5.1 Principles
In a democratic society in which diversity is accepted, each person has the opportunity to achieve personal fulfilment. It is understood that the means and aims of fulfilment may vary between people at different stages of their lives, and may, for some people at particular times, involve the use of drugs.
Classification and regulation of drugs should be based upon known health effects with community education programme to make factual information freely available.
Regulation should aim to maximise individual health and social safety and well-being.
Programmes operating among users of addictive drugs should focus upon harm minimisation and increasing their life options.
5.2 Goals
The Indian National Green Party will work towards:
a) more appropriate classifications for drugs based upon their effects upon health;
b) wide availability of relevant information about drugs;
c) decriminalisation of drugs;
d) making the connections between addictive drug use and wider issues such as suicide, unemployment, homelessness, lack of hope for the future; working towards solving these problems; removing the focus on excessive drug use which is a symptom rather than a cause; and
e) widely available community-based counselling and support services for drug-users without condemnation, including adequate follow-up.
5.3 Short term targets
5.3.1 Illegal drugs
The Indian National Green Party believe that softer, less addictive drugs should be more freely available as research shows that such availability mitigates against the use of hard drugs.
5.3.2 Regulated drugs
The Indian National Green Party will work to immediately set in process the following:
a) independent research into the effects and addictive properties of drugs commonly prescribed by doctors for a wide variety of causes from hyperactiveness in children to stress and depression in adults, with a view to greater restriction and regulation of those;
b) mandatory labelling and verbal advice by doctors as to the effects and potential for addiction of prescribed drugs; and
c) continued independent research into food additives to ascertain their health effects, both short and long term, and ensuring the publicising of results.
5.3.3 Freely available drugs
The Indian National Green Party will work to immediately set in process the following:
a) taking all possible steps to reduce the image tobacco and alcohol have, especially for young people; this will include banning advertising of tobacco and alcohol products and restricting opportunities for sponsorship;
b) ensuring that smoking does not endanger the health of others;
c) disallowing the use of drunkenness as an excuse to avoid retribution in crimes of violence and negligence;
d) restriction of sale of alcohol to people under the age of 18.
5.3.4 Treatment of people with drug addictions
The Indian National Green Party will work to immediately set in process the following:
a) freely available treatment programme with adequate follow-up;
b) treatment programme and facilities which sensitively cater for individuals within different groups, women and men, including older people, parents of children and the young.
c) involving NGOs to locate drug addicts and bring attitudinal and behavioural change among them with a view to advising them to stop taking drugs.
d) bringing such drug addicts to the main stream by providing them suitable training for making them social activists in the areas of social justice and empowerment.
d) organising deaddiction camps by inviting medical experts belonging to modern medicine as well as alternative, complementary and energetic medicinal areas..