Rift with EU as US sticks to Bush line on 'war on drugs'

A rift between the EU and US over how to deal with global trafficking in illicit drugs is undermining international efforts to agree a new UN strategy. The confrontation has been heightened because of suggestions that the US negotiating team is pushing a hardline, Bush administration "war on drugs", in contrast to the EU position which supports "harm reduction" measures such as needle exchanges.

Talks are said to be at breaking point in Vienna where representatives have gathered to hammer out a new UN declaration in time for a signing ceremony at a drugs summit in mid-March. Negotiations, which have been going on for three months, are due to resume tomorrow with no indication of a breakthrough. At the heart of the dispute is whether a commitment to "harm reduction" should be included in the UN declaration of intent.

The US position, as maintained throughout the Bush years, is that such inclusion sends the wrong message and must be resisted. President Obama has already lifted the ban on federal funding for needle exchanges and is known to have a more liberal approach to the issue, but the US negotiating team is opposed to varying the "drug-free" strategies of the past.

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