Public discussion of harm reduction in Poland – especially the country’s attitude to injecting drug users – is stuck in the 1990s. Read what needs to be done, in terms of the realities described by Polish drug policy experts, to save lives and lower the costs of treating users.
European Drug Policy
Cost-effective Yet Underfunded: The Harm Reduction Program of Odyseus in Slovakia
In Slovakia, the cost/benefit analysis carried out on a needle and syringe exchange program showed that every euro invested in C.A. Odyseus´s harm reduction program generated benefits worth almost three euros. Read what the figures show about why it’s worthwhile investing in harm reduction!
Harm Reduction: Stuck in the Transit Zone
Our new movie provides an insight into the state of harm reduction in Eastern Europe: A struggle for survival in a time of economic austerity.
Legal Highs Steal Your Life
In Poland, a ban on over a hundred new psychoactive substances coincided with a massive outbreak of poisonings related to the use of synthetic cannabinoids. The most pressing question must therefore be: Does an increase in prohibition do anything useful to protect our young people?
The New Civil Society Forum on Drugs Meets in Brussels
45 professionals representing civil society organisations working in the drug field gathered in Brussels to prepare advice for the European Commission and member states.
Republic of Georgia Cuts Back Its Street Drug Testing Program
Civil society activists welcomes the parliament’s decision to ease back on the world’s most restrictive on-street drug-testing program – but they say full decriminalization would be the real solution.
What’s New in Polish Drug Substitution?
Recent media uproar in connection with a new wave of poisonings from "legal highs" provides a timely opportunity to draw attention to the Polish system for helping drug-dependent people. Demand for new drugs is not only a problem of criminal law and the result of inadequate prevention measures, but also a problem of inadequate treatment, as a result of which thousands of people remain without help.
Advocating for Drug Consumption Rooms in Portugal
Read about the great example of how the civil sphere of Portugal is joining forces to convince the authorities and public service providers to take harm reduction related to drug use seriously.
French Senate Gives Green Light to Drug Consumption Rooms
After a heated debate, Senators have decided to approve an experimental project to provide a safer environment for drug users, in order to prevent death and disease.
Life After the Closure of the Needle Exchange in Budapest
Last year, Drugreporter gave a detailed account of the attack on harm reduction in Budapest, which resulted in the closure of the two largest needle and syringe programs. This year, we have produced a movie, based on interviews with key professionals and drug users, about what has changed on the streets of the District 8 of Budapest since then. Watch our video with English subtitles!
