Category: General News

CSFD plenary meeting

Posted on by Milutin

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.

Global State of Harm Reduction 2024 Report

Posted on by Milutin

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

Posted on by Milutin

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>>>.

 

Intensifying EUDA cooperation and collaboration with civil society organisations

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A very interesting and fruitful meeting was hosted by the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) today in Lisbon, Portugal. The objective of the consultation meeting is to explore ways to strengthen cooperation, share best practices and promote mutual understanding between EUDA and civil society organisations in order to ‘attain maximum efficiency in monitoring, assessing and responding to the drugs phenomenon’ (Article 5(7) of Regulation (EU) 2023/1322).

The European Union Regulation (2023/1322) establishing the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) calls on the EUDA to intensify cooperation and collaboration with civil society organisations (CSOs), including organisations of people who use drugs and communities affected by the consumption and sale of drugs or drug-related crime. This should involve consultations, information exchange and knowledge sharing. Recognising the value of these potential developments, the EUDA convened the consultation meeting in the margins of the Lisbon 2024 Addiction Conference.

More than 60 participants came not only from EUDA and civil society organisations from different corners of Europe and covering different thematic areas of drug policy but also from governmental institutions, academia and others. They provided invaluable input for the formulation of a roadmap outlining the regular and systematic cooperation with civil society organisations.

These issues addressed in the sessions dealt with the path of cooperation, the added value and the range of possible cooperation mechanisms. A panel discussion shed light on the concept of affected communities by the consumption and sale of drugs or drug related crime. The final panel discussion examined future perspectives.

DPNSEE Executive Director Milutin Milošević, who was one of the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs representatives at the meeting, proposed two point for cooperation between EUDA and civil society:

  • Working together of supporting candidate countries in their EU accession process, particularly in adjusting the aquis in the area of drugs which are almost exclusively directed to law anforcement, with just a small reference on health and no single letter about human rights of people who use drugs;
  • Facilitating better cooperation between national institutions and civil society, which are not involved in strategic planning (that is usually missing in the candidate countries) and reporting.

A civil society report on EU Drugs Strategy

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Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network (C-EHRN) in cooperation with the Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD) and building on previous work of the CSFD, published Implementation of the European Union Drugs Strategy 2021-2025. A civil society report.

To evaluate the implementation of the EU Drugs Strategy and Action Plans, the CSFD first surveyed civil society experts in 2018 (at the outset of the 2017-2020 Action Plan period) (Kender-Jeziorska & Sarosi, 2018), and subsequently in 2021 (after the end of the 2017-2020 Action Plan implementation period) (Jeziorska, 2022).

Present analysis focuses on the currently ending EU Drugs Strategy and Action Plan, addressing their demand and harm reduction aspects, and aiming to provide insights into civil society’s perceptions of the availability, accessibility and quality of fourteen key services in 2023/2024, as well as to identify any changes that occurred between 2018 and 2023/2024. Like the previous assessments, this project also examines the accessibility of specific services for several key populations.

The report is available following this link>>>.

 

Croatia presented a pilot project for the introduction of take home naloxone

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Photos credit Tportal (© Hrvatski Telekom 2024)

The Croatian Institute of Public Health (HZJZ) held a presentation and education about take home naloxone that will be available from the end of September as a preventive medicine in the event of a drug overdose.

Krunoslav Capak, the director of HZJZ, in his address to the health workers, civil servants and coordinators of that program, pointed out that ‘drug use is a major health problem’ and that ‘in recent years we have seen an increase in deaths’ due to opiate overdose. In five years, Croatia had 468 cases directly related to drug use.

The head of the Department for Quality and Standards in the field of drug addiction and behavioral addictions, Josipa Lovorka Andreić, said that, according to HZJZ research, more than half of addicts have overdosed at least once, which only increases the possibility that their next overdose will be their last.

As a solution to this problem, the take home naloxone (Nyxoid) was presented. It is intended for use as emergency therapy in case of opioid overdose or suspected overdose.

The program will take place in two phases – the first will start this year within the prison system and penitentiaries, and the second next year through associations for the protection of mental health and therapeutic communities, as well as addiction prevention of county public health institutes.

The procurement of the drug begins immediately after the education. It will hopefully be available in two to three weeks. It will be issued by a doctor, and the situation will be monitored on a monthly basis by project coordinators and representatives of HZJZ.

This makes Croatia the 17th European country where naloxone will be used.

Three activists of our member organisation HELP from Split have participated in the education of coordinators for implementation of the pilot project on naloxone home doses.

 

Investing in decriminalisation advocacy

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DPNSEE President Nebojša Đurasović and Executive Director Milutin Milošević participated in the meeting of the National Commission for Fighting HIV/AIDS and Tubercolosis in Serbia (also performing the role of the national Country Coordination Mechanism for the Global Fund support). The meeting was held from 16 to 18 July in Banja Koviljača.

On our proposal, the Commission decided to invest part of the savings from the 2023 implementation of the Global Fund supported project “Support to the activities of citizens’ associations in the field of prevention and control of HIV infection” in the campaign for decriminalisation of drug use and possession for personal use.

DPNSEE have already presented the initiative for the decriminalisation of the use and possession of drugs for personal use on two occasions at Commission meetings. In addition, the Drug Policy Network South East Europe officially submitted the initiative to the Ministry of Justice and presented it at the meeting of the Working Group for Amending the Criminal Code and the Working Group on Amending the Law for the Criminal Procedure Code with the Working Groups on Chapters 23 and 24 of the National Convention on the European Union held on 21 December 2023. The initiative was supported at this meeting. Modalities for accepting the initiative and the draft that will be submitted to the National Assembly for adoption (as well as other initiatives to amend these two important laws) will be discussed at thematic discussions; the topic of one of the first discussions planned will be our decriminalisation initiative.

Advocacy is supposed to include:

  • Collection and analysis of the decriminalisation models and the results they have achieved in countries that have decided to take this step
  • A study visit of 5 representatives of civil society institutions and organizations to Portugal or Switzerland
  • An expert meeting where the arguments for and against and the modalities of decriminalisation that would suit our conditions would be analyzed. People who use drugs, drug addicts, and those in recovery, as well as civil society organizations will participate in this meeting. Representatives of countries that have already decriminalized drug possession and use, primarily Slovenia and Croatia, will present their experiences. A proposal to amend Article 149 and remove Article 250 from the Criminal Code, which specifically stigmatizes and discriminates against people living with HIV, would also be presented at the meeting, as well as the initiation of amendments to the Law on Public Order and Peace, which criminalizes sex work.
  • Agreeing on the final proposal to amend the Criminal Code
  • Organization of thematic workshops on the topic of discrimination and decriminalization of people who use drugs, people living with HIV and sex workers