Community action programme on drug dependence
The European Parliament and Council of Ministers have adopted a Decision establishing a Community action programme on the prevention of drug dependence. The programme will run from 1 January 1996 to 31 December 2000, with the objective of combating drug dependence in the European Union. In particular, the Community's drug dependence prevention programme aims to encourage cooperation between Member States, support their actions in this area and promote coordination between their policies and programmes, with a view to preventing dependence linked to the use of narcotics and psychotropic substances and the associated use of other products. The indicative budget for the period of the programme will be ECU 27 million. The actions to be taken are set out in the annex to the Decision, and fall into two groups: - Data, research, evaluation: Aims to improve knowledge of the phenomenon of drugs and drug dependence and its consequences, and of means and methods of preventing drug dependence. In particular, actions in this section will make use of information supplied by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EDMC), and possibilities offered by other Community programmes and instruments; - Information, health education and training: Aims to contribute to improving information, education and training aimed at preventing drug dependence and the associated risks. In particular, this will target young people in the relevant environments (home, school, university and leisure time) and particularly vulnerable groups, including former drug users. The Commission will be responsible for the implementation of the programme, with the assistance of a committee consisting of two nominees of each Member State and chaired by the Commission. Cooperation with third countries will be a part of the actions under the programme, which will be open to participation by Central and Eastern European countries and Malta and Cyprus. In particular, the Commission will cooperate with the Council of Europe's Pompidou Group and relevant international organizations.