- Details
- Category: News
Norwegian government has opted for a permanent establishment of drug courts all over the country. The decision is backed up by 30 million NKK.
That is obviously the result of 10 years` hard work, where Drug Courts in Bergen set the prejudicate for the whole country. Truly exciting and an inspiration for many other colleagues, especially in Gävle, Sweden!
- Details
- Category: News
October 1-2, Landskrona, Sweden (UPDATED 5/10)
Swedish NGOs have gathered for a traditional fair Sverige mot narkotika (Sweden Against Drugs) in the Southern city of Landskrona on the 1st and 2nd of October. The purpose is to acclaim the vision of a drug free society and to work strategically on local, regional and national levels for sustainable results. This is the focus of everyday work in many civil society organisations in Sweden.
The Fair enjoyed a full support of Her Majesty Queen Silvia, who is the Patron of the conference and chose to speak at the inauguration.
Her Majesty was concerned with the development of the drug misuse and the right of every child to grow up in a drug-free world.
The event is of national importance for Sweden and ECAD is one of the proud organizers, along with SLAN, IOGT-NTO, KSAN and many other networks and self-help groups.
(Picture above: H.M. Queen Silvia in the middle, Erik Leijonmarck,ECAD Secretary General on the left side)
(Picture to the left: H.M. Queen Silvia is welcome to the conference by ECAD Deputy Director Åke Setréus)
Links in Swedish Press:
Kvällsposten : "We cannot let the children down, they are our future", says the Queen.
Kungahuset: H.M. Queen Silvia at the Conference Sweden against drugs"
ECAD Swedish branch issued its Annual Award, Årets ECAD Sverige Pris (ECAD Sweden Annual Prize) at the end of the Conference, it was awarded to Prof. Fred Nyberg, Biological Research in Drug Dependence, Depart. of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University.
Picture: ECAD Secretary General Erik Leijonmarck holding the prize for Prof. Fred Nyberg, opposite to the painting.
- Details
- Category: News
ECAD Bulgarian member, the city of Blagoevgrad issued the Heart and Speech Against Drugs Award 2015, in the Memory of Veronica Guerin, Irish journalist murdered by a drug dealer.
The Award, ECAD Italian representative, Mr. Fabio Bernabei won last year, was issued on September 29 in the following nominations:
The Electronic Media - went to Brian Maas, investigative journalist, CBS 4, Denver, Colorado, USA, for "Investigative journalism on issues related to the distribution and the use of drugs";
Publications - went to Boyan Dimitrov, journalist at The Monitor, for a series of articles "Former barracks become drug labs" and more;
Documentary Movie - went to Daniela Trencheva, journalist, for the Interview with Mr. Roberto Saviano "No Man`s Land" and more.
Another Award, in the Memory of Giovanni Falcone 2015, and honorary diplomas were given for the outstanding Magistrate and Police work. 
- Details
- Category: News
At the Asia Pacific Forum Against Drugs on August 27, 2015 ca 200 participants from 18 countries addressed the growing challenge of drug legalisation in the discussions on the upcoming UNGASS 2016.
ECAD Secretary General was one of the key-note speakers presenting his view on how anti-drug advocates could constructively engage in the global drug policy debates.
At the Questions- and Answers- Session with the participants, ECAD Secretary General pointed out that anti-legalisation advocates could capitalise on the UN increasingly asking NGOs for their opinion on the drug policy matters in order to make their voices heard at the UN. "This has previously been an opportunity for the legalisation movement because they have strong and vocal NGOs. What the UN member states are hearing ... is a very pro-legalisation message and this needs to change", said Erik Leijonmarck.
Please find Erik Leijonmarck`s presentation at the APFAD here (PDF)
ASEAN countries met at the end of August in Singapore to underline their committment to a drug-free society. Ahead of the UNGASS 2016, ASEAN aims to stand firm against substance legalisation and decriminalisation.
Singapore Second Minister for Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs, Mr. Masagos Zulkifli said: "We cannot allow these countries to dominate the agenda. This harms the future of our nations, our youth and also runs counter to our common vision of a Drug-Free Asean".
- Details
- Category: News
What does the science have to say on the virtues of medical marijuana and the experiences of medical marijuana in Colorado?
In cooperation with Uppsala University Forum for research on addiction to medical products and illegal drugs - UFOLD, and RNS, ECAD has invited Dr Christian Thurstone to talk about his experiences as a Child Psychiatrist in Denver and his research studying the effects of cannabis legalization from a grass root perspective.
The presentation can be viewed here: Dr Thurstones presentations starts at 36 minutes.
ECAD Secretary General comments the presentation at the end.
Subcategories
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!