Vienna, Austria, 2 March 2004
The INCB 2003 Report Launch – by INCB Board Member R. Schmid and INCB Secretary H. Schaepe – was held in the Concordia Press Club, Vienna at 11 am on 2 March 2004. Officer-in-Charge, UNIS Vienna C. Strohmann chaired and moderated the press briefing. The Report was also launched simultaneously in Budapest, Hungary, and Bratislava, Slovakia, (Summaries attached). It was also launched for the first time in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on 3 March.
Mr. Schmid started the proceedings by introducing some of the main themes of the INCB Annual Report and providing an insight into the structure, working and role of the INCB. He discussed the first chapter of the report – the relationship between drugs, crime and violence at the community level and its impact. He pointed out that the situation could be addressed by a combination of approaches, like outreach work, urban regeneration projects and involving law enforcement agencies. At the same time, he emphasised that any intervention should be sustainable and have long-term achievable goals.
He also clarified the Board’s stance on Harm Reduction, as this year’s press kit accompanying the report carries a compilation of statements from the INCB that make clear its outlook. Other aspects of the Report he touched upon include the subject of Internet pharmacies, shortage of essential narcotic drugs for pain alleviation in developing countries, and the INCB’s call for strict chemical controls to fight synthetic drugs on a global basis. He also referred to the regional highlights in the report, and told the media about the three technical reports on narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and precursors also published by the INCB.
Mr. Schaepe then took the floor and informed the media of the relevant paragraphs in the Report that dealt exclusively with the drugs situation in Europe. He said that the goal of the Report was to highlight the work of governments, be critical and to measure successes. This was followed by a question and answer session.
Responding to a question in the fall in number of opiate abusers in Europe, Mr. Schaepe said that this was due to the fact that more than 400,000 addicts were involved in a substitution programme, with the ultimate goal of freeing them of addiction. In connection with a question related to the bumper opium crop in Afghanistan this year, Mr. Schaepe pointed out an alarming and dramatic increase in opiate abuse along trafficking routes, especially in countries belonging to the former Soviet Union. “There was no addiction in these countries, now there is opiate abuse, and with it, the spread of HIV/AIDS,” he said.
The briefing was well attended by 34 media representatives from leading Austrian newspapers (Der Standard, Die Presse), international news agencies (Reuters, Agence France- Presse, Associated Press), Austrian radio (Radio Max and ORF), and TV (ORF), besides local non-governmental organisations and representatives from permanent missions in Vienna.
Ljubljana, Slovenia, 3 March 2004
This year, the first ever launch of the INCB Report was organized in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in cooperation with the Slovene Government Office for Drugs.
Mr. Milan Krek, Director of the Government Office for Drugs, who opened the event, and Mr. Miran Skrlj from the Office for Chemicals at the Health Ministry, introduced the work of the INCB and spoke about the significance of its cooperation with Slovenia. The conference was chaired and moderated by Ms. Milka Pance, Spokesperson for the Office for Drugs.
The conference was in Slovene, which is required for all Slovene Government agencies, with the INCB Secretariat Representative Ms. Wieser-Herbeck’s presentation in English being simultaneously translated by an official Slovene translator.
During the question and answer session, media representatives asked questions related to the domestic trends in drug abuse, especially the impact of the possible legalization of cannabis and its use as a painkiller.
Besides copies of the Report and press kits in English, a press release in Slovene, outlining the Report and its regional highlights for Europe, were available to the media. Links to both UNIS and INCB websites were established on the Slovene Government Office for Drugs’ website, including a link to the Report.
Representatives of five major Slovene media, including the national television, the national radio, the Slovene press agency and a major daily newspaper attended the event.
Budapest, Hungary, 2 March 2004
Following a six-year tradition, UNIS Vienna organized a launch event in Budapest, Hungary, with the Hungarian UN Association to promote the Annual Report 2003 of INCB.
After introductory remarks by the President of the UN Association, Mihaly Simai, key findings of the Annual Report were highlighted to the participants by Janos Tisovszky, responsible for UNIS Vienna’s Hungarian Desk. This was followed by a brief overview of the domestic drug situation by Mr. Tamas Koos (representing the Deputy State Secretary from the Ministry of Sports and Youth who was scheduled to attend but had to cancel at the last minute). Mr. Koos stressed that Hungary’s national drug control strategy was in line with the international treaties. Reporting standards would be further improved especially following Hungary’s accession to the EU. He also stressed that a somewhat favourable development was that the growth in abuse of illicit drugs was showing a decreasing trend as compared to previous years.
During the question and answer session, media representatives focused on the international trends, asking for more details on Internet pharmacies, future trends, the sustainability of alternative development as well as the possible linkages between terrorism and drug abuse and trafficking.
Following the event, two brief TV interviews were given to two state-run national TV stations by Mr. Tisovszky. Both interviews focused on recent abuse and trafficking trends as regards Europe, especially Eastern Europe with a possible relevance for Hungary.
Close to 70 people attended the event, including the representatives of key national print and broadcast media, NGOs, various government entities, academia – including some university students as well.
Bratislava, Slovakia, 2 March 2004
United Nations Information Service (UNIS) Vienna organized a launch event in Bratislava, Slovakia, together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Regional Centre in Bratislava to promote the Annual Report 2003 of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).
The INCB launch was introduced by the host speaker Mr. Ben Slay of the UNDP.
Key findings of the Report were highlighted to the media representatives by Mr. Pavel Pachta from the INCB Secretariat, UNODC. Mr. Pachta divided the presentation into three parts. The first part focused on society and drugs, the second was an analysis of the drug situation from a global point of view, and in the third, Mr. Pachta focused on the regional highlights, drawing attention on the paragraphs in the Report relevant to Slovakia.
This was followed by a brief overview of domestic drug-related developments provided by Mr. Lubomir Okruhlica (Chief expert in Dependencies with the Slovak Ministry of Health) with an emphasis on drug addiction and treatments. The third speaker, Mr. Vladimir Siska (Slovak Police Force Headquarters) focused on domestic developments from a law enforcement point of view.
Mr. Slay concluded the presentation by drawing attention to the link between the criminalisation of intravenous drug abuse, harm reduction and HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis epidemics.
During the question and answer session, media representatives asked questions related to the domestic trends in drug abuse, such as illicit use of the Internet in relation to drug trafficking or the impact of the possible legalization of cannabis. They also focussed on the recent reform of the Slovak health sector and its effect on the treatment of drug addicts.
Following the event, one brief interview tostate-run Slovak Radio (Sro) and two brief TV interviews tostate-run Slovak Television (STV) and to Slovak news channel (TA3) were given by Mr. Pavel Pachta.
15 people attended the event including the representatives of key national print and broadcasting media and UNDP staff.
* *** *
