[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 127 (Monday, November 13, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2001-E2002]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    COCAINE IN EUROPE A WAKE UP CALL

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 13, 2006

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, last September, the Committee on 
International Relations' Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and the 
Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and 
Homeland Security held a joint hearing on the increased cocaine drug 
flow to Europe, in an effort to encourage our European friends and 
allies to provide more help to the Andean region, and Colombia in 
particular.

[[Page E2002]]

  At a November 2, 2006, Shared Responsibility Conference in London, 
which was sponsored by the Government of Colombia, the UN Office of 
Drugs and Crime, UNODC, Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa sounded 
similar alarm bells on the massive increase in cocaine flow to Europe 
from Colombia and the Andean region. He said, regarding cocaine, among 
many important things, ``Wake up Europe! You are heading for a 
crisis.''
  I ask that the full text of the UNODC official's statement on this 
important subject be printed in the Congressional Record, and urge all 
my colleagues to see how the burden of our drug-fighting efforts in 
Colombia and elsewhere in the region ought to also be shared by our 
European friends as well.

                             UNITED NATIONS

                       Office on Drugs and Crime

                Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director


                   Cocaine in Europe: a Wake-up Call

  Dialogue on Shared Responsibility and the Global Problem of Illicit 
                                 Drugs

       Ladies and Gentlemen, I have some good news and some bad 
     news. The good news is that in most of the world, demand for 
     cocaine is stable or even dropping. Coca cultivation has been 
     slashed by a quarter in the past five years. And seizures of 
     cocaine have almost doubled during that period. An astounding 
     42% of an cocaine produced was seized in 2005.
       The bad news is the upward trend in Europe. I am not afraid 
     to name and shame the worst offenders--Spain, England and 
     Italy. The level of cocaine use in Spain which is 3% among 
     those aged 15 to 64--now exceeds (for the first time ever) 
     levels of cocaine use in the United States. And the UK is not 
     far behind. In 2005, annual prevalence for cocaine use in 
     this country was 2.4%, up from 0.6% a decade earlier.
       Look at another leading indicator. Ten years ago, in the 
     Netherlands 20% of all new clients entering treatment for 
     drug abuse were addicted to cocaine. Less than a decade later 
     the proportion was 40%, In Spain, the proportion in 1995 was 
     7%. In 2002 it was 42%. and I would bet that the proportion 
     has continued to rise since then.
       Wake up Europe! You are heading for a crisis. We are facing 
     a pandemic, and not only because of coca addiction by high 
     profile entertainers, executives, models or socialites who 
     flaunt their illicit drug, use in words and deeds. This is a 
     symptom of a deeper problem--one made worse by uncritical 
     reporting in the media.
       What will it take to get people to take the problem 
     seriously? A phone call from a hospital that your child or 
     colleague has had an overdose? Or was caught in the cross-
     fire of a drug-related shooting? Or killed in an accident 
     under the influence of drugs? That's what happened in 
     America's cities in the 1980s, especially as coca turned into 
     crack. If we are not careful it is coming to our 
     neighborhoods.
       Europe's growing cocaine problem is due to a number of 
     factors.
       First, drug addicts are switching from narcotics, heroine, 
     to psychoactive substances. Coca is fashionable because it is 
     attractive: white not dark; sniffed not injected; taken in a 
     living room; not in a dark alley; symbol of success not 
     evidence of failure. Second and because of all of the above, 
     cocaine users are in denial, no chance of AIDS, a trendy 
     white collar habit. Celebrities get away with it so when is 
     the problem? Well, there is a problem as recognized by a 17 
     year old inmate I met in a prison in Naples: ``I thought that 
     I could control the white lady--la signora bianca--that I 
     could have her whenever I wanted. But soon she controlled 
     me, and I became her slave.''
       Secondly, governments are in denial. Too many governments--
     particularly in rich countries--fail to invest political 
     capital to prevent and treat drug abuse. As a consequence, 
     their societies have the drug problem they deserve.
       Interesting is the case of Sweden. Over the past three 
     decades, successive governments have invested consistently 
     and significantly in drug treatment and prevention. As a 
     result, Sweden has been one of the cleanest--most drug-free--
     societies in Europe. Well: but even there, cocaine abuse is 
     creeping in.
       Economists have recognized for centuries that bad money 
     chases away good money. Bad habits spread quickly; especially 
     in affluent, fast-paced societies. Emerging economies, in 
     particular, should be on the alert for a rise in cocaine use, 
     including in Russia and China where health ministers have 
     told me that there are no problems with cocaine in their 
     countries. My response? Brace yourself. It's on the way.
       Europe's cocaine habit is not only causing problems on this 
     continent. It is making life difficult for President Uribe 
     and other Andean leaders, not to mention all states between 
     here and Latin America affected by drug trafficking.
       So we face a problem of credibility. How can Europe urge 
     the Andean countries to reduce supply when its drug habit is 
     driving cultivation?
       We all need to get serious about assuming our 
     responsibility for the drug problem. I therefore applaud the 
     Colombian Government's efforts to promote a dialogue on 
     shared responsibility. What are some ways that we can work 
     together?
       Surely we should do more to support alternative 
     development. Most illicit crop growers (Afghanistan, Colombia 
     or Laos), live in some of the poorest communities in the 
     world. Crop eradication will not work over the long term if 
     there is no legal economy to replace it. Drug control and 
     development must therefore go hand in hand.
       International donors should provide more assistance to coca 
     farmers. For its part, I urge the Government of Colombia to 
     involve a broad range of ministries in developing a coherent 
     alternative development strategy that will assist coca 
     farmers.
       More attention should be devoted to the environment. Coca 
     farmers and producers slash and burn forests, pollute streams 
     and damage fragile ecosystems (by the use of toxic 
     chemicals). The Andean region has less than 1% of the world's 
     land area, but more than 15% of the world's plant life. At a 
     time when we are all so concerned about climate change. I 
     urge all Europeans to think about the destruction done to our 
     habitat for the sake of a line of cocaine.
       The billions of dollars made through the narco-economy are 
     empowering cartels, funding insurgency and financing 
     terrorism. Cocaine ruins everything along the trail from the 
     Andean countries through the Caribbean, Mexico, and West 
     Africa to lucrative markets in Europe and North America, 
     where gun crime and gang violence associated with the drug 
     trade have turned some urban neighborhoods into war zones.
       Ladies and gentlemen. The alarm clock is ringing. Europe, 
     it is time to wake up and get going. Supply control is not 
     enough. Imagine that this year we seize all 900-odd tons of 
     Andean cocaine. Well as many tons will be produced next year.
       Imagine if Andean farmers gave up all their coca crops. 
     Francisco, this is your dream!! That is not enough, since 
     demand by the world's 13 million cocaine addicts will 
     generate as much cultivation somewhere else.
       Plainly speaking, the mother of all drug control challenges 
     is drug prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. This too is 
     a shared responsibility in our communities. Drugs are too big 
     a problem to be left to drug experts. Society at large should 
     be actively engaged.
       Only by working together on all aspects of drug control 
     will we be able to move towards a healthier and safer world.
       Thank you for your attention.

                          ____________________