I am Boro Goic, living and working in Bosnia Herzegovina at the grassroots level, and I am the Chairman of RUN Recovered Users Network. Over the past year in preparation for the UNGASS, I was the representative of affected population - recovered users. This means that my task was to engage recovery-oriented NGOs, member of RUN as well as NGOs around the world and collect best practices and models, lessons learned, challenges ahead and relevant contributions to refine drug policies and suggestions for policy makers on what works what doesn’t work, what contributes to recovery and what are the obstacles in the process towards full recovery from addiction. First step of the process was dissemination of the Global Civil Society Survey to 70 organizations in our networks who also sent the link to their partners and working groups. Approximately 153 organizations participated in the consultations.

I made a contact with recognized and respected researches and community members,  but also representatives of governments which incorporated recovery oriented approaches in their national drug strategies, in order to assess whether those shifts in drug policies are effective as a solution to drug problems or not.

These are findings from recovered users and their organizations. When I say recovered that means that this is a voice of people who had drug problems and today they are living in total abstinence and they are contributing members of society. This is their message:

ØSuccessful drug free treatment programs exist and make important contributions to treatment outcomes

ØRecovery is worth promoting as the ultimate, achievable outcome for substance use disorders

ØRecovery works and has a long term positive effect on individuals, families and communities

ØReducing the stigmatization, stereotyping and discrimination of (recovered) drug users and increasing awareness of the needs of this population can help them achieve recovery goals and facilitate successful reintegration in society.

ØAll families want drug free family members and communities and they have crucial role in motivating drug users to seek treatment.

ØIn general, motivating addicts has proven to be a very important factor for initiating a process of recovery.

ØFrom the costs and benefits standpoint, the costs of drug-related problems outweigh social benefits of drug treatment and recovery programs.

ØInvesting in recovering and recovered addicts leads to a positive net gain in the long run

Ø Recovery is focused on strengths and assets of a person, and not their weaknesses and deficits

Ø It is recognized, there are lot of testimonies about successful recovery from drug abuse without relapse.

ØRecovery should be the focus and aim of treatment and the patient’s health should be the central concern.  This may result in many more people getting better and fewer people remaining in expensive, clinical treatments in the longer term

Ø Drug use is a recoverable condition and, in many cases, is not the original problem but the solution to the problem. Often the removal of addiction without action to address underlying problems can make the person more vulnerable.

ØIt is important to, instead of only looking at the clinical model, also look at more social and educational models alongside and  to stop treating drug addiction only as a chronic relapsing condition

ØThere is a need for mixed economy and we need to combine the best clinical models to the best recovery models so that people with addiction problems can be helped to get well.  

Very interesting is what recovered users are saying about harm reduction:

ØHarm reduction, understood as the provision of health and social services to active drug users, can never replace primary prevention and treatment/rehabilitation as the main strategy in global, national and local drug policies

ØHarm reduction initiatives fail to address the bulk of drug-related harm, but are nonetheless essential to assist drug users with their acute problems.

ØIn general, providing drug treatment alone (e.g. substitute prescribing) without additional support or services had only limited and inconsistent effects on recovery from addition and so being on therapy for multiple years seems to actually erode a person’s cognitive ability and so can be said to delay the onset of recovery in that person’s life.

Ø Harm reduction can lead to recovery and recovery is the ultimate harm reduction measure

Ø All recovery CSOs have spoken out against the legalization of cannabis. Any policy or program that normalizes any recreational drug use is harmful to the public interest.

One must admit that it is really incredible that people, who have been addicts until “yesterday”, don’t think that any, not even recreational use of drugs is acceptable or good. For sure this way of thinking is a result of their personal experience with drugs and drug dependence, and they have realized that use of drugs has brought only harms to their health, and harms to their families and to the community in general.

ØRecovery oriented systems of care have a potential to enhance recovery capital  (mental health, self-esteem, resilience, family support, peer support) that a person can bring to bear on the initiation and maintenance of recovery


Ø Quitting addiction has an economic impact on reducing the costs of life long maintenance treatment, the cost of unemployment and lack of productivity  as well as the social costs related to the families and affected communities


Recovered users urge the need for :

Ø acknowledging  that abstinence is a goal for many drug users seeking help. Research in Scotland (on drug user aspirations from drug treatment services ) has shown that many drug users contacting drug treatment services are looking for assistance in becoming drug free. This study with 1007 drug users initiating treatment in Scotland, found that 76% of those questioned identified the goal of becoming drug free as their sole reason for contacting drug treatment services. In contrast, only 15% of those questioned said they were seeking to stabilize their continued drug use and less than 10% said they were looking for advice on how to use their drugs with greater safety.

That research plus number of factors and different environmental changes, has influenced the development a new drug strategy in UK. This is a statement from UK government in 2010:

A fundamental difference between this strategy and those that have gone before is that instead of focusing primarily on reducing the harms caused by drug misuse, our approach will be to go much further and offer every support for people to choose recovery as an achievable way of dependency

ØRecovery should be incorporated as an important facet of drug policy

Østrengthening  the evidence base around recovery based treatment, including the role of family and close friends

Ørecognizing the potential of recovered users and 
1. assist them in their way back to the society;
2. acknowledge their potential to help their peers.

ØMember States and UN agencies should develop effective drug policies, strategies that integrate prevention, treatment, recovery, enforcement and harm reduction to create policies and communities that are safe and healthy for all.


From draft UNGASS document!

Treatment of drug use disorders, rehabilitation, recovery and social reintegration; prevention, treatment and care of HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis and other blood-borne infectious diseases


We fully support that drug dependence is recognized as a treatable multi-factorial health disorder, which is to be addressed through effective scientific evidence-based drug treatment, care and rehabilitation programs, including community-based programs, and strengthen aftercare, rehabilitation, recovery and social reintegration, of dependent drug users including through, as appropriate, assistance for the productive reintegration into the labor market and other support services;

Also we also support services to ensure access to a broad range of interventions, including psycho-social, behavioral and medication-assisted treatment, as appropriate and in accordance with national legislation, as well as to rehabilitation, social reintegration and recovery-support programs,  

We fully support that drug dependence is recognized as a treatable multi-factorial health disorder, which is to be addressed through effective scientific evidence-based drug treatment, care and rehabilitation programs, including community-based programs, and strengthen aftercare, rehabilitation, recovery and social reintegration, of dependent drug users including through, as appropriate, assistance for the productive reintegration into the labor market and other support services;

Also we also support services to ensure access to a broad range of interventions, including psycho-social, behavioral and medication-assisted treatment, as appropriate and in accordance with national legislation, as well as to rehabilitation, social reintegration and recovery-support programs,

In the end I can only say that we all need to strive for the recovery oriented systems of care and towards creating more balanced policies in which recovery takes our ultimate goal. Many examples prove that recovery works and that it is possible to recover. I started using drugs when I was 14 years old. If there were no people to motivate me, rehab centers to teach me new values and, if there wasn’t the reintegration program available to me, I would not be sitting here right now. Yes, I was on the methadone maintenance program too, and I was just taking advantage of the program, it did not reduce my need for taking drugs. I can say that MMP just helped me with my stabilization phase in a way that it enabled me to understand the fact that I needed to continue with my journey towards drug free life, and I needed to start abstinence based treatment. Today, 14 years since I injected my last hit of heroin, I can say that I have started to live a life worth living only when I stopped taking any substance. I hope that decision makers will realize the importance of all policies being focused on full recovery from addiction. Thx.

UN delegates met in Vienna for delegations and negotiations of an outcome document to be adopted by the general assembly in New York at the special session in 19-21 april - THE UNGASS. 

ECAD organized a side event on Cannabis legalization along with partners. The key message of the event was to highlight the birth of a new legal and commercialized cannabis industry that targets youngsters, fights regulation and promotes drug use to gain consumers in the US and beyond. The negative health effects for developing countries mirrors those from tobacco and alcohol industries aggressively seeking new markets. There is also a clear breach of international obligations since the conventions require signatories to restrict use of narcotic drugs to medical and scientific purposes only. Denying cannabis legalization is not to deny that there are no room for improvement of global drug policy however. ECAD secretary general concluded the side event with his view on how to best progress international drug control into the 21th century. 

A statement was read to the CND delegates by Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Kevin Sabet which can be read here. 

The World Health Organization recently published a comprehensive report on non-medical use of cannabis which is a must read for anyone interested in the subject

The speech by ECAD Secretary General can be read down below


Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is now more important than ever to maintain and expand upon drug control. But that can be done in smart way. There are as many ways to control drugs as there are member states in the UN but what all of them (should) have in common is the recognition that use of illicit drugs should be limited to medical and scientific purposes only. The current framework of drug control allow states flexibility to adjust their responses according to local specifies.

What must be pointed out however is that we have seen the effects of commercialization and non-medical drug use before drug control both in present times, in Colorado and before. The level of opiate consumption in the 19th century is unprecedented by today’s levels. In fact for all other drugs except cannabis the prevalence is not even one per cent. The drug control system is in this regards highly successful in containing the world drug problem.

Challenges to the international community blamed on drug control can and should be addressed within the current drug control system: 

- Criminal Justice Reforms in many countries have enabled alternative and smarter sanctions for criminal offenders with underlying substance abuse. Short term (harm reduction) measures to improve the health of those with substance abuse can be efficient but should not replace a strong commitment to recovery from addition.

- Prevention of initiation of drug use should be a primary goal of sound drug policy. Environmental prevention which aims to create sound and drug –free communities that prevent – don’t promote drug use.

- For countries plagued by drug traffickers and organized crime there is no shortcut. Institutions need to be strengthened, rule of law implemented, corruption addressed and development and/or alternative development facilitated.

All these actions are perfectly possible to take within the current framework of drug control. What is not in conformity with the spirit of the conventions is the simplistic call for (re)legalization of drugs, in this case Cannabis, which constitutes a regression (not progression) towards international cooperation and public health of mankind.

Let us expand upon and not discard the current regulatory system. Only thus can drug control be advanced in the 21th century. 

Erik Leijonmarck, Secretary General ECAD