Regulated medical marijuana has come out of the blue as a feasible alternative in Serbia, where overwhelming public support favours regulating hemp-based medicines. The promised draft law is still awaited, however, and will then require the approval of the national parliament.

This year, the Romanian drug law was amended in the direction of decriminalisation, though the law still retains imprisonment and fines as an option, while penalties generally discriminate against the poor and socially disadvantaged.

Poland’s Constitutional Court recently concluded, in a legally binding ruling, that the county’s drug law needs to be amended. Find out why!

Check out our new infographic on Romania, where the poor health services provided for injecting drug users lead to increased shared needle use driven by new psychoactive substances. All of this has caused a surge in new HIV cases, and the revival of tuberculosis among people who use drugs.

Bulgarian society seems to be in a state of apathy when it comes to decriminalisation of drug use. Neither a so-called “reform” of the drugs law (making it harsher than ever), nor an outrageous fine for the pro-legalisation Green party, was a loud enough wake-up call for Bulgaria to distance itself from the current punishment-based approach. Read the guest article from human rights expert journalist Krassen Nikolov.

The recent closure of the largest needle and syringe exchange program in Budapest raised a lot of concerns. Read how the leader of a similar service, ArtEra, sees the changing landscape for injecting drug users in the Hungarian capital.

Do the recent structural changes to Portuguese harm reduction services threaten the stability and integrity of the country’s system? Our local EDPI partner, APDES, guides readers through this issue.

Recreational drug use is  common in party settings among Serbian youth– a recent large scale study concluded  – bringing further evidence for the need to make party harm reduction services widely available across the country.

You still have time until the second half of November to sign the petition for EU-wide marijuana legalisation. The Weed like to talk initiative aims to make the European Union adopt a common policy on the control and regulation of cannabis production, use and sale.

Life can be particularly challenging for girls living with addiction in Serbia. Read the call from our Serbian partner organisations, for a gender-sensitive approach to helping substance users.