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ECAD congratulates Fabio for the recognition of his work and is proud to have him on board as our Italian representative.
Read more: ECAD Representative Fabio Bernabei Awarded a Prize in Bulgaria
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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.
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ECAD will be soon holding two international conferences: October 10 in SanPatrignano, Riccione, Italy, and November 12, Gothenburg, Sweden.
ECAD new Secretary General, Erik Leijonmarck, will be speaking on Contemporary Drug Problem and Illicit Globalisation on October 10th, at ECAD own seminar in Riccione.
On the occasion of the WeFree Days, October 10-11, in San Patrignano, the Community will launch a new initiative against marijuana legalization - Legalife - in favour of a new kind of education, promoting passion, talent and commitment instead of drugs. You will find the preliminary version here (Download PDF)
The Legalife Movement was established in October 2014 by 10 organizations with decades of experience in recovery from addiction, research and educational programmes, aiming to find answers to these and other questions, to devise new solutions in keeping with modern times, and to offer substantial opportunities.
ECAD guests will be able to participate at the event in the SanPatrignano Community.
The Forum "Out of Prison to build a better future" on Friday, October 10, will focus on international best practices and shared expertise to respond to the consequences of drug addict offenders.
On October 11, Euromedia research will present the findings on the meaning of entertainment among young and how much it it is related to going beyond the limits and getting high.
As this autumn procedes, Swedish City of Gothenburg (Göteborg) will host an important international conference "Drugs - an environmental disaster", on November 12.
This is a unique event with high-ranked international speakers as Kevin Sabet, Head of the Narcotic Policy Institute, University of Florida, USA, Professor Patrick Van Damme and Dr Wouter Vanhove, University of Ghent, Belgium, Fay Watson, Secretary General at EURAD and many others.
Conference is free of charge (Languages: Swedish and English). Download programme in Swedish (PDF)
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ECAD has a new Secretary General starting November 1, 2014, Erik Leijonmarck. ECAD Head Office looks forward to working with Erik and would like to share some of our newly elected Secretary General`s background.He is an author and co-author of numerous publications on drugs, organized crime and human trafficking and is a member of the European Consortium of Political Research´s Standing Group on Organised Crime
Erik Leijonmarck holds lectures for public sector and civil society on drug prevention and drug policy options, and is an active participant in the contemporary debate on drug policy in Sweden, primarily in the field of cannabis. He was awarded the 2014 honorary prize by the youth organization Criminals Return Into Society, Unga KRIS.
Erik is also an active member of the U-FOLD - Forum for research on addiction to medical products and illegal drugs at Uppsala University.
As new Secretary General, Erik sets his goal to make ECAD an increasingly active voice in the European drug debate. He will prioritize making ECAD a relevant actor in the preparations for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the world drug problem in 2016.
Welcome to ECAD, Erik!
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Today, October 1, 2014, Bulgarian National Drug Council (NDC) holds a meeting regarding legalisation of medical marijuana.
ECAD representative in Bulgaria, Dr. Vlatko Gligorov, will participate in the debate. As ECAD Balcan network is very broad with many active members, we were asked to come forth with a statement on medical marijuana. We publish the statement for your information ( you can also download it in PDF format here):
ECAD on cannabis and medical marijuana
Cannabis has serious detrimental effects on health and mental capacity of the young. A large part of generally acknowledged cannabis prevention consists of attempts to convey information on cannabis injurious effects. However insufficient, this prevention technique works, and it is partly the reason why in all societies, it is only a small part of young people who experiments with drugs in general and cannabis in particular.
ECAD however, considers that political, social and environmental consequences of cannabis cultivation, trade and use, are neither fully addressed in the present debate nor taken into consideration by the education system.
Poverty in the world increases as large areas of land are used for expensive recreational cultivation of cannabis. The production of cannabis exploits vast amounts of energy and involves poisonous substances.
Cannabis trade generates criminality, financial crimes and drugs are directly connected to human trade, terrorism and conflicts, according to the UNODC reports.
Over 2000 international studies have proof of cannabis inflicting negative impact on health and IQ, 2 of the latest sudies were presented at ECAD Annual Mayors`Conference in Stockholm in May 2014:
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The ECAD Mayors' Conference
28th Mayor's Conference - Invitation - May 11th and 12th, 2023 - Malta
On May 11th and 12th, the 28th ECADs Mayor's Conference will take place at Dolmen Hotel in Qwara, Malta. We warmly invite you to join us and expand your knowledge on prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and recovery. The conference will highlight best practices and research in the field. It will offer the opportunity to network with other ECAD members, representatives from local authorities, and non-governmental organisations. Registration is free for the first person attending from your organisation!
Additionally, the conference allows for a unique experience as it includes a full day of field visits on May 12th. All participants are invited to Komunita’ Santa Marija, which will be sharing information on their services, and their experiences, and will engage in discussions.
The Agenda has now been published! The deadline to register is April 22nd
Day 1
DATE | TIME | VENUE
11/05/2023 | 09:00 – 17:30 | The Oracle Conference Centre - Dolmen Hotel Qawra, St. Paul's Bay
08:30hrs – 09:00hrs| Registrations
09:00hrs – 09:05hrs| Welcome Address by the President of Local Councils’ Association - Mr Mario Fava
09:05hrs – 09:15hrs| Welcome Address by ECADs Chairman of the Board from Kristiansand, Norway - Mr Viggo Lütcherath
09:15hrs – 09:20hrs| Welcome Address by the Parliamentary Secretary for Local Government - Hon. Alison Zerafa Civelli
09:20hrs – 09:40hrs| Inspirational speech – “Push yourself to do it because no one else is going to do it for you” by the President Northern Regional Council & LCA Executive Member - Mr. Clifford Galea Vella Maslennikov
09:40hrs – 10:30hrs| Panel Discussion and Presentation – Discussing the Local Context
The prevention team within Sedqa would like to present the following studies.
Study 1: The Role of a Workplace Policy in Addressing Employees’ Substance Misuse Difficulties.
Aim: To explore the probability of an employee seeking support for a substance misuse difficulty elicited by the workplace ethic fostered by management. Through this paper, we seek to determine a possible correlation between the implementation of a substance misuse policy at the workplace, and employees’ probability to seek guidance and support from their employers for a substance misuse-related difficulty.
Study 2: A Substance Misuse Policy in the Workplace: Senior Leadership Teams’ Attitudes
Aim: To explore how senior leadership teams’ (SLTs) attitudes inform the drafting of a substance misuse policy and how those attitudes inform job retention procedures in the case of an employee disclosing a substance misuse difficulty. Uncovering SLTs’ attitudes toward addiction is essential to understand how these beliefs inform workplace policy aims and actions on substance misuse.
Keynote speakers representing Sedqa Prevention team:
Mr Jareth Grima – Social Worker
Ms Sheryl Spiteri – Prevention Team
Ms Stephanie Mizzi Cascun – Prevention Professional.
10:30hrs – 11:00hrs| Coffee Break
11:00hrs – 11:45hrs| Mr Jon Sigfússon Planet Youth – Evidence-based drug prevention.
Mr Sigfússon is the international programme director for the evidence-based Planet Youth Guidance primary community-based health promotion intervention. Over the course of 20 years, Mr Sigfússon directed the Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis (ICSRA).
11:45hrs – 12:30hrs| Mr Matej Košir - Strategies and tactics to prevent cannabis legalisation in Slovenia - The power of prevention science and advocacy.
Mr Matej Košir has been working in prevention and advocacy in the field of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs for around 25 years. Since 2006, he has been involved in more than 30 European projects in the fields of health, justice, education, youth and research as a project or work package leader.
12:00hrs – 14:00hrs| Seated Buffet Lunch
14:00hrs – 14:45hrs| Profs. Christian Thurstone, MD - The impact of legalisation in Colorado, USA – challenges faced by [local] authorities and communities.
Profs. Thurstone is a professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado and a child psychiatrist who specialises in addiction treatment. He published some of the first papers on the potential effects of marijuana legalisation on youth and has devoted his professional life to preventing and treating adolescent substance misuse.
14:45hrs - 15:30hrs| Ms Mulka Nisic - Recovery Cities - Creating sustainable connections and networks in cities.
Ms Mulka Nisic has been involved as a Regional Project Manager and International Relations Officer at the NGO Celebrate Recovery, and Secretary General of the Recovered Users Network-RUN.
15:30hrs - 16:00hrs| Conclusive Remarks
16:00hrs – 17:30hrs| ECAD Plenary for ECAD Members only
19:30hrs – 23:00hrs| Welcome Dinner at The Pavilion Suite, Westin Dragonara St Julian’s - Separate Registration is required in the application form.
Day 2
DATE | TIME
12/05/2023 | 09:15 – 19:00
09:15hrs – 09:30hrs| Transport leaves from Dolmen Hotel & Salini Resort to Komunita Santa Marija
09:30hrs – 09:45hrs| Registration and Welcome Coffee
09:45hrs – 10:15hrs| Introduction to the services offered by Komunita’ Santa Marija.
10:15hrs – 11:00hrs| Sharing of good practices and discussion
11:00hrs – 11:30hrs| Tour around Komunita’ Sanata Marija premises
11:30hrs – 12:00hrs| Transport to Ħagar Qim in Qrendi
12:00hrs – 13:15hrs| Ħagar Qim Visit
13:15hrs – 13:30hrs| Transport to Xgħajra
13:30hrs – 16:00hrs| Lunch (you will have time for a short stroll by the seaside)
16:00hrs – 18:00hrs| Cultural Visit in Mdina – Visiting the National Museum of National History
18:00hrs – 19:30hrs| Visiting Dingli Cliffs
19:30hrs - 15:30hrs| Transport to Salini Resort and Dolmen Hotel
27th Mayors Conference - Gothenburg and online 2022
The 27th Mayors' Conference and 8th World Forum took place in Gothenburg and online 13-14th June 2022.
The World Forum and Mayor’s Conference is a meeting place for people from all continents who are working to prevent drug abuse, ensure evidence-based and gender-sensitive practices, increase access to treatment, and to promote recovery and reintegration services. This global forum is one of its kind where NGOs, self-help groups, treatment centres, scholars, local, regional, and national authorities, politicians and other decision-makers, and others from around the world will meet to share evidence and best practice experiences. This year’s World Forum will include three main tracks: Prevention, Treatment/Recovery, and Advocacy, which will stretch over 1,5 days followed by the WFAD Congress and ECAD Mayors plenary session.
We are proud to announce that the Forum was inaugurated by UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly and will be joined by experts from around the world.
Read more on the website: https://2022.wfad.se/ and access the full report here. 
26th Mayors Conference - Cork 2019 
25th MAYORS´ CONFERENCE
and 6th World Forum Against Drugs 
Conference materials
Kevin Sabet, PhD, Director, Drug Policy Institute, University of Florida, President, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM), USA
Speech at the WFAD /ECAD 25th Mayors Conference, Gothenburg, May 15, 2018 (Video 5min.)
Supply reduction in Peril? A lot of the worlds`s drug supply emanates from a war-torn Columbia.
Dr. Michael Jonsson, FOI, Swedish Defence Research Agency
Text to the slides (PDF)
In Columbia, a peace deal has been struck, which gives hope for a closure of insurgency and violence. (PDF)
Thomas Pietschmann, Dr, Drug Research Section, Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs
The International drug control system, global/regional and national drug patterns and trends, and supply reduction efforts at the international level (PDF)
Photo: Götaplatsen @ Klas Eriksson
Annual Mayors` Conference and the 6th World Forum Against Drugs will take off on May 14-15 in Gothenburg this year.
This joint event will address a growing interest to the effective prevention practices, full recovery and alternatives to incarceration and to life-long dependency on drug treatment.
The conference will create a room for elaborating a practical guide to how a recovery city will look like, this will be grounded on the recent evidence-based research. Sheffield Hallam University (UK), Ghent University (Belgium) and the City of Gothenburg have already started working on this guide in practice.
In order to find out more and to register please visit a joint webpage here.
MAYORS` CONFERENCE 2017
ECAD 24th Mayors` Conference materials
On June 12-13, the city of Kaunas hosted ECAD 24th Annual Mayors`s Conference 2017
Safe Cities Without Drugs. Preventing, Protecting, Policing
Key-note speakers:
David W. Spencer, Field intelligence Manager, Drug Enforcement Agency, European Region
Supply reduction and dismantling drug trafficking organizations: In what ways can local communities benefit (PDF)
Kim Nilvall, Swedish National Bureau of Investigation, Intelligence section, Organized crime
Police work in socially disadvantaged areas in Sweden: Impact of drugs on urban crime (PDF)
Torsten Stodiek, Deputy Head, Strategic Police Matters Unit, Community Policing Advisor, Transnational Threats Department, OSCE
Preventing terrorism and countering violent extremism and radicalisation that lead to terrorism:
A community and intelligence led policing approach (PDF)
Jon Sigfusson, Director for Icelandic Centre of Social Research and Analysis, Reykjavik University, ICSRA
Youth in Europe and Planet Youth (PDF)
Laimonas Vasiliauskas, Senior Specialist, Serious and Organized Crime Department, EUROPOL
European Illicit Drug Market (PDF)
Antonio Boscini, Health Director, San Patrignano Community, Rimini, Italy
Recovery and social reinsertion: San Patrignano Community model extended (PDF)
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME (PDF)
FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT (PDF)
Conference Booking Form
Kaunas Castle
Picture: @Rokas Tenys
Warm welcome to Kaunas, Lithuania!