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Category: News

Published: 15 August 2016

ECAD have been involved in the Triple R project work this summer. On Monday of June 27, all Triple R project organizations came together in San Patrignano Recovery Community for 4 days, after past meetings around Europe, for the conclusion of the first phase of the project work.

"After discussions on the merits of the project we focused on the writing of three "R-manuals", - explains Sara Carrena, the project coordinator. "A handbook on Rehabilitation will be compiled in close cooperation by all project partners, another project book will focus on Reintegration and the third handbook will be on alternative measures to incarceration. In addition to this, we will be making a video on the involved recovery organization work, all aimed at promoting the best practices in recovery. At a later date we will complete a feasibility study in the hopes of opening a new pilot project in Croatia".


8 communities and organizations took part in the working group: Dianova (Spain), Popov GGZ (Belgium), ECAD (Sweden), Basta (Sweden), Stjerna (Croatia), Udruga Institut Pula (Croatia), Udruga San Patrignano Association Parents Split (Croatia)and Ceis in Rome.

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Category: News

Published: 09 August 2016

Meet the new Chairman of ECAD, (MD) Viggo Lütcherath. 





Hi. My name is Viggo Lütcherath and I am a 54 year old man and new chairman of the board for ECAD. I am married and have four children. I have known ECAD for some years during my political work in the Board of Health and Social Services in my hometown Kristiansand in Norway, where I represent the Christian Democratic Party.

My interest in drug policy comes from my professional work as a medical doctor specialised in Paediatrics at the public hospital in Kristiansand where I also work as a Senior Consultant.  For many years I have seen new born babies suffering from abstinence due to their mother’s drug abuse. These babies inspire me to be part of the work to build drug-free societies. There are many ways to do that and the road is long. But it is important, just like in traffic, to set a zero vision of no one killed or suffering from drug abuse. It is an ambitious and important vision.

The fact that the legal "drug industry" is using a lot of money and manpower to legalise and enlarge drug markets further convinces me that governments, cities and communities must unite to address their drug problems. One of the most pressing challenges for our European Cities is to counteract the legalization of cannabis. More and more new knowledge about the dangers of cannabis is available. ECAD can be a channel to spread this knowledge.

It is our imperative to continuously prevent young people from start using drugs, to counteract legalization and to spread knowledge on the health consequences of using illicit drugs. I hope even more cities will find the ECAD network useable as a platform. If we work together, we can be more powerful and inspire each other to make good decisions based on solid knowledge. ECAD is, and will continue to be, a network of European towns that stand together and inspire each other to continuously fight drug abuse and build drug free societies.

I look forward to be in charge of ECAD and look forward to work together with all the good people in ECAD.

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Category: News

Published: 22 June 2016

Plan for a visit to San Patrignano Recovery Community and WeFree Days, October 11-12, near Rimini in Italy.
The main topic this year is Drugs and Violence.

WeFree Day is an annual high-level forum for international and Italian political bodies, media, artists, and relevant international associations to increase awareness about harms to health, society and the environment caused by drugs, trafficking and production of illegal narcotic substances. 

ECAD arranges a seminar on October 12th.

Register to participate using our Booking Form here (Word). Send it back to ECAD : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Download Programme Outline (PDF)




San Patrignano Community

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Category: News

Published: 14 June 2016

At the end of May ECAD held the second Baltic Spice Alert project conference in Tallinn. It was titled
"Why do most drug related deaths occur in the Baltic Sea Region?".

The conference was preceded by a study visit to the Estonian Forensic Science Institute and discussions on fentanyl fatalities -  the main cause ot Estonian highest drug-related mortality rates in the EU (EMCDDA Drug Report 2016, trends and developments).
This time the project gathered the most qualified researchers working with the drug overdose mortality rates in Estonia, Latvia and Sweden to explain the negative statistics reflected in the recent European drug reports. Police representatives, forensic specialists, youth coordinators working at schools, Tallinn and Riga City social policy officers amounted to 35 conference delegates from all 3 project countries.

As the discussions progressed, some light was shed on the very different specifics of the highest overdose mortality rates in the region.Fentanyls and its fake analogues bother mostly Estonian partners, while Latvian and Swedish colleagues mention the new psychoactive substances often mixed with benzodiazepines as the main factor contributing to the high mortality rates.

Both synthetic cannabinoids (that caused a number of deaths in Latvia and Sweden in 2014) and synthetic opioids (troubling Swedish law enforcement and forensic specialists at the moment) have become a critical challenge to detect and identify in seizures and in biological specimines. Synthetic cannabinoids and their chemical components are also under constant modifications that place them under an ambiguous legal status in national legislations. Detecting and identifying these new substances is in fact a precondition for excelling an effective prevention and treatment policy, and all the project partners already employ the EMCDDA Early Warning system to do so.



The project partners also identified effective risk communication as the main prevention tool. Raising public awareness on the risks of the NPS, in addiction to the legislative measures to control the incoming NPS seemed extremely important. In addition to that, sharing expertise on national health experience seemed a valuable experience within this project, which is why Baltic Spice Alert is building up a network.

ECAD presented a new project, an efficient prevention tool in tackling the spread of the synthetic mixes in the Southern Sweden recently. The project "Film for Real" proved to be a success in reaching for the younger generation by involving them in research on drug effects and in actual film production. It run in 3 Swedish cities : Ystad, Simrishamn and Staffanstorp and is about to be launched in the cities of ECAD. Please contact ECAD Office if you are interested to know more.


Three project network partners will meet again this autumn in Stockholm. ECAD will report on the progress of the conference and study visit plans during the summer.

Tallinn Conference materials (still keep coming):

Overview of Estonia`s Drug Policy, Anna-Liisa Pääsukene, Ministry of Social Affiars, Estonia

Drug Overdose Mortality in Estonia, Gleb Denissov, Head of the Estonian Causes of Death Registry, Estonian National Institute for Health Development

Lethal outcomes and drug overdoses in Estonia. Statistical overview. Mailis Tönisson, forensic toxicologist, Estonian Forensic Science Institute