to combat drugs, drawn up by the European Committee for the fight against drugs (CELAD) and adopted by the European Council on 13 and 14 December 1990 in Rome;

E. welcoming the pilot projects on health education which have been supported by the Council of Europe, the European Community and the World Health Organization (WHO), and the 'European summer school on health education' initiative, co-funded by the European Community and the WHO;

F. aware of the activities of a number of European and international bodies in the fight against illegal drugs, including the Pompidou Group, CELAD, the European Community, the Council of Europe, the World Health Organization and the United Nations;

G. whereas drug abuse continues to be a major problem for all Western European countries and threatens to affect the populations of Eastern Europe in the near future;

H. whereas the supply of illegal drugs can never be completely stopped and estimates of worldwide sales of illegal drugs exceed ECU 100 billion per year;

I. whereas Western European countries are devoting increasing attention to preventive education as the best means of reducing demand for illegal drugs;

J. whereas education about drug abuse is mostly undertaken within the framework of general education for health;

K. whereas education remains the primary responsibility of national authorities though the effectiveness thereof must be enhanced through Community measures;

L. whereas national and international exchange of information on successful education policies can assist development of national and local policies in drugs education;

M. whereas the use of illicit drugs in sport is an increasing problem affecting all European countries;

N. whereas the Commission proposed and the Council adopted, in the resolution of 12 February 1992 (1), an anti-doping code of conduct, which will be disseminated in the next few months, but whereas this code does not incorporate all the suggestions and measures put forward in this resolution,

(1) OJ No C 44, 19.2.1992, p. 1.

1. Recommends that education concerning drugs should take place within the framework of overall education for health and should be recognized as the form of prevention from an early age onwards, in order to help children to help themselves;

2. Recommends that drugs education directed at abuse protection and prevention of drug use should be integrated within a multidisciplinary approach to social and health problems, from an early age onwards, and should be recognized as the form of prevention, since supply can never be effectively eliminated;

3. Recommends that a comprehensive survey should be produced, of good educational practices and policies in the countries of the European Community and the Council of Europe so that the best ideas at local and regional levels can be shared at national and European levels;

Cultural differences

4. Believes that although basic common principles can be agreed at European level, drugs education within the health education programmes should be adapted to the prevailing local cultural and social situation in each Member State in order to be effective;

The approach to education about drugs

I. Children at school

5. Stresses that early education for health on drugs is essential: children must experience preventive drugs education at both primary and secondary educational levels, especially in high-risk environments;

6. Stresses that education about drugs misuse needs to take place at three levels: at primary school level for children from 6-12 years old; at secondary level from 12-16 years, and finally at a level beyond and outside school, for both young people and their parents;

7. Stresses that school should be structured in such a way as to facilitate a policy which gives priority to drugs education as part of an integrated health and social education curriculum;

8. Stresses that drugs education should aim:

(a) to encourage students to recognize the benefits of a generally healthy and drug-free life-style,

(b) to give them accurate information about the harmful effects of drugs on their health and the means of taking them,

(c) to provide them with the necessary skills to resist pressures to take drugs;

9. Stresses that education should accord recognition to young people, to help them overcome their insecurities and complexes and to help them to establish values, self awareness and confidence and to maintain a trusting relationship and dialogue with their parents and teachers;

10. Stresses that educational activities should be complemented by other activities, both in culture and the outdoor environment as well as sport, conducive to personality development in young people and which encourage them to lead a life-style which does not require consumption of stimulants;

11. Stresses that a meticulous sociological study should be carried out with a view to better insight into young people's conceptions of the various drugs; there should be a detailed evaluation of the impact of anti-drugs information campaigns on young people. The findings from this work will make it possible to envisage more effective drug-information campaigns Research is needed among children of all ages to understand their conception of drugs and their reaction to education campaigns about drugs;

II. Education for teachers, general practitioners and other professionals

12. Stresses that drugs education should be included in professional training curricula of all teachers, general practitioners and other professionals such as social workers, nurses, policemen, prison and probation officers;

13. Stresses that drugs education courses for teachers should be set up in all countries and drugs education by school staff in collaboration with experts from outside school should be encouraged, rather than reliance solely on 'outsiders' to lecture pupils;

14. Stresses that punitive approaches by teachers to pupils using drugs should be discouraged since they are rarely effective;

15. Stresses that in all establishments of secondary and higher education a specialized person or unit independent of the teaching staff, but working in close collaboration with them, should be set up, so that young people with problems can come and talk about their distress;

III. Education of parents and relatives

16. Stresses that parents have a major role and responsibility in the area of prevention and education through their attitude, the example they set and their behaviour;

17. Stresses that parents need to establish a dialogue with their children from an early age onwards based on mutual trust. It is therefore vital that all parents have some education about drugs and ready access to literature and other means of information on drug misuse;

18. Stresses that parents all too often do not take sufficient time to talk to and listen to their children. The opportunity for disclosure is consequently allowed to pass. Parent counselling and self help groups can assist mothers and fathers to understand the need for regular dialogue with their children;

IV. Drugs education provided by voluntary organizations

19. Stresses that voluntary organizations, which are often based at local or regional level, should be supported in educational initiatives, since they can often target local communities more effectively than national authorities;

20. Stresses that voluntary organizations are frequently good initiators of methods or materials for education/information and national authorities should examine and, where necessary, use these resources themselves;

21. Stresses that local young people's clubs, including sports clubs together with family and parents' organizations, should be encouraged and given financial assistance by governments and other bodies;

V. Education via the media

22. Stresses that anti-drugs advertising should be restricted to carefully targeted messages only;

23. Stresses that the media are best used for raising public awareness of general issues;

24. Stresses that media messages must be consistent with each other and appropriate to the communities to which they are directed;

25. Stresses that journalists should be kept informed of the factual background on a regular basis;

26. Stresses that an evaluation of the beneficial or adverse effects of TV programmes, videos, slide presentations and instruction books should take place whenever possible and before widespread use;

Need for coordination at local, national and European levels

27. Considers that overall national and international strategies need to be agreed, with freedom to adapt to local circumstances;

28. Considers that the systematic exchange of information between European countries and the development of common measures to evaluate the effectiveness of drugs education policies should be promoted;

29. Considers that European pilot projects on drugs education should be promoted, to test new approaches;

30. Considers that for local actions to be successful, a high level of co-ordination between public and private services, education establishments and voluntary groups is needed. This should include all those involved (parents' organizations, teachers, specialist teachers, associations aiding drug addicts, medical practitioners, etc.);

Investment in education

31. Calls for the funds available from confiscation of drug traffickers' assets to be used for all preventive actions, and most particularly to facilitate education at local and national level;

32. Calls for an ongoing EEC budget line to assist the development of European cooperation on information and education about drugs and evaluation of the corresponding programmes;

33. Calls for the allocation of EEC funds in such a way as to maximize the overall effect of dissemination, rather than to take the place of local and national projects needing local funding;

34. Calls for recognition by local and national authorities of the importance of devoting more money and resources to education about drugs;

Education in the workplace

35. Considers that employers should provide employees with the opportunities to learn about adverse effects of legal and illegal drugs at home and work, in particular in professions where safety is a key factor, such as airlines;

36. Considers that employers themselves, and particularly personnel departments, also need educating in all aspects of drugs and drug misusers;

Re-integration into society

37. Considers that opportunities should be provided for 're-education', training or retraining of former addicts to allow them to take up jobs and become part of society again rather than re-enter the drug misuse culture;

38. Considers that employers and the local authorities need encouragement to develop positive attitudes to employment of ex-addicts and to overcome the fear of addiction being a recurrent problem;

Drugs in sport

39. As far as legislation is concerned, affirms that:

- the Member States of the Community should ratify the anti-doping Convention (No 135, Council of Europe) adopted in Strasbourg on 16 November 1989 and implement the measures contained therein;

- legislation on the availability and possession of prohibited substances used in sport should be standardized at European and international level;

- pharmaceutical companies in the EEC and worldwide should be required to list substances contained in drugs which may contravene existing International Olympics Committee or other international doping regulations in sports, as is currently the case in France;

- no proprietary medicine may be advertised for the purpose of improving sporting performance;

- substances included on IOC lists or in lists produced by European authorities (European for Medicinal Agency) or national authorities may not be supplied to the public except on production of prescriptions;

40. As far as testing is concerned, affirms that:

- in accordance with Council Resolution 90/C 329/013, the Commission must submit the Community proposal on the clinical and laboratory methodology to be followed for doping diagnoses;

- all major competitions in Europe should be subject to doping control;

- dope testing should be carried out systematically during training sessions, as well as during competitive events;

41. As far as penalties are concerned, affirms that:

- the complex range of different penalties for dope use currently applied by national and international sports federations must be further simplified, and standardized as far as possible, both between countries and between different sports;

- international and inter-federation cooperation and standardization should ensure equal treatment on doping controls and penalties for athletes in different sports;

42. As far as education and information are concerned, affirms that:

- training, information and health education initiatives against the use of drugs in sport should be increased in order to change attitudes in favour of drug-free sport;

- education and information programmes should be particularly directed at trainers and doctors working with sportsmen;

- education on doping in sport should be a mandatory part of the curriculum in physical education and sports training colleges;

- education initiatives should demonstrate effective methods of maximizing performance potential without drugs;

- special educational programmes linked to the dissemination of the anti-doping code of conduct must be provided for adolescents and carried out in schools of all types and at all levels;

- sports federations, National Olympic Committees and private associations operating within sport must be required to organize anti-doping educational courses;

- the anti-doping code and other material promoted by the Community must be advertised and made public at private sporting venues;

- the contents of this section of the resolution, 'drugs in sport', should be an integral part of the information, education and action programmes promoted by the Commission and should therefore be disseminated together with the anti-doping code;

43. As far as European initiatives are concerned, affirms that:

- European initiatives to combat doping in sport should be developed in the short-term, in time for implementation by the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona;

- governmental and NGO organizations of the next Olympics and sports federations sending athletes there, should take all possible steps to ensure that those athletes train, and events are run, without the use of drugs;

- all Member States should establish a national 'anti-doping' agency to coordinate measures for their national athletes and sportsmen;

- a pan-European database on anti-doping programmes and initiatives should be created to coordinate and exchange information between European authorities;

44. As far as European collaboration is concerned, affirms that:

- existing networks for collaboration on drug-testing methods and cooperation between testing laboratories in European countries should be strengthened to develop standardized approach and techniques; this should involve use of IOC accredited laboratories;

- European customs agents should collaborate on the control of illegal imports of anabolic substances and on illegal manufacture and trade in other substances such as amphetamines;

- collaborative research programmes should be set up to develop better detection procedures to trace the use of prohibited substances over longer periods;

45. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, Council, the governments of the Member States and the Council of Europe.