Last time, we reported that Portugal is facing a very difficult situation due to the economic and financial crisis. The government claims that austerity measures must be introduced because of the international commitments of the country, and as a consequence, funding for harm reduction services has been cut back significantly. Although funding is still a huge problem (mostly because payments are late and NGOs are forced to close projects), the strong and coordinated advocacy efforts of civil society organizations seem to be bearing fruit.
Portugal is well known for its progressive drug policy – but the economic crisis may undermine effective harm reduction services in the country. Read a short report from our Portugese partner, APDES, and learn how NGOs fight to keep harm reduction on the agenda!
On November 28 – 29, 2011, the Czech Centre in Bucharest was the host of a two days conference as part of our EDPI project – read the report of our Romanian partner, Valentin Simionov and a Czech researcher, Vendula Běláčková
Initiative for Health, a harm reduction NGO, organized the first street action in Bulgaria to promote drug policy reform. The event was part of a coordinated international advocacy campaign of the European Drug Policy Initiative – please read the report of our Bulgarian partner!
On December 5, 2011, the Romanian Government issued a new Emergency Ordinance (GED) which amends the current legislation on drugs. More specifically, the new provision simplifies the procedures for amending the lists with controlled substances: from now on it will be easier to criminalize a new substance, once identified.