Participate in the Civil Society Forum on Drugs Survey on the EU Drug Strategy

Are you part of a Civil Society Organization working in Drug Policy? Your voice matters in shaping drug policies in the EU!

Participate in the Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD) Survey on the implementation of the EU Drug Strategy and Action Plan 2021-2025 and share your knowledge on the implementation of drug policies. Your insights will contribute to the evaluation of the current situation regarding the accessibility and quality of key demand reduction and harm reduction programmes and interventions and help identify potential changes since the last assessment.

You can find the Survey here.

Responses can be submitted until the 30th of October 2023.

Your participation is voluntary. All responses will be kept anonymous and integrated into a report published on the website of the Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD).

This survey continues the efforts of the Civil Society Forum on Drugs to monitor the implementation of EU drug policies from the perspective of civil society organisations. So far, the CSFD has published three reports on the topic:

With this survey, we aim to discover the extent of implementation of the EU Drug Strategy 2021-2025 in the EU Member States and beyond in the middle of its running period. We ask you to fill in the questionnaire providing answers according to your best expert knowledge.

If you have any questions, please contact Iga Jeziorska, the Chair of the Working Group on the EU Drug Policy, at: iga.kender-jeziorska@euro-yoda.org.

The UK’s first official consumption room was approved by authorities in Glasgow

On the 27th of September, Glasgow’s Integration Joint Board – bringing together officials from NHS Scotland, the publicly funded healthcare system in Scotland, and council officials – have approved the first official drug consumption room in the UK, reports BBC News.

The pilot scheme will be located at a health centre in the east of Glasgow and is funded by the Scottish government as part of a wider strategy to address the country’s drug death crisis. At the facility, people who use drugs will be able to consume their own substances, including heroin and cocaine, under the supervision of health professionals. Due to legal issues concerning the Scottish anti-smoking legislation, and ventilation and filtration-related challenges, the proposal for a room where clients can smoke illegal substances has been removed from the original proposal for now.

Hopes are that the consumption site will be open by the coming summer and run for an initial three years. Plans to open such a project have been on the way in the past years, and the final steps towards their realisation became possible after Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC announced earlier in September that it would not be in the public interest for people using a pilot Safer Drug Consumption room to face prosecution for possession within the facility.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Advocates for Human Rights-Centered Drug Policy Reform in new report

In a report of great significance released today, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights calls for transformative changes toward drug policies that are based on health and human rights, calling for the decriminalization of drug use and recommending governments shift to responsible regulation in order to take control of illegal drug markets.

The report, titled “Human rights challenges in addressing and countering all aspects of the world drug problem”, underlines the harsh consequences of the ‘war on drugs’ and drug policies focused on punitive practices on human rights. The recommendations include the meaningful engagement of civil society organizations, people who use drugs, affected communities, and youth in shaping drug policies, and calls for the inclusion and support of harm reduction services.

In a statement released in response to the report, 133 civil society and community organizations welcomed its recommendations and called on the international community, the Member States, the Human Rights Council, drug control bodies, and UN agencies to act on the UN human rights chief’s call for systemic drug policy reform.

For more information, read IDPC’s thorough coverage here.

Key step towards the establishment of the first official Safer Drug Consumption Facility in Glasgow

On the 11th of September, Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain KC announced that it would not be in the public interest for people using a pilot Safer Drug Consumption room to face prosecution for possession within the facility, and Drugs and Alcohol Policy Minister Elena Whitham has welcomed her position. This means that Glasgow authorities can now move forward with their proposal to establish a facility which can operate within the current legal framework.

According to the Lord Advocate’s response to the request from the Scottish Parliament cross-committee on tackling drug deaths and drug harm, she would consider making a public statement of prosecution policy if a pilot safer drug consumption facility were to be established. The announcement is based on the proposal developed by the Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) and Police Scotland.

Open letter to the Members of the European Parliament to vote against the Prostitution Report

13 organizations united under the European Coalition on Sex Workers’ Rights and Inclusion, including C-EHRN, addressed the Members of the European Parliament in an open letter, calling them to reject and vote against the report on the regulation of prostitution in the EU: its cross-border implications and impact on gender equality and women’s rights, 2022/2139(INI), which will be put to a vote in plenary on September 14.

“Our organisations are leading civil society networks and human rights organisations. We have decades of experience and expertise in addressing women’s rights and gender equality, human rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights, HIV, harm reduction, the rights of LGBTI people, digital rights, human trafficking, migration, racial justice and criminal justice. Within these numerous fields of expertise, all 13 organisations have come to the same conclusion: criminalisation of any aspect of sex work, which is proposed by this report, does not protect the rights of women and others engaged in sex work for manifold reasons, and does not help address the very serious issue of human trafficking and forced labour. It is only by adopting a human rights-based approach, decriminalising all aspects of sex work, and meaningfully including sex workers and sex workers’ human rights defenders in decision-making, that people selling sex, including victims of sexual exploitation, can be protected and serious human rights violations against people selling sex experience can be addressed.”

Read the reasons why we consider the report biased and harmful for people selling sex and other vulnerable groups in the open letter accessible below.

Assessing Civil Society Involvement in Drug Policy – European Case Studies

A conversation with Péter Sárosi

In 2021, the Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD) established guiding principles for meaningful civil society involvement in decision-making regarding drug policy. These principles were published in the Quality Standards for Civil Society Involvement in Drug Policy. Currently, four case studies are being conducted in Ireland, Hungary, Greece, and Finland to assess the implementation of these standards.

THE CASE STUDIES

Péter Sárosi, the executive director of the Rights Reporter Foundation and head of the Civil Society Involvement Working Group of CSFD, explained that two focus group discussions are being held in each country, one involving decision-makers and another involving civil society representatives. The Chatham House Rule ensures confidentiality and open discussion, and the conversations address the 9 overarching quality criteria described in the Quality Standards for Civil Society Involvement in Drug Policy and how these are applied in the respective countries and cities. “In June, we went to the first country [Ireland]. In July, we visited Athens. We are now working on the Hungarian one and the Finnish visit will be at the end of August.”

Péter noted active participation in Ireland and Greece, highlighting the importance of such dialogues to build openness and mutual trust between civil society and governments. “This project is really useful for the organizations in those countries because it creates some channels or forums to speak about very sensitive issues for civil society and also for decision-makers. […] It was really interesting to see the different perspectives of the two parties.” He also observed a need for more dialogue on general subjects like what is civil society and its role, as there are many misunderstandings.

Another lesson learnt was that the level of efficiency and quality of the government’s communication with NGOs is not necessarily better in the case of more formal systems. “Sometimes the informal channels can work very well. And sometimes you have formal channels which don’t work very well. […] If you have an official forum to discuss with governments, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’ll create a good quality involvement of civil society.”

The case studies will offer valuable insights, including positive and negative examples from different mechanisms in the selected countries, with forward-looking examples like the Citizens’ Assembly on Drug Use in Ireland.

Besides some of the progressive examples of Ireland and Finland, where governments are more open to civil society voices, lessons can be learned from Hungary and Greece. In Greece, despite the not-so-developed government system, civil society advocacy had a very positive impact. A drug consumption room and a specific shelter for homeless people who use drugs were created and take-home Naloxone is being provided to prevent drug overdoses. In Hungary, where there is no existing dialogue between the government and civil society, there are still some positive developments at the city level in Budapest, which is an example on how civil society can still use local mechanisms when there are no available national ones.

Rafaela Rigoni on Civil Society-led Monitoring for Harm Reduction @ISSDP 2023

The 2023 Conference of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP) took place in Leuven, BE between the 30th of May – the 1st of June 2023, gathering around 250 participants including researchers, academics and some civil society organizations.

As part of the event, Rafaela Rigoni, C-EHRN’s Scientific Officer presented the Civil Society-led Monitoring for Harm Reduction, one of C-EHRN’s most significant achievements from recent years, with the title Frontline perspectives: Civil society-led monitoring of harm reduction in Europe.

Rafaela discussed the crucial role of civil society organisations (CSOs) in the development and implementation of measures to reduce the harms of drug use and in monitoring and evaluating program policies. Her presentation analysed the challenges and experiences in building a framework to monitor the implementation of harm reduction in Europe from the viewpoint of frontline harm reduction workers.

She presented the monitoring framework developed by C-EHRN’s research group since 2018, which collects data on the accessibility and acceptability of harm reduction services, hepatitis C care for people who inject drugs, and drug trends. The monitoring tool operates through a network of Focal Points, harm reduction services in 36 European cities in 34 different countries.

Mapping the situation on a city level, the approach provides the foundations for the critical evaluation of harm reduction implementation against European policy goals and reflects the CSO’s perspectives, which is critical for optimising the local planning of services and developing effective and respectful drug policies.

 

Curious about the results of last year’s monitoring? Check out the Monitoring Data Report and the Executive Summary!

Shaping Scotland’s Drug Policy Conference

The Scottish Drugs Forum’s conference Shaping Scotland’s Drug Policy took place in May in Glasgow and focused on the lessons of responding to drug-related issues over the past 35 years, reflected on the current situation and looked at future challenges. Katrin Schiffer, C-EHRN’s director has also attended the conference, giving a talk titled European Drug Policies: Myths, facts and potential impact. Katrin provided an overview of the EU Drug Policy and its impact, the role of civil society in drug policy and the challenges in implementing a balanced drug policy approach.

After the conference, SDF organised a reception in honour of David Liddell, who has been SDF’s CEO for more than 30 years. David has cooperated with C-EHRN since 2007 and is a committed colleague and friend, who always advocated for the rights of People Who Use Drugs and their meaningful involvement in the development and implementation of services and drug policy. A valued friend and champion for harm reduction, he will be missed in Scotland, but also at the European level. David is followed up by Kirsten Horsburgh, a worthy successor who will continue the legacy, embracing its gains, but also breaking new ground.

New Publication: Contribution from the Civil Society Forum on Drugs to enhance the gender perspective into EU drug policy

The Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD), the expert committee of the European Commission in the field of drugs, has identified the enhancement of a gender perspective in EU drug policy as one of the emerging issues of drug policies. In contrast with the previous EU Drug Strategy and Action Plan, the current one seems to incorporate a gender-sensitive approach to all aspects of EU drug policies, which is a significant advancement. However, the recommendations contained in this analysis can help enhance the gender perspectives in the EU drug policy documents. Read the full analysis here.

Image: Freepik.com

National Harm Reduction Networks – New Publications

We are excited to share two publications on National Harm Reduction Networks in Europe; Building Solidarity & Mutual Support and the accompanying Policy Recommendations.

 

National harm reduction networks are represented in 17 countries – with structures such as mission statements, steering committees, registered members and annual work plans. Roughly two-thirds of the existing networks receive funding for their operation, mostly from national or local authorities. The main activities of these networks are capacity building, advocacy, and networking. They also contribute to strengthening the organisation’s commitment to enhancing the linkage between European and national-level drug policies.

 

Many civil society organizations, such as various service providers and groups of people who use drugs, seek to shape the development of drug policy at both the national and international levels. The existence of networks brings numerous benefits and added value to the harm reduction field. Networks are best positioned to transmit to governments and decision-makers information on work carried out by organisations, including the needs and challenges faced by people who use drugs.

 

Read the full publication here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read the Policy Recommendations here.