Europe for Action on Drugs
EURAD
EURAD is a European non profit drug policy organization that advocates for prevention and recovery oriented drug policies at national and international level.
ID: 24340297158-92
Lobbying Activity
Response to EU Drugs Strategy and European Action Plan Against Drug Trafficking
26 Sept 2025
EURAD is a European drug policy network that advocates for evidence-based policies that promote prevention, treatment and recovery. We welcome the opportunity to provide input to the EU drugs strategy and EU action plan against drug trafficking. The title of the call for evidence suggests a focus on drug trafficking. However, we take the title to refer to two separate documents a general drugs strategy and a more concrete action plan on drug trafficking. The distinction is important for us, because while we support the EUs work to reduce drug trafficking, we believe that the overarching strategy should take a balanced approach to the drugs issue that also recognizes the importance of scaling up evidence-based prevention, increasing access to treatment, ensuring access to health services and evidence-based harm reduction services for people who use drugs, and promoting recovery from substance use disorders. The Commission is understandably concerned about drug induced deaths. We share this concern, but it is important to point out that drug related harms are not limited to deaths. Drugs are causally linked to a wide range of somatic and mental health problems, problems in families and relationships, in schools and workplaces, economic problems and community disruption. Harm to others is an important aspect of the drug problem. We share the Commissions concern about violent criminal networks, the emergence of new, and potentially more lethal, drugs in European drug markets, and the increase in the use of cocaine. A coordinated European response to these challenges is important. However, there is a need for a two-pronged response, looking both at the supply-side and the demand side. The Commission has developed an action plan on combatting drug trafficking. Perhaps it is time to also develop an action plan on the health aspects of the drug problem?
Read full responseResponse to Evaluation of the implementation of the EU Drugs Strategy and of the EU Drugs Action Plan 2021-2025
11 Jan 2024
EURAD is a European drug policy network that advocates for evidence-based prevention, treatment, and recovery in European drug policy. We welcome the opportunity to provide feedback on the implementation of the EU Drugs Action Plan 2021-2025. The EU Drugs Action Plan offers a comprehensive approach to the drugs issue that spans supply reduction, prevention, harm reduction, treatment and recovery, as well as cross border collaboration within and beyond the European Union. A balanced and comprehensive approach is necessary to tackle the drugs issue in Europe. The clear and present danger posed by well organized criminal groups with links to transnational organized crime has led to an increased emphasis on law enforcement and security in the EU Action Plan. This emphasis has been strenghtened by the recent Roadmap to Fight Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime. The threat from organized crime crosses borders and requires a coordinated response. However, it is important to stress that drugs are a complex challenges that affects a large number of European citizens and many sectors of society. These challenges must be addressed through a multisectoral approach. Prevention is a key strategy to reduce the future demand for drugs. The Action Plan aims to increase the availability of evidence-based environmental and universal prevention interventions. While the EMCDDA provides some guidance in this area, much of this is left to the member states, and in many regions progress appears to be relatively slow. To our knowledge the cross-EU educational campaigns and social media messages outlined in the strategy have not yet been implemented. The evidence for educational campaigns and social media messages as stand-alone measures to reduce drug use is not very strong. However, we believe that reliable information about prevention and drug related harm can be an important component in a comprehensive prevention strategy that aims to engage parents, schools, social workers and local communities in strengthening young peoples resilience and life-skills, and promoting healthy choices. In many countries, harm reduction services are an integral part of drug policy. However, the situation varies across the region, and harm reduction services appear to be vulnerable to budget cuts. There is a need to expand access to services and to ensure sustainable funding to protect the health of people who use drugs. Access to evidence-based treatment for substance use problems should be expanded. It is important to maintain diversity in treatment services to accommodate different user groups and different treatment goals. Many people in treatment have complex needs, including mental health services and a range of social services. An ageing population of service users will need more somatic health services. More countries seem to recognize the the need for gender sensitive services suited to the specific situation of both men and women. Recovery and social reintegration deserve more attention in the action plan. EU countries should aim to promote recovery by reducing obstacles and providing opportunities for meaningful activities and participation. Recovery should be seen as a process where people improve their health and well-being and strive to reach their potential. Peer and self-help groups can play a significant role in maintaining stable recovery. Research finds that people in recovery are an important resource in their communities. Looking ahead, we are concerned about the emergence of highly potent synthetic opioids and nitazenes in some regions. So far, Europe has been spared the fentanyl epidemic that has ravaged North America, but there is a risk that these substances may gain a foothold in the European market as well. There is a need for close monitoring of the situation and rapid responses if the situation worsens. We therefore welcome the role of the new European Drugs Agency in establishing an early warning system for new drug threats.
Read full responseResponse to Revision of the mandate of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
10 Mar 2022
EURAD is a European non-profit drug policy network that advocates for prevention, treatment and recovery oriented drug policies at the national and international level. Our mission is to to reduce the burden of harm caused by non-medical drug use to individuals, families and communities through public health oriented policies that seek to prevent drug use, offer early intervention, provide access to health, treatment and social reintegration services and support recovery from drug use.
We would like to thank the Commission for the inclusion of civil society in the preparation of the new mandate and encourage continued involvement of civil society in the process going forward.
Please find attached our comments to the new mandate.
Read full responseResponse to Revision of the mandate of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
30 Jul 2020
EURAD is a European non profit drug policy Foundation that advocates for prevention and recovery oriented drug policies at national and international level.
We would like to thank DG Home for the opportunity to provide feedback on the revision of the mandate of the EMCDDA.
In our work we regularly rely on data and analyses from EMCDDA. It is crucial that there is a neutral scientific agency that provides reliable, high-quality epidemiological data on drugs to ensure that our policies are based on the best available evidence.
We believe that the core functions of the EMCDDA should be data collection, monitoring, harmonisation of data, analysis and publication of the outcomes. The EMCDDA is crucial in documenting evolutions in trends in use, market developments and impacts of policies in different countries. The mandate of the EMCDAA should balance epidemiological data on use, prevention, treatment, harm reduction and recovery with data on drug markets and supply reduction.
We believe that there is a need to develop the EMCDDA further, either through non-legislative policy options or by developing an enhanced agency through legislative means. This means that even though we find the current EMCDDA a useful source of information, the revision of the mandate should ensure that the EMCDDA is equipped to address new issues, including poly-substance use and internet trade in drugs. We would also like to see more work on recovery and rehabilitation from substance use problems, e.g. factors that promote recovery and rehabilitation.
In many cases the EMCDDA relies on data from national focal points. Standardising data collection and reporting is key to providing comparable data. Varying reporting provides problems both in comparisons between countries and within countries over time. It is important that the complexity of the data is acknowledged. The collaboration between the EMCCDA and national focal points should be further developed, and focal points should play an active role in disseminating EMCDDA analyses.
In developing the EMCDDA it is important to avoid duplication of work with member states or other agencies. In some areas there may be overlapping areas of responsibilities, eg. between member states and international bodies with regard to laboratories, with other health bodies with regard to licit substances such as alcohol and tobacco, or with law enforcement agencies when it comes to drug markets. In such cases both legislative and non-legislative options, such as enhanced cooperation, could be useful.
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