"Preventing and reducing drug consumption, drug addiction and their harmful effects"; "helping improve information on drug consumption"; "supporting the enforcement of the EU’s drug-fighting strategy". Inger Segelström, Swedish MEP, is the speaker who illustrated to the European Parliament the new drug prevention and information policy that was approved in Strasbourg yesterday. Endowed with 21,3 million euros for 2007-2013, "it will fund studies of the EU Commission and trans-national projects submitted by public and private organisations that work in the drug prevention and information" sphere. The report, that received the go-ahead after a long process of cooperation between the EU Parliament, the EU Commission and the EU Council, states that the policy will support studies and cross-disciplinary surveys, exchanges of information and good practices, initiatives to raise public awareness of the "medical and social problems caused by drug consumption", the promotion of "an open dialogue for a better understanding of the phenomenon and to support measures for the prevention of drug consumption". (continued)
