With the new EU drug strategy now adopted, key questions remain about its direction and implementation—especially the balance between public health, human rights, and security. We spoke with Anna Dovbakh, Chair of the Civil Society Forum on Drugs, about what the strategy means in practice and the role of civil society moving forward.
Harm Reduction
Dismantling Orbán’s System – Drugreporter interviewed by Arild Knutsen
As Hungary heads toward a pivotal election, the camera turns on two of its most prominent drug policy advocates. In this interview conducted by Arild Knutsen, Drugreporter founders Péter Sárosi and István Gábor Takács reflect on decades of activism—and explain why they are now taking their fight to the streets to challenge an increasingly repressive system.
Beyond the Nordic Paradox: How Harm Reduction Is Transforming Drug Policy in the North
Civil society and drug user activists push harm reduction reforms across the Nordic region – please watch the videos from a side event at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and learn more about drug policy reform in Scandinavia!
“Almost As If a Parent Is Passing Away” – Interview with Ancella Voets
After 36 years of pioneering work in the field of harm reduction, Mainline, a leading Dutch harm reduction organisation, has to close due to budget constraints. We interviewed its executive director, Ancella Voets, on this occasion.
Who Am I to Tell You Not to Use Drugs? | Huset Bergen – A Peer-Led Harm Reduction House in Norway
In Bergen, on Norway’s rainy western coast, Huset Bergen — a three-storey harm reduction centre — is run entirely by people with lived and living experience of drug use. Drugreporter joined Arild Knutsen from the Association for Humane Drug Policy to explore this bold model and found something striking: not resistance, but broad community support — from neighbours to bankers and politicians. Watch our new documentary on the future of peer-led drug services.
Visiting The Thistle: The UK’s First Legal Safer Drug Consumption Room in Glasgow
Step inside the UK’s first legal safer drug consumption room. In Drugreporter’s new video, Lynn MacDonald, service manager at The Thistle, takes us through a space built not only for life-saving safer use, but for compassion, dignity, and respect — putting care and humanity at the center of the service.
#STOPTHEDEATHS Conference 2025 – Selected Sessions on Video
Explore key speeches and sessions recorded at the Scottish Drugs Forum’s annual conference in Glasgow.
Inside Vienna’s Integrated Harm Reduction Hub: Suchthilfe Wien
In most European cities, services for people who use drugs are scattered across the map, fragmented by funding lines, bureaucratic boundaries, or political controversy. Vienna chose a different path. Our new film takes viewers inside Suchthilfe Wien, one of the most comprehensive and integrated municipal addiction-care systems in Europe — a place where essential services are not only coordinated, but physically under one roof.
STOP THE DEATHS – Uniting Against Preventable Overdoses in Scotland
Scotland continues to face some of the highest drug-related death rates in Europe. The Scottish Drugs Forum Stop the Deaths conference in Glasgow brings together people who have lived this reality from every angle — families, frontline workers, people with lived and living experience, policymakers, and activists — to confront the scale of the emergency and demand meaningful change. Watch Drugreporter’s short documentary, filmed at this landmark event!
“Their resilience is what keeps me going” – Connecting People With Health Care in Slovakia
In 2023, Slovakia finally removed the abstinence rules and health insurance debt barriers that had kept thousands of people who use drugs from accessing hepatitis C treatment. In this interview, Dominika Jasekova from the NGO Odyseus explains how the reform changed their work on the ground, what obstacles remain, and why the resilience of their clients continues to drive them forward.
