New European Drugs Agency to step up the fight against drugs

The European Parliament and the Member States have reached an agreement on setting up a European Drugs Agency with a strong mandate to step up the fight against drugs. MEP Assita Kanko is one of the negotiators of this regulation and emphasises the need for an effective agency at the European level: “Every Member State is facing a serious drugs issue, and its cross-border nature means that Europe must be part of the solution. A strong and efficient agency is truly necessary to assist the Member States.”

The current European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction is no longer sufficient to tackle the drug issue effectively. That is why there is now a European agreement to transform this centre into a fully-fledged agency with a stronger mandate and more powers adapted to today’s reality.

Monster with many heads

Assita Kanko points out that society, and consequently also crime, are constantly evolving and thus becoming more complex: “The issue of illegal drugs is no longer limited to criminal circles alone. It is a monster with many heads and threatens the safety of us all. Drug use is a stain on our society and is responsible for often lethal violence. It goes far beyond the serious health risks of users alone.”

Additional resources and powers

The European Union Drugs Agency will be given additional resources and powers to provide the EU and the Member States with objective and comparable data on drugs and drug addiction in the European context. For example, the Agency will set up a network of laboratories, conduct research into best practices, analyse the harmful effects of drugs on safety and public health, issue warnings on new types of drugs and encourage cooperation between the Member States and institutions at various levels.

Logical and necessary

Assita Kanko is closely following the further steps of its establishment and is looking forward to a quick start. “The world we live in is becoming increasingly complex, and crime is also changing with the times, unfortunately. No Member State can handle this alone anymore, so extensive cooperation and coherent legislation at the EU level is a logical and necessary consequence,” Kanko concludes.