U.S. and Europe Differ Over Colombian Drugs

By Juan Forero

BOGOT A - As cocaine use in the United States has leveled off, trafficking to Europe from Colombia and other cocaine-producing South American countries has picked up, increasing at a particularly rapid pace since the mid-1990s, according to the latest U.S. data.
Estimates by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy indicate that up to 220 tons of cocaine now flow to Europe annually, as much as double the amount in 1996. The United States, by comparison, receives about 330 tons annually, a figure that has remained stable in recent years as consumption by casual users has fallen.
Europol, the European Union's fledgling police agency, said in a recent report that 35 percent of Colombia's , cocaine was winding up in the E.U., entering mainly through Spain and the ( Netherlands. Seizures in member nations reached 43 tons in 1999, the report said, up 37 percent from the year before. The dire warning from U.S. officials, some of whom say Europe is facing a crisis, has irked some European officials and drug policy experts. They question Washington's assessment and view the new data as part of its effort to obtain more aid for Colombia 's war on drugs, which was created with U.S. pressure and involvement.
"There is very little sympathy and understanding," Martin Jelsma, a drug p policy expert in the Netherlands, said of how Europeans view U.S. policy toward ic Colombia.
The Europeans have in general resisted supporting a military-style strategy.
The Americans are irritated by Europe 's stance.
"It's big business in Europe, and we think it's going to geta lot bigger," one U.S. State Department offical said of the cocaine trade. " Large cocaine trafficking to Europe was first detected in the 1980, when Colombian cartels, battered by aggressive law enforcement, opened new routes to that largely untapped market.
The demand in Europe remained relatively modest through the early 199Os; dwarfed , by a seemingly, unquenchable appetite of the United States. The Europeans direct their emphasis on treatment and education.
European drug experts say that U.S, high-tech interdiction efforts and harsh enforcement inside the Uliited States have had little impact in curtailing the flow of drugs to American users, anassertion that many U .S. drug experts do not dispute.
The Europeans strongly oppose aerial spraying of coca crops in Colombia, which they say fails to address the country's deep social problems.
In february 2001 the European Parliament voted 474 to 1 too reject the US-supported spraying program in Clombia.



Source:
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
may 30,2001