Author: Milutin

Executive Director, Drug Policy Network Youth East Europe

CSFD plenary meeting

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The Plenary Annual Meeting of the Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD) and the joint meeting between the CSFD and Members of the EU Horizontal Drugs Groups (HDG) was held on on 11 – 12 December 2024.

The new 3-years mandate of the CSFD kicked off in Brussels in December with the selection of 43 civil society organizations. The CSFD is an expert group of the European Commission aimed at supporting drug policy formulation and implementation.

DPNSEE was re-elected to the CSFD, following a very fruitfull mandate in which we chaired one of the working groups.

The DG HOME.D5 Organised Crime & Drugs UNit, European Commission Directorate-General Migration and Home Affairs, which supports work of the CSFD, presented upcoming Commission activities concerning drug policy , emphasising the current strong political impetus to act against drug trafficking and the risks posed by organised crime, while CSFD asked for more human rights, health and care focus of EU Drugs Policy, balanced with security focus, and offered to contribute its ample evidence and experience. The CSFD requested more focus and funding for demand reduction, prevention, treatment and harm reduction in the upcoming new EU Drugs Strategy, while political signs would point in the opposite direction of only concentrating on supply reduction. The CFSD was concerned about a criminalisation of drug use that would in its view lead to more crime and violence, while a people-centred and community-based approach, as well as security considerations, would plead for decriminalisation and decent care for those using drugs.

Following a DPNSEE intervention, the CSFD called for cooperation with DG Near on balanced approach to accession acquis of the EU candidate countries.

The CSFD is governed by a core group. The new organisation of the CSFD and the Core Group inscludes two thematic groups:

  • Thematic Group 1: CSFD’s engagement with the EU towards UN institutions / CSFD’s engagement with the EU with third parties (bilateral dialogues, engagement with other entities, advocacy around accession of new Member States)
  • Thematic Group 2: Flexible working group focusing on setting up ad hoc/time bound groups focusing on specific themes or research (e.g. violence; synthetic drugs; internal security strategy; new EU drugs strategy; contributions to EUDA CS engagement mechanism; indicators)

The Core Group members are: Ganna Dovbakh as chair (Euroasian Harm Reduction Association, Ukraine), Oriol Esculies as vice-chair (coordinator of the Oviedo Initiative, Proyecto Hombre, Spain), Milutin Milosevic (DPNSEE, Serbia), Stig Erik Sorheim (EURAD, Norway), Benjamin Tubiana-Rey (Fédération Addiction, France) and Marie Nougier (IDPC, UK).

At the 7. Joint meeting with HDG, participants discussed EU preparedness for synthetic drug threats, developments in the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), recent and upcoming Dialogues on Drugs with third countries and regions, and drug-markets related violence.

 

Webinar on data

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The Drug Policy Network South Wast Europe hosted a webinar to present the recently published data related to harm reduction and HIV/AIDS in South East Europe on 26 November 2024. Besides presenting the data, it was an opportunity to discuss ways in which data should be more reliable and how to integrate data collected by civil society organisations in govrenmental reporting.

Following the welcome address by Nebojša Đurasović, DPNSEE President, we had excellent presentations:

  • Global State of Harm Reduction report – presented by Colleen Daniels, Deputy Director and Public Health Lead, Harm Reduction International (2024 available here>>>)
  • Harm Reduction in South East Europe – Marios Atzemis, DPNSEE Board member (available here>>>)
  • Civil Society Monitoring of Harm Reduction in Europe – Iga Jeziorska, Senior Research Officer, Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network (available here>>>)
  • HIV/AIDS surveillance data for South East Europe (data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control – ECDC) – Milutin Milošević, Executive Director, DPNSEE (available here>>>)

In addition, DPNSEE had sent data by countries and territories to its member organisations and governmental institutions. You can also download them here:

Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Greece Kosovo*

Montenegro North Macedonia Romania Serbia Slovenia Turkey

DPNSEE informed that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control – ECDC will publish the HIV/AIDS surveillance in Europe 2024 (2023 data) report on 28 November at https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/. DPNSEE will process the new data and prepare new visuals in early 2025.

Youth and gambling

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The Regional Conference “Youth and Gambling – National and regional perspectives” was held on 20 November 2024 in Skopje. The conference is organized by HOPS – Healthy Options Project Skopje, in partnership with Labyrinth from Kosovo and Prevent from Serbia within the framework of the regional project “Youth and Gambling” with the support of the Western Balkans Fund. The main goal of the project is to advance national policies and practices aimed at preventing gambling among youth under the age of 25.

The conference was attended by representatives of the ministries, institutions and civil society organizations responsible for this issue from North Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo.

The results of the research “Youth and their Betting Habits in North Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo” were presented at the conference. This research, which included 214 young people under the age of 25 in Macedonia, showed that 17.8% of respondents declared themselves addicted to gambling. Eighty-four percent of respondents said that they know someone younger than 25 who is addicted to playing games of chance. Of these, as many as 39.3% said they knew more than 10 people under the age of 25 who were addicted to gambling, and only 11.2% said they did not know a person under the age of 25 who was addicted to gambling.

Regarding the information provided to gambling players by the organizers of these games about the danger of becoming addicted, only 19.2% of respondents said that in the facilities where they play gambling there is information that one can become addicted to these games. Also, only 7.5% of respondents said that in the facilities where they play gambling there is information where one can seek help in case of addiction to these games.

Similar data are noted in Serbia and Kosovo.

The conference adopted regional and recommendations for each of the participating countries/territories.

Reports from the project are abailable in Macedonian, Serbian and Albanian.

Slovenia opens first drug consumption room

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ŠENT – Slovenian Association for Mental Health opens tomorrow Goriška varna soba (Goriška Safe Room), first drug comsumption room in Slovenia.

The Safe Room is a harm reduction program aimed at a high-risk population of illicit drug users. The basic purpose of the safe room is to reach and respond to the needs of this particularly vulnerable group of users, whose needs cannot be adequately addressed within the existing public health system. At the same time, these users may be a significant burden to the local environment/community. With the services ŠENT offer in the safe room, they can most effectively and directly influence the reduction of health risks, and indirectly also the risks that they deal with within the social welfare and criminal law areas of treatment. In addition, the use of drugs is withdrawn from the public space into a private and at the same time controlled space, which reduces the possibility of exposure to the general public, including the risks that arise from the use of drugs in a public space.

The basic goals of safe room programs are the prevention of overdoses and health complications and the possibility of effective treatment in the event of them, the prevention of blood-borne diseases (Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, HIV, etc.) and bacterial infections, the reduction of drug use in public areas, enabling contact with particularly vulnerable and hard-to-reach users, reducing the costs of health, social and legal protection related to the use of illegal drugs.

ŠENT plan to connect the operation of the safe room program with the operation of the existing day center for users of illegal drugs in Nova Gorica (Sedejeva 9a). The space in which only this one operates and which is owned by the Municipality of Nova Gorica (MONG) is an independent building – a living container, which consists of interconnected modules, and has been used by the ŠENT association since 2006. The space has over the years of use proven to be suitable for the provision of harm reduction services, as due to its location (on the outskirts of the city of Nova Gorica) and its location outside the strict residential area, it is undisturbed for the residents. The city center is 500 meters away, which still ensures proximity to everyone who needs it.

Final preparations for the Safe Room openning

The safe room program will follow the guidelines of safe rooms from abroad. It will include a main area dedicated to drug use and individual work with users. The drug use area will be divided into two parts, one part will be for intravenous drug use, while the other part will be intended for users who will use the drug orally or nasally. The safe room will be used by one user at a time, who will have from 20 to 60 minutes available to use the drug, and the specific needs of the individual user must be taken into account, as some have problems with collapsed veins and consequently need longer injection time. Each user will have at their disposal sterile accessories that will enable nasal, oral and intravenous use of drugs, as well as other necessary accessories, which are free in the program.

Before using the safe room service, the user will have to take care of preliminary hygiene under the guidance of an employee, after use he will have to clean the work surface, for which s/he will have available cleaning products and a tray for infectious waste. The sterility and appropriateness of the work surfaces must be monitored and, if necessary, also ensured by the employee during use. The program will employ two professionals, a medical graduate and a social welfare professional.

Ministry of Health of the Republic of Slovenia is the source of co-financing of the safe room. The total value of the operation is 207,359.68 Euro.

 

Call for applications for external evaluation

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The BOOST project is calling for applications for external evaluation of the project. The evaluation is crucial in assessing the progress of BOOST, the effectiveness of the partnerships, and the overall impact on harm reduction services.

With respect to the scope of work, the external evaluator will:

  • Review relevant project documents (e.g., project proposals, work plans, progress reports, internal M&E database).
  • Conduct interviews with key stakeholders, including project partners, project beneficiaries, peers, mini-lighthouses and mentees, among others.
  • Analyse project progress against the planned outcomes, using data collected by the internal M&E team, including baseline, process, output and outcome indicators.
  • Conduct an outcome harvest to identify policy and practice changes, as well as other relevant outcomes attributed to the project’s actions.
  • Provide an evaluation of the process, including:
    • How effectively the activities were implemented.
    • How well the consortium collaborated and communicated.
    • The overall impact of the project activities on harm reduction services.

If you are interested in applying, please take a look at the Terms of Reference (ToR) and submit a brief proposal outlining your approach to the evaluation and the corresponding budget.

 

Global State of Harm Reduction 2024 Report

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The Global State of Harm Reduction is the only report that provides an independent analysis of harm reduction in the world. Now in its the ninth edition, the Global State of Harm Reduction 2024 is the most comprehensive global mapping of harm reduction responses to drug use, HIV and viral hepatitis.

The Global State of Harm Reduction has always been produced through a collaborative effort between community and civil society representatives and researchers. The report includes nine regional chapters authored by experts from each region. This year’s report differs slightly from previous editions as we emphasise key regional issues and populations that continue to be neglected by harm reduction services.

Each regional chapter presents data on the availability of harm reduction services and addresses two key issues that require special attention. The report also includes three new thematic chapters focused on harm reduction for Indigenous people, people in prison and youth. We also continue to include data to map the implementation of viral hepatitis services for people who use drugs.

Top trends presented in the report include:

  • 93 countries now provide at least one needle and syringe programme (NSP), compared to 92 in 2022.
  • Opioid agonist therapy (OAT) programmes are now in 94 countries, compared to 88 in 2022 – although coverage remains varied and limited.
  • The number of countries with drug consumption rooms (DCRs) or overdose preventions centres remains very small, but it has increased from 16 to 18 since 2022. The two new countries on this list are Colombia and Sierra Leone.
  • Take-home naloxone programmes are now available in 34 countries, a slight decrease from 35 in 2022.

DPNSEE has been following the Global State of Harm Reduction reports in recent years. We have already prepared an overview of the findings of the situation in South East Europe. Here it is

To access the Report, follow this link>>>.

 

First cannabis club distribution in Germany

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From a Weser Kurier news

Since July, German cannabis cultivation clubs have been permitted to grow cannabis together and distribute it. For the first time, a cultivation association in Ganderkesee has distributed legally grown cannabis to its members. This club claims to be the first club in Germany to harvest a legal cannabis crop.Michael Jaskulewicz was the first member of the Cannabis Social Club Ganderkesee to receive a few grams of various types of the drug. “Being here and picking this up was an absolutely amazing feeling,” he said.

According to a spokeswoman for the Federal Drug Commissioner, no other association is known to have started harvesting earlier. However, she pointed out that the authority has no official information on the harvest situation of the individual cultivation associations. It is known that the association in Ganderkesee is very far advanced.

“Our members come from the middle of society,” said association chairman Daniel Keune. The age range is from 18 to 70 years, from employees to entrepreneurs.

The association has been working on the issue of legalizing cannabis consumption in Germany for two years. Partial legalization enables preventive health protection because the association guarantees that the cannabis distributed is safe and without additives. “This health protection that we can provide has motivated us.”

 

One more DPNSEE mandate in the Civil Society Forum on Drugs

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The Drug Policy Network Youth East Europe was today formally informed that we have been, for the second time in row, selected as a member of the European Commission Expert Group – Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD) 2024-2027.

As every three years, he European Commission had opened the Call for applications for members of its expert group to completely renew membership for 2024-2027 mandate. We have applied as the network that gathers civil society organisations from all 11 countries of this region of Europe.

The Forum membership comprises 45 civil society organisations coming from across Europe and representing a variety of fields of drug policy, and a variety of stances within those fields.  Its purpose is to provide a broad platform for a structured dialogue between the Commission and the European civil society which supports drug policy formulation and implementation through practical advice.

DPNSEE was member of the Forum in the 2021 – 2024 mandate, where we chaired the Working group on emerging issues in drug policy. We actively participated in CSFD activities and contributed to various documents and position papers, including the Position paper on decriminalisation. We are proud on being selected again and expect to continue being an active member.

 

The Convent Book of Recommendations published

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The National Convention on the European Union today published the Summary of the Book of Recommendations for 2024. This regular annual publication presents the most comprehensive overview of the state of Serbia’s negotiation process in the year that marks a full decade since the official start of negotiations between Serbia and the European Union. The book was created with the contribution of hundreds of members of the National Convention, the largest network of civil society organizations in Serbia.

The book of recommendations for 2024 reflects the reality of the current state of Serbia’s European path, primarily the fact that Serbia has not formally advanced in the negotiation process since the end of 2021.

A total of 426 recommendations were defined, of which 344 were intended for the Government, 42 for the European Union, and 40 for the civil society of Serbia. For each part of the negotiation framework, the continuity and level of implementation of the recommendations compared to the previous year is monitored, while new recommendations were also formulated, taking into account taking into account the situation and context during 2024.

Thus, out of a total of 344 recommendations to the Government, compared to the previous year, only eight were fully implemented. 67 recommendations were partially fulfilled, while 221 recommendations remained unfulfilled. The number of new recommendations is 48.

Out of a total of 42 recommendations for the European Union, two are new. Of the remaining 40, five were fully fulfilled, 11 partially, and 24 recommendations remained unfulfilled.

A total of 40 recommendations are foreseen for civil society, one of which is new. Among them, one was fully fulfilled, 11 partially, while 26 recommendations remain unfulfilled.

The book contains three recommendations that DPNSEE proposed based on our activities so far and the previous and current conditions for accession to the European Union. The recommendations are related to strategic planning, prevention and amendments to the Criminal Law.

A summary of the Book of Recommendations (in Serbian) is available following this link>>>.

 

BOOST’s Peer-to-Peer Capacity-Building Webinar Series

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As part of the BOOST Project, a series of webinars will be held in November for harm reduction organisations that are currently providing or planning to offer services in the fields of HIV and viral hepatitis.

The webinars aim to enhance the knowledge and skills of community-based and community-led organisations, helping them apply good practice models, tools, and methods to scale up integrated screening, testing, treatment and care for communicable diseases across Europe. Below are the sessions, dates and registration links.

Community-led approaches to HIV/VH/STIs screening, testing, treatment and care for people who use drugs

November 6th, 2024 | 16:00h CET

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwsd-iqrTwjE9z9iIbtFYOyuWbBspWo6qF-

Optimising data collection: a guide to COBATEST standardised data collection tools

November 13th, 2024 | 16:00h CET

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvc-6srT0qE9B6Qb0cjTND6fW9C8s-nROi

Current best practices on community-based HIV/VH/STIs services

November 20th, 2024 | 16:00h CET

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYrd–sqTkjHNPfQAKCa40Eediiygpyhi-h

Improving linkage to care in harm reduction settings

November 27th, 2024 | 16:00h CET

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtf-uhrjIqE9QiGDx6GveFV66wzWfmiQ3m