Péter Sárosi is the Executive Director of the Rights Reporter Foundation. He is a human rights activist and drug policy expert, the founder and editor of the Drugreporter website since 2004, the author of countless articles, co-author of books and director of films about harm reduction and drug policy reform. He was the Director of the Drug Policy Program at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union between 2004 and 2015. He is experienced in working at international drug policy forums such as the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. He was twice elected to the Core Group of the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs. He is the co-chair of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network. He has been representing the Hungarian Harm Reduction Network at the government’s drug advisory body in Hungary since 2007. Peter also contributed to building a network of advocacy NGOs in Europe: the European Drug Policy Initiative. He provided technical assistance to several NGOs, and launched several campaigns on drug policy reform. As a member of the Drugreporter video advocacy team, he has produced videos about drug policy issues in a number of countries. These videos are now part of a unique online drug policy video library.
The meeting of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs held in Vienna this spring showed how international drug policy is moving slowly. That is why every entry on harm reduction, human rights and public health is politically significant – a guest article by Aleksi Hupli, a Finnish researcher, first published in Finnish by A-Clinic Foundation.
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!
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.
On February 28, thousands of people gathered in Budapest and three other Hungarian cities for an unusual form of protest: a peaceful demonstration expressed through electronic music and collective dancing against the increasingly harsh war on drugs.
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.
On December 6, something extraordinary happened on Kossuth Square in front of the Hungarian Parliament. What began as a response to escalating police harassment of musicians, clubs, and young partygoers transformed into a vibrant, peaceful celebration of community, culture, and freedom: Dance for Freedom (Tánc a Szabadságért). [Updated with video!]
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.
Hungary’s war on drugs has entered a new and troubling phase. In recent months, the government has deployed police powers not only in nightclubs, but also against some opposition politicians and some of the country’s most popular musicians—accusing them of promoting a “drug lifestyle.”
In this opinion piece, Maltese harm reduction activist Karen Mamo argues that Malta’s cannabis reform must go a step further — by establishing a Cannabis Humanitarian Bank to ensure that vulnerable consumers are not left behind in the country’s decriminalisation efforts.
