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.
Romania
Harm Reduction: Need for Political Leadership
At the national harm reduction conference in Budapest, presenters from Greece, Romania and Hungary reported that there are similar problems and challenges in relation to injecting drug use in Southern-Central Europe, but there are huge differences between government responses. Lack of political leadership is leading to growing HIV and hepatitis C infections among drug users all over the region.
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.
Romanian Drug Workers and Users Protest Against Scaling-Down Harm-Reduction Services
Harm-reduction activists take to the streets of Bucharest to warn the authorities of alarming public health risks
Children of the Bucharest Sewer System
We visited a street outreach program of ARAS, an NGO fighting HIV among the most vulnerable people of Romania
The Human Rights Costs of the War on Drugs – COUNT THE COSTS SERIES
Watch and share our movie to raise awareness on the human rights consequences of the global war on drugs! Read more >>
Count the Costs with Former Presidents!
There is no consistency in our policies on drugs – says Ruth Dreifuss, the former president of the Swiss Federation
Count the Costs Campaign Events in European Capitals
Video reports of the Count the Costs campaign events organized by the European Drug Policy Initiative in 5 European cities