Author: Milutin

Executive Director, Drug Policy Network Youth East Europe

Bulgaria back to the map of the Support. Don’t Punish campaign

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After a year without the campaign, the Initiative for Health Foundation added Sofia to the list of participating cities in 2018.

The Foundation engaged a professional reporter to explain the content of the campaign, its story around the world and in Bulgaria. The article was published in the web-site and FB of Initiative for Health Foundation (where the article reached primarily 531 persons), in the web-portal of the Bulgarian non-governmental organizations NGOBG and in 4 online media.

A photo-frame for profile pictures was developed and distributed in Facebook for people who would support the campaign.

In addition, 80 t-shirts were produced with the campaign logo and were distributed during 4 events of Initiative for Health Foundation in the period 31 May – 26 June 2018: one public discussion, one networking seminar and two trainings.

ReGeneration’s activities in the Support. Don’t Punish campaign

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On Tuesday, 26th July 2018, the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, the NGO ReGeneration, in cooperation with the Belgrade night club Drugstore, organized an event as part of the Support. Don’t Punish campaign. The event, starting at 8 PM, was held in the Drugstore night club in Belgrade; the stand was placed in the lobby, next to the door leading to the main area, and opposite it, in front of the coat check, was displayed new informative material on the most common psychoactive substances and acute health issues the consumption there of could result in. A large poster of the campaign, in front of which visitors could, if they so wished, be photographed by members of ReGeneration’s with the Support. Don’t Punish logo as an act of support, was also placed in the lobby. Also, those who wished to could complete a short questionnaire regarding the usage of (new) psychoactive substances prepared by our team.

The visitors could then enter the main club area, where our guest Marko Milosavljević was the DJ support. To the backdrop of Marko’s music, the rest of the event passed in informal socialization and discussion. In casual conversation, the guests and visitors from various countries and of various educational profiles – anthropologists, healthcare professionals, psychologists, artist, etc. – touched upon many issues regarding the consumption of PAS and NPAS among the youth not just in Serbia and the region but globally as well, such as legislature, public policy, harm reduction strategies and public and media discourse on (N)PAS consumption. ReGeneration is determined to continue the tradition of organizing different events on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking with the goal of raising awareness and informing the general public.

Support Don’t Punish objectives were also promoted on the Pride Parade in Belgrade, by the Re Generation and YODA members. As Pride Parade had the topic of HIV prevention, we though it is important to support members of other vulnerable populations in fight against discrimination and stigmatization of all of us.

Before and after the event NGO Re Generation representatives were also present in media presented the goals of the Support Don’t Punish Global campaign to general public in addition to campaign that was recent initiated, as an answer to death of three young persons, related to the use of psychoactive substances, that inspired Re Generation to even more and bit aggressive advocate for the harm reduction programs in the recreational settings. #DAZNAMŠTARADIM is the campaign aiming to support and push for the implementation of nightlife outreach programs as a necessity.

Links to media coverage:
Re Genration blog: https://regeneracija.blogspot.com/2018/06/daznamstaradim.html?m=1
TV N1 Morning show: http://rs.n1info.com/Comment/StandardComment/789181/Vesti/Gosce- N1-Kultura-u-Srbiji-danas-podrzava-koriscenje-droga.html
TV Prva: http://www.prva.rs/web-tv/info/exploziv/41632/exploziv—25062018.html

Tuzla joined the Support. Don’t Punish campaign again

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The Support. Don’t Punish campaign in Tuzla, Bosnia Herzegovina started on 11 June 2018 with showing film “I want to wake up” three times for the population of high school students and three times for the population of students. The goal was to point out the problem of education of this population and reduce stigma and discrimination against drug users. In this way, the message and the global goals of the campaign was promoted and shared among young people.

Association Margina had an ambitious plan to hold a public debate and press conference “CANTONAL INSTITUTION FOR DISEASES – Why do we not have it?” as introductory event to the entire day of action on 26th of June where Bosnia and Herzegovina National Drug Strategy 2018 – 2023, Policy to reduce drug use damage in the Federation of Bosnia Herzegovina, Decisions of the Government and the Tuzla Canton Assembly on the establishment of the “Institute for Addiction of the Tuzla Canton” should have been presented. Unfortunately, this activity was cancelled, because just before the start of the entire campaign, health workers started striking, both to fight for their rights, but also due to poor conditions for patients. The strike escalated in a way that 1.370 doctors and more than 4.000 medical technicians locked in their dismissals.

Regardless of the cancelled public debate, Margina have drawn good lessons from this process, as a model of pressure and struggle for the human rights of professionals and patients in whose interests they work. In the upcoming period they plan a meeting or a series of them with the Health Workers Union, in order to try to organize joint activities to improve the quality of services for drug users.

Still, a street action was organised in the city of Tuzla, including disseminating promotional materials, meeting people and spreading information about the campaign and work of the association.

