Under the pretext of fighting a war on drugs to “protect the children,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is preparing a major crackdown on civil society and free speech. This could lead to harm reduction and drug policy reform being repressed—much like in Russia—including Drugreporter itself.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has declared a war on drug traffickers, announcing that Hungary will amend its constitution to criminalise drug use. However, civil society warns that this approach is bound to fail and a more integrated, health-focused approach is needed instead.

The City Council of Budapest rejected a proposal from the government party, Fidesz, to abolish the city’s progressive drug strategy and to create a new, repressive strategy.

CORE is a 36 months EU project that aims to reduce inequalities in the HIV, TB and viral hepatitis responses and involves  24 partners from 16 EU Member States. In these short videos, produced by Drugreporter, you can witness the progress that implementing organisations on the ground achieved with the help of CORE.

The lucrative and unregulated market of semi-synthetic cannabinoids is rapidly expanding across Europe, raising public health concerns and posing a legislative challenge to policymakers. The solution lies not in prohibition but in regulation.

The side event examined prevalent legal strategies and frameworks utilized by authoritarian regimes in Central Eastern Europe and Central Asia (CEECA) to impede civil society’s role in public health improvement, protection of human rights, and the delivery of life-saving harm reduction services.

How does the use of new psychoactive substances, such as “herbal” or “crystal”, affect the Hungarian countryside and cities in 2024? How does Hungarian society treat the users of these drugs? Drug users, ex-dealers, the mayor, helpers and experts answer these questions in a new documentary by Drugreporter.

CORE – COmmunity REsponse to End Inequalities aims to reduce inequalities in the HIV, TB and viral hepatitis responses by promoting, strengthening and integrating community responses that have proven key in reaching communities that have been traditionally underserved by mainstream prevention and healthcare services. Watch the introduction video by Drugreporter!

This report gives an insight into how governments involve civil society in drug policy decision-making in four European countries.

We were very glad to welcome the Correlation European Harm Reduction Network’s Expert Meeting in Budapest, on the 4-6 of December 2023. We produced a short summary video of the network’s 2023 activities, and live streamed several sessions, that you can watch now!