PRESS BRIEFING BY NEW CHIEF OF DRUG CONTROL PROGRAMME

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING BY NEW CHIEF OF DRUG CONTROL PROGRAMME

At a Headquarter's press conference today, Senator Pino Arlucchi of Italy, said he would take up his appointment as the new Director-General of the United Nations Office in Vienna and the Executive Director of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme on 1 September. He hoped to better integrate the Organization's efforts to combat global crime challenge.

Senator Arlucchi said he wanted to strengthen the analysis and the United Nations programmes in the field of money laundering, corruption and terrorism and it would be the biggest challenge of his life. He had already had experience in his country refining strategies against Italian organized crime. The United Nations must take increased action because of the globalization and strong integration of criminal markets. All important transnational criminal activity involved several fields, so using separate offices or competencies to deal with it would be counterproductive.

Senator Arlucchi said he would like to establish a unit to analyse international financial crises which resulted from criminal activities, such as the situation in Albania. Currently, there was no international body or office which could launch an alarm when the risk associated with money laundering and global crime reached such a serious point. If there had been such an instrument four years ago, the crisis in Albania could have been prevented, saving lives and the loss of a great deal of money.

His plan was to get countries to support the establishment of such a unit in Vienna, he continued. It would concentrate some of the world's best brains in the field of money laundering and international relations. He would also establish better integration with bodies which could transform the analysis into international programmes and action.

What did he think about the idea of decriminalizing drugs to remove the profit motive for organized crime? a correspondent asked. Senator Arlucchi said decriminalization was different from legalization. Historically, the United Nations had been strongly against the legalization of drugs because it did not work. There was also increasing evidence that the policy of fighting narcotics trafficking had worked well in many countries. That success should be emphasized, he added.

There had been successes in the United States and in many European countries where in the last 10 years the levels of heavy drug abuse had stabilized and even declined, he continued. However, in other parts of the world demand was increasing and supplies were booming. Action should continue within the framework which had been successful in some instances, of prohibiting the production, distribution and consumption of narcotics.

Were those successes a result of the demographics of an aging population and action against AIDS, rather than good police work? the correspondent asked. The population of drug abusers was aging in the Western world, but not in the developing countries where young people were starting to use drugs for the first time, Senator Arlucchi replied. The aging population was the result of fewer people entering the drug market and more leaving it. In many European countries the average age of heroin users was 25 years or 26 years.

What would be the role of the Vienna Office regarding the twin issues of gun running and drug trafficking? a correspondent asked. Senator Arlucchi said the uncontrolled proliferation and possession of firearms was extremely dangerous and was one of the major causes of crime and homicide in many countries which did not adopt strict anti-gun legislation.

What was the difference between decriminalization and legalization? a correspondent asked. Senator Arlucchi said a policy of decriminalization meant differentiating strongly between drug traffickers and drug users. There should be strong and severe repression of trafficking and tolerance, treatment and rehabilitation for users.

Was he in favour of decriminalizing the possession of certain controlled substances? a correspondent asked. Not to the point of it no longer being a crime, Mr. Arlucchi replied. It was important that the prohibition and the negative judgement of drugs be expressed through a formal prohibition, even against possession and use. But the penalties should be proportionate. In many European countries, the possession of drugs was a crime, but the penalties were not severe. People should be helped to stop taking drugs and efforts should focus on treatment. Harsher penalties on the weakest part of the drug chain were not useful, he added.

A correspondent asked what alternatives were offered to farmers who grew drug crops. Senator Arlucchi said the United Nations had many programmes to help farmers with crop substitution and alternative development. He would seek to strengthen such programmes. There had been some success in the field. For example, countries bordering the northern areas of Thailand, known as the "golden triangle", were no longer a major producer of heroin as a result of successful intervention strategies. One of his most important tasks would be to raise more money for such programmes and strategies.

UNDCP Briefing - 3 - 27 June 1997

Senator Arlucchi said he was convinced that once farmers understood they could have a stable, legal, if more modest income from legal crops, they would renounce the bigger profits derived from opium cultivation.

Would he endorse countries allocating at least 0.7 per cent of their gross national product (GNP) towards assisting developing countries with prevention programmes. Senator Arlucchi said long term prevention and education programmes were the pillar of any strategy against organized crime and narcotics trafficking, something he had learned from his own experience fighting organized crime in Italy. Fifteen years ago, when conferences, seminar and programmes were held in Italian secondary schools claiming that the Mafia in Sicily could be defeated, people thought it was a crazy idea. Everyone thought the Mafia was invincible, but no one would claim that today. However the successes in fighting the Mafia had been extremely costly with the deaths of many good people. Repression could be useful in the short and medium term, but in the long term it was important to convince people that the link between political corruption and organized crime was bad for everyone, and for civil liberties and development. It was also important to convince people of the importance of maintaining civil liberties, when fighting crime and corruption.

A correspondent asked about the connection between corruption and organized crime in Albania. Senator Arlucchi said he would not over-estimate the importance of the so-called Albanian mafia. The word "mafia" could be very useful for both sides. The crisis in Albania was more the result of a state collapse than the rise of an extremely strong criminal network. It was important to rebuild the judicial institutions in the country.

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