Art and deed

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The Centre for criminal prevention and post penalty support NEOSTART presented a Scrapbook of the protégées of the Correctional home in Kruševac, Serbia. The Scrapbook is result of the workshops of the project “Art and deed” implemented in cooperation with the organisation Crna ovca. The project was supported by the Centrifuga project of the Erste bank.

The promotion was held on 29 June 2018 in the House of Human Rights in Belgrade. Those who attended had an opportunity to talk to the protégées, ask them about the project and their involvement and buy some of the jewellery they produced.

Those who are interested in the project can download the publication (in Serbian) following this link>>>

Creative ways to organise the campaign

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This year’s campaign NGO Prevent from Novi Sad, Serbia, started on June 11th by publishing a contest for the best short video on the topic “Support, Don’t Punish”. The idea is that a video needed to send a message that is consistent with key campaign messages. The best video has been awarded money prize.

The next step was the beginning of promoting infographics on social networks Facebook and Instagram Important data for use in the infographics were previously extracted and graphic designer was engaged to prepare layouts. The advantage of the infographics is that they are much more compact and easier to read than the text itself. People like this way of displaying data and this is the reason why this method is chosen. The first of a total of 5 infographics was promoted on June 18th.

On June 21st, Prevent begun to promote previously created Facebook profile picture frame, with the logo and campaign message. Those who set up this frame for 7 days, received symbolic gifts from the Prevent Association (game similar to “Don’t get angry, man” created by the Prevent members, which indicates dangers of using psychoactive substances).

On June 21st, the press release was sent about the action of the Prevent Association in Novi Sad, within the global campaign. On the same day, the news was posted on the Prevent site and Facebook ads were paid for better promotion of the event. The result was a good response from the media.

The action lasted from 17:00 to 20:00 on 26 June at the city beach “Štrand”. The “Selfie” photo cabin has succeeded in attracting a fairly large number of people, who also had the opportunity to be informed by members of the Association to Prevent and get promotional educational material.

Harm reduction, priority theme in Romanian society

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In 2018, RHRN – Romanian Harm Reduction Network organized several events within Support. Don’t Punish campaign.

On June 26th, RHRN’s R3 – Revista de Reducere a Riscurilor/ R3 – Harm Reduction Journal was launched within the debate “Harm reduction, priority theme in Romanian society”. Ionut Alexandrescu, president of RHRN, moderated the panel around topics such as peer educators within harm reduction services, legislation for recreational cannabis users, alcohol use and services for people who abuse alcohol and connections between availability and costs of needle exchange programs, methadone treatment and HIV treatment. The event was attended by professionals working in the field and by the manager of Bucharest Ambulance Service.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

For the evening of June 26th, RHRN also scheduled an open air projection of A day in the life: the world of human who use drugs, which was postponed due to weather conditions.

From June 27 to June 29, RHRN – Romanian Harm Reduction Network, ALIAT – Alliance for the Fight against Alcoholism and Addictions, ARAS – Romanian Association against AIDS and PARADA Foundation opened their doors for press and those interested in prevention, harm reduction and rational, human and evidenced-based policies regarding substance use. Open Doors’ motto was (L)egality for health – Drug addiction should be treated at the hospital, not in prison.

How can I trust you?

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In occasion of the Global Day of Action, Udruga Terra from Rijeka held a theatrical play “How can I trust you?” The play was created with the idea to indicate the problem of accepting differences and the need to reduce prejudices, stigmatisation and violence against people who had or still have problem with drug addiction. The play was staged in the café bar “Dnevni boravak” with the aim to raise awareness about stigmatisation of those who managed to fight the addiction and the problems they face when returning to daily life.

Forum theatre, as the form of stage expression, allow the spectators to intervene and contribute to the happening at the scene and join actors in finding original solution to the problems they face and contribute to raise awareness on the problem that the play tackles.

After the play, a dialogue with the public continued.

Successful campaign in Montenegro

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On the 22nd of June, NGO Juventas and NGO 4Life, announced the campaign by photographing in front of the city assembly with transparents – symbolic because it is the home of those who make decisions in this country. On this occasion, press releases were issued.

On the 26th of June 2018, NGO Juventas, along with Montenegrin Harm Reduction Network, marked the campaign night in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, at the venue “Koncept Art Space”.

The public tribune was held and people speaking were members of NGO Link, coordinator of Harm reduction program for PWID/SW from NGO Juventas Marija Milić and psychologist from the Institute of Public Health, Tatijana Đurišić Mandić. The tribune targeted youth and new psychoactive substances, as well as the parents and public in general, which are in Montenegro uneducated and not willing to find out ways to help their children/family members/community members in need.

The tribune was very productive as every person present were involved in the discussion, giving us as facilitators of excellent inputs for the future planning of activities with the youth.

After the tribune, documentary movie about harm reduction in Montenegro was played for the first time in public, as well as documentaries from region, all filmed by Drugreporter from Hungary.

The venue where the event was held is near the Government building, and we wanted to draw the attention by placing a big “Support. Don’t Punish” sign on venue’s window.

The reason why we have held an event like this – we wanted to attract as many people from the community, to hear our stories, to hear what are we fighting with and to realize that people who use drugs have voices too.

On 27 June, the last activity was held and included setting up an information stand at the Faculty of Political Sciences of the University of Montenegro.

The night of the campaign was preceded by the opening of Facebook page “Support. Don’t Punish. Mne”, organization of venue, the engagement of photographers for the production of photographs for labels, posters and programs for the campaign, printing of prepared material, engagement of participants, refreshments and transportation.

Media coverage:

Discussing for matters that matter to us

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For one more year, the global campaign “Support. Don’t Punish” has been successfully implemented in Greece, with the valuable support of Drug Policy Network South East Europe, that effectively coordinated the implementation of the activities among the different countries in the SEE region, and International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) – responsible for the overall coordination of the campaign around the world.

This year in Greece, 7 different civil society organizations – that constitute the Greek NGO Platform for Psychoactive Substances*, an unofficial initiative for joint action among organizations working in the area of drug policy and psychoactive substances – joined forces and cooperated in order to effectively spread the message of the campaign, sensitize the public, raise awareness regarding the harms being caused by the criminalization of people who use drugs and promote the need for human rights and public health oriented drug policy and drug law reform.

These organizations co-organized a joint event, an open dialogue meeting entitled: “Support. Don’t Punish” – Discussing for matters that matter to us. The event took place on Tuesday, June 26, 2018, at 7 pm, at the Athens Municipal Cellular Market (42, Fokionos Negris str). The aim of the dialogue was to discuss regarding: current public health and drug policies applied in addressing the issue of psychoactive substances, the way users are being treated by the state and society, the issue of combating crime that accompanies drug use by law enforcement and finally the removal of unjustified social stereotypes at the expense of PWUD, the importance for the provision of substantial support, as well as the need for equal, meaningful and substantial participation of users community in procedures totally concerning them.

The open dialogue meeting started with the presentation of the SDP campaign, important issues on the current national drug policy and the priorities set out by the community of PWUD by Mr. Anastasiou Christos (representative of PeNUPS) who also coordinated the discussion. Mrs. Katerina Konidari, psychologist, social researcher and writer, talked about the representation of addiction treatment on art; Mr. Michalis Lolis, Police Lieutenant of the A’ (First) Police Department for Combating Racist Violence, communicated his experience on human rights’ issues and the protection of people with different identities and Mr. Yannis Kissas, representative of PeNUPS specifically referred to the Network’s proposals for supportive policies rather than the punishment of drug users.

This year the participation at the event exceeded our expectations. More than 80 people from different backgrounds (e.g. scientists, professionals working in the field of drugs, representative from the Ministry of Health, people from the community of PWUD, volunteers from different organizations, activists, representatives from residents’ initiative, people with no prior involvement from the general population, etc.) were present at our event, who actively participated in the discussion by sharing their reflections, raising questions and contributing from their point of view. At the end of the event, following an online vote among members of the Network a symbolic prize (an office compass) was awarded at the OKANA Substitution Unit which according to Peers’ view provides the most friendly and integrated services to PWUD.

The press release for the event was published by many different online media sites. Moreover, ERT – Greek public state television – expressed the interest to present our event. Mr Christos Anastasiou, Μr Thanos Papagianopoulos and Mr. Marios Atzemis – all representatives of the community of PWUD – were hosted by the journalist Mr. Arvanitis Kostas at his broadcast entitled “Different Dimension” and talked about the campaign, promoted the message that PWUD need support instead of punishment, underlined the need for active involvement of PWUD in the decision making processes and the need to address stigma and marginalization.

*The NGO Platform for psychoactive substances consists of the following organizations:
PeNUPS – Peer Network of Users of Psychoactive Substances
CENTRE FOR LIFE for the support of people living with HIV/AIDS [DPNSEE member]
DIOGENIS – Drug Policy Dialogue [IDPC partner member & DPNSEE partner member]
POSITIVE VOICE – Association of People living with HIV/AIDS [DPNSEE member]
PROMETHEUS – Hellenic Liver Patient Association [DPNSEE member]
PRAKSIS [IDPC network member]
STEPS

A new on-line course on drugs, health and human rights

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The University of Geneva launched an online course aimed at unlimited participation and open access via the web (a massive open online course – MOOC) on drugs, health & human rights, on the occasion of 26 June, The International Day Against Drug Abuse And Illicit Trafficking. This course is primarily aimed at students and professionals from different backgrounds interested in the fields of psychoactive substances, health, human rights and drug policy.

The topics will be presented by over 40 speakers from scientific, academic and institutional backgrounds, spokespersons of civil society as well as people who use drugs presenting their views.

The course lasts for 6 weeks. It is run in English, with subtitles in French, Spanish and Russian. Expected commitment is about 3 to 4 hours of work per week.

Participation is free and widely open to all interested. Enrolment is open for a few more days – so hurry to apply following this link>>>>