Source: Frankfurter Rundschau Copyright: Frankfurter Rundschau 1998 Pubdate: 13 Nov 1998 Contact: Pat Dolan (from German text) Note: Summary of main points. 3500 DRUG EXPERTS TO HOLD WORKSHOPS The ECDP (European Cities on Drug Policy) will bring together 3,500 international experts to take part in a workshop in which participants will exchange ideas with a view to bringing pressure to effect a change in the drug laws. Founded in 1990, it is supported by members' contributions with assistance from the European Union. Advice will be offered to those towns which feel themselves constricted by the drug laws. "If a Greek town wants to set up a methadone program but lacks the know-how, we help mediate the contacts," explained the executive director, Susanne Schardt. 31 towns, from Agii Anargiri in Greece, to Basle, Hamburg, Innsbruck, Ljubljana, Zagreb and Zurich have signed the 1990 Frankfurt Resolution which states: "A drug policy which treats addiction exclusively as a law enforcement problem, and makes abstinence a precondition for the granting of assistance, is doomed to failure." Citizens would still be entitled to protection from the effects of any problems arising from drug policies. - --- Checked-by: Richard Lake