2017 report of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction — measures to be taken

15.6.2017

Question for written answer E-003975-17
to the Commission
Rule 130
João Ferreira (GUE/NGL)

It is estimated that in 2015 at least 7 585 people died of an overdose involving at least one illicit drug. The figures available show that the death toll in several countries is rising in almost every age group.

Disinvestment/underfunding in prevention-related fields has been the keynote over the last few years. In some countries, for example Portugal, this situation is inextricably bound up with the substance and effects of EU-IMF bailout programmes.

Funding for the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction is being increased very slightly under the EU budget.

In view these facts, can the Commission say what measures will be taken, given the scale of the problem and the manifest inadequacy of the resources to combat it? Could it propose an increase in the amounts earmarked for prevention and information?

What other measures might it propose in order to cope with the harmful trend seen in recent years, which has to be reversed urgently?