EU - Cocaine traces found at various countries Parliament´s: Politicians on coke

[Alfa]

COCAINE TRACES FOUND AT EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
Conclusive Evidence Of Drug Use

BRUSSELS - A television station has found traces of cocaine in 41 of

46 washrooms tested at the European parliament in Brussels.

Researchers for the German Sat-1 channel were sent to the palatial glass and steel complex to take swab samples. They apparently found conclusive evidence of drug use.

Parliamentary officials said they were not aware of any problem of cocaine abuse among staff.

The Institute for Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Research in Nuremberg, which analysed the swab samples, found the amounts were sufficiently large that they could not have been carried in unwittingly by people who had picked up minute traces on their clothing, for example. They had to have been taken in by officials, staff or visitors, experts said.

Professor Fritz Sorgel, of the laboratory, told Spiegel Online, a German Internet news site, that tests on almost any public building would reveal cocaine traces. "Therefore I am not at all surprised that cocaine has been found in the European parliament,'' he said.

In 2000, the channel investigated 28 washrooms at the new German parliament buildings in Berlin and found traces of cocaine in 22.

The claims of drug abuse at the European parliament complex was greeted with derision by British MP Nigel Farage. "Given the stultifying boredom of committee work in Brussels, it is hardly surprising," he said. "But it could explain the decisions they come up with.''

[enquirewithin]

By Christian Fraser
BBC News, Rome


T

A popular Italian satirical television show has exposed what appears to be widespread drug use among the country's parliamentarians. In secret tests for a number of illegal substances the programme said 16 of 50 lower house deputies tested positive for cocaine and cannabis.
Almost a third appeared to have taken the drugs in the past 36 hours.
The show, Le Lene, (the Hyenas) is well-known for spoofs and pranks that embarrass public figures.
And this was a clever sting that will no doubt embarrass a number of politicians in the Italian government.
The programme sent a reporter to interview lower house deputies allegedly for a programme about the 2007 draft budget currently going through parliament.

I have always said that if a police dog went into certain venues where official politics are conducted first its nose would go on the blink and then it would give up Daniele Capezzone, Radical Party leader

But unbeknown to each of them, the make-up artist employed by the show was dabbing their brow with swabs, and their perspiration was later tested for cannabis and cocaine.
'Not surprised'
Twelve of the 50 politicians from Italy's lower house tested positive for cannabis and four for cocaine.
Le Lene is shown on Italia One, a channel owned by the family of the former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi.
Although the 16 politicians have not been named, the story is playing big in Italian newspapers.
The social solidarity minister, Paulo Ferrero, said: "Personally I don't appreciate this form of intrusion into people's private lives but the test results seem to confirm what is widely believed about drug use on the part of many parliamentarians."
Another politician, Daniele Capezzone, leader of the Radical Party, which has waged a long campaign for the legalisation of cannabis, said he wasn't at all surprised by the show's findings.
"I have always said that if a police dog went into certain venues where official politics are conducted," he said, "first its nose would go on the blink and then it would give up"

Reputation Comments on this post:

	great story thanks
	rotfl...very nice article

[KomodoMK]

Haha, interesting read. Wish someone would do this in the UK.

[grecian]

This is by far the best news story I have read in a long time. If similar trends were exposed all over the world it would become increasingly difficult for governments to justify their draconian drugs laws.

[allyourbase]

Id love to see something like this done to american politicians.

[Alfa]

I think this is total horse shit. The TV station is owned by Berlusconi. It's like fox news. No 0objectivity there.

[enquirewithin]

Maybe Berlusconi is trying to discredit the governement he lost control of. He would certainly stoop to anything.

[Alfa]

Traces of cocaine found in parliament warrant a police investigation, says the lawmaking body's chairman
Lawmakers looking for a lift during late-night negotiating sessions might be turning to cocaine, daily newspaper B.T. reported Monday.

The newspaper conducted standard police tests for cocaine in 30 bathrooms in the Christiansborg Castle complex, the seat of the Danish parliament. Traces of the illegal drug were found in three bathrooms.
The positive test results are reliable, said Jørgen Rasmussen, assistant police chief in Copenhagen.
'When cocaine tests give a positive result, then there's cocaine. I've never heard that they have given false positives,' said Rasmussen.

The prospect of lawmakers breaking the law on parliamentary grounds concerned parliamentary chairman Christian Mejdahl.
'If it's true, I would of course condemn it. At any rate, it's a matter for the police,' said Mejdahl.

The three bathrooms that gave positive results are located in the section of parliament where MPs and staffer from the Danish People's Party, the Social Liberals and the Red-Green Alliance have their offices.

13.11.2006 Copenhagen post

[Nagognog2]

1. The standard field test used for cocaine consists of an aqueous solution of cobalt thiocyanate.

2. This will give a reaction (colour change) with everything from cocaine to lead paint to laundry detergent.

3. The reason "When cocaine tests give a positive result, then there's cocaine. I've never heard that they have given false positives,' said Rasmussen." it has never been proven wrong is that it is so broad and unreliable - it is not allowed as evidence in most courts. It is a preliminary test only which might get a judge to sign a warrant for a more invasive search of one's property.

Read: Dogshit.

[GForce]

Aside from the fact that this may very well be bullshit, it is also a gross violation of the politicians' privacy. Some may say they got what was coming to them, etc. However, in reality, the politicians who tested positive for coke and weed are most likely not fighting for more strict drug prohibition. Of course this is all speculation but I'm just putting two and two together. Believe it or not politicians are people too and they may, *gasp*, smoke weed.

[Alfa]

It is a violation of politicians privacy, BUT aside from which politicians do cocaine, there is an important factor in this:

Most governments are pretty anti-drugs, while cocaine use seems to be pretty dominant in the political scene.

This hypocritical aspect of political culture needs to be exposed, in order to do something about the taboo there is within the political world towards drugs. The drug problem is such a major issue in the world and yet few governments dare to touch this issue, as touching it may mean political death. And this taboo does not only apply to politics, it applies to science as well.

Therefore it would be a major step forward if a study would be done on cocaine use or drug use in all european parliaments and other politicial entities. The best way to do this IMO is to combine tests like the above with testing of the sewer output of parliament buildings for a spectrum of drugs. The latter test is pretty exact. It has been done on cities like london and the Po river area in Italy and showed that the cocaine consumption of those area's are both many times larger than the official figures.

Read this:
HUGE COCAINE USE MEASURED FROM RIVER
London is world's cocaine capital

I wouldn't be surprised if such a study would show that 30% of our national leaders use cocaine and other drugs, to keep up with the life style and long hours. The media would love this. Front page material.