More than 320 people from all parts of the world gathered under these 3 days (21-23 May) of May in Stockholm to share ideas, knowledge and evidence in support of the global network of NGOs working in the spirit of UN conventions on drugs.

The Forum was opened by Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden, the Forum being under the patronage of Her Majesty. 

The topics of the 3rd WFAD were:

Human Rights and the Rights of the Child to be protected from illicit drugs
Illicit drug use and trafficking problems of Latin America
Primary prevention and its role in drug policy.

ECAD is a member of WFAD and had an honour to moderate a special session on best practices in primary and secondary prevention.

These three days were filled with inspiration and networking, involvement of high profile policy-makers and young volunteers stating their support in favour of Recovery, Drug-Free reality and Youth that needs protection from drug use and drug trafficking.
These three words were also the key elements to summarize the discussions and statements of the forum, concluded today by Robert L. DuPont, a leader in drug abuse prevention and treatment in the USA for more than 30 years.

Drug-free is an objective reality and recovery is a striving for a better and more honest life with fulfillment. All of us, wishing a brighter future for the youth acknowledge that it is our responsibility to intervene and to stop drug abuse. "The Forum is a growing community that shares the vision, the Mission - to deal with a huge problem of exposure to powerful drugs, it is our responsibility", said Robert DuPont.

The 3rd Forum resulted in a Joint Statement For a humane and balanced drug policy (Download PDF) signed by representatives of Italy, Russian Federation, Sweden, United Kingdom and the USA.

2012 marks the centennial of the adoption of the first International Opium Convention (Hague, 1912). High representative of 5 mentioned countries expressed their engagement in a balanced approach to a global drug problem, combining effective enforcement to restrict the supply of drugs with efforts to reduce demand and build recovery, supporting people to live a life free from addiction.

Recognizing the right of everyone to enjoyment of the highest possible physical and mental health, which includes the right to be protected from drug abuse, the leaders of these countries stated that they were clearly determined to rise to this challenge.