“The numbers show us that the current Polish drug policy is not working,” says Adam Stasiak from the Polish Drug Policy Network.
Poland
Drug Policy and the Polish Criminal Justice System
“We just do not have the time for that” – that sentence has echoed in my mind since the last conference. What does it concern? Drug policy. Who doesn’t have time for it? The Polish justice system. Polish Drug Policy Network organised a training which aimed to create a platform between judges, prosecutors, and addiction therapy specialists. Adam Stasiak summarises the lessons learnt.
Polish Parliament Says Yes To Medical Cannabis
The Sejm has passed a law that is intended to allow patients to access cannabis preparations. These preparations will be available in pharmacies on a doctor’s prescription, and the raw substance shall be imported from abroad. 440 deputies voted yes, two were against, and one person abstained.
Warsaw Declaration – Next Step Forward, Implementation
Warsaw Declaration – the city of Warsaw is to implement a two-year program to reform city drug policy. The Polish Drug Policy Network will take further actions to encourage the EU to develop a common drug strategy for use at local level.
Let Us Live and Save Our Loved Ones
A struggle for making medical cannabis legal in Poland: an article by Iga Jeziorska on our new video produced by Paweł Libera and the Polish Drug Policy Network.
Where Do Poles Inject? – The “Room for Change” Campaign in Poland
Public discussion of harm reduction in Poland – especially the country’s attitude to injecting drug users – is stuck in the 1990s. Read what needs to be done, in terms of the realities described by Polish drug policy experts, to save lives and lower the costs of treating users.
Room for Change – Pokoje Wymiany
Używanie tych samych strzykawek przez wielu użytkowników prowadzi do zakażeń, takich jak WZW typu C albo HIV. Wyrzucone igły leżące na ulicach nie są mile widziane przez mieszkańców. Rozwiązanie problemu nie leży w rękach Policji – aresztowanie osób uzależnionych nie zredukuje ich liczby, ale spowoduje, że będą używać w bardziej ryzykowny sposób, oraz że będą wyrzucać igły na ulice naszych miast. Dotychczasowe metody przeciwdziałania problemom narkotykowym nie działają. Jest to kampania mająca na celu znalezienie nowego sposobu na rozwiązanie tego problemu – zapewnienia pokojów służących do bezpiecznych iniekcji.
Room for Change! – The Campaign Website
Sharing of injecting equipment by people who use drugs leads to infections, such as Hepatitis C or HIV. Discarded needles on the streets are not welcomed by people who live in the area. The solution does not lie in the hands of the police – arresting people who use drugs does not reduce the number of drug users, but pushes them to use in a more risky way, and to discard their needles as soon as possible. The old ways of fighting drug problems don’t work. This is a campaign to find new solutions – to provide room for change.
The Not-So-Balanced Approach – Policy Responses to New Psychoactive Substances
Our new report (PDF) aims to assess the various policy responses to new psychoactive substances (so called “legal highs”) in five European countries – Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania and Serbia – , from the perspective of researchers, service providers, law enforcement officials and activists working with the most affected communities of people who use drugs.
The Big Legal High Boom – And It’s Consequences
Videos of a conference organised by Drugreporter at the European Parliament on new psychoative substances.
