In this report we present four best practices in the field of drug demand and harm reduction from three countries. With this report, we would like to promote the culture of evaluation both among civil society organisations and decision makers.
The report was produced by the Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD), an expert group of the European Commission, that gives advise to decision makers in the field of drug policy. The four case studies presented in this report (PDF version here!):
1. Legal Advice service operated by ENLACE from Andalusia, Spain. This service was created in 2000 and has reached more than 20.000 people who use drugs. This intervention can be seen as an excellent example of civil society engagement in the promotion of alternatives to coercive sanctions for PWUD in cooperation with the public administration.
2. Coolmine Therapeutic Community (TC) was established in 1973 as the first
residential drug and alcohol treatment centre in Ireland. They present two evaluation projects, which respond to the 2009-2016 Irish National Drugs Strategy. The projects demonstrate that residental drug treatment facilities are evidence-based services and promoted the culture of evaluation among service providers and decision makers.
3. É Uma Casa, the Housing First project of CRESCER in Lisbon is an excellent example of how we can reduce the harms of drug use by providing housing for people who use drugs, without forcing them to be abstinent. The project proved to be costs-effective and has saved not only tax-payer money but it has helped 50 homeless people who use drugs to find a permanent home since 2013.
4. Energy Control’s International Drug Checking Service from Barcelona, Spain. This service provides support within the nightlife sector and responds to the rising significance of cryptomarkets. The service has dealt with samples from over 50 countries and has analysed over 4.500 samples from over 1.500 individual clients in one year.
This report was developed within the framework of the European Civil Society Forum Project which is financed by the European Commission, DG Home. The lead of the working package in this project is the Rights Reporter Foundation, the organisation hosting the Drugreporter website. The editor of the report is Iga Kender-Jeziorska (YODA).
Peter Sarosi
