Every year ECAD makes a study visit to the Italian drug rehabilitation of San Patrignano, in Riccione. This year, a delegation from Sweden, Lithuania, Russia, Malta and Italy met with some of San Patriganos over 1300 residents. The residents spoke about recovery from addiction through compassion, hard work and a joint committment to freedom from drugs. San Patrignano have remarkable results and have become a role model for treatment centers around the world, without costing the tax payers a single euro.

If you want to know more please contact the center, or even better yet - join ECAD´s next trip to San Patrignano in the fall of 2015.

Down below you will find ECAD delegation member Emmely Wikholms impression from this years trip.




Hi Emmely, who are you and why did you join us to San Patrignano? Hi, my name is Emmely Wikholm and I am a member of the social Welfare Board and the drug commission in Gävle, Sweden for the Green Party. My mission is to decrease the use of illicit drugs within the local population with the focus at youths.  

What was your impression of the treatment center and the people you met there? The treatment center and the environment had the right spirit. Work, education and the feeling of belonging is the key to a life without drugs. When we got the tour around San Patrignano by three young guys living there I got the impression that they now had hopes and dreams in their lives. 

Did you like the conference and what will you bring back to Gävle? I enjoyed the conference and got a view of the drug politic and situation in Italy. Also the view that you don't need drugs to be sober from other drugs. We also listened to a presentation about drug courts from an american judge. It would be really interesting to see if that could be introduced in Sweden.