EURODRUG - INFORMATION LIST OF THE EUROPEAN COALITION FOR JUST AND EFFECTIVE DRUG POLICIES

By Michael KrawitzVienna update: Evo Morales and Queen of SwedenDate: Mar 11, 2009 7:57 AMreal time BLOG notes.Witness to history today. President Morales holds up Cocaleaf at podium while addressing world body of CND.This is not a drug he said. This is a leaf. It may havesome small amount of alkoloid inside, I am not scientistor a doctor but this is a leaf and has been used bymy people for thousand years without abuse without harm.He said it is time to correct mistake in 1961 treaty. He putthe leaf in his mouth and said, this is Coca chewing! It isa custom and a ritual that is important to my people. He gavethe local names for this activity in several languages.It was a wonderful experience to witness this firsthand. Hereceived many applause especially when he said after manyyears of chewing, had the leaf been a drug with effectsthey describe then he would not be now a president ofthe great country of Bolivia.Next the Queen of Sweden. As happens often at thislevel of activism I have had to retool. In this caseretooling in the face ofnew evidence wrt the Queen. She is our friend and greatasset here. She speaks as representative of NGO Mentor.Mentor, although helping to produce the recent awful Swedishdrug meeting and resolution, did not sign on to saidresolution and the Queen here today well represented theworld NGO community with the Beyond 2008 resolutionand process. I am very impressed with David Turner, NGOCommittee, Vienna, even more then before.It is a good day for NGO's working in this UN drugtreaty process.Indeed a new day has started, it may still be dark butI am seeing enough now to get around without a flashlightfor the very first time in my 13 years or so of this work.Until the next installment and finished BLOG whichwill reside at November.org and CannabisTV.net,All the best,MichaelIt is with great apprecciation I mention that my team ofChris Conrad, Mikki Norris, Lennice Werth and myself havereceived finacial support to attend and particiipate atthese meetings from Open Sociaety Institute.Also to I wish to mention great thanks to Dennis Weir ofTrance Reseaarch Foundation for his great work at thislevel that has asssisted our team in accesssing meetingshere in Vienna at CND.And finally special thanks to Rick Doblin whose workis indespensible andd overlaps with ours and indeedhas helped to enable ours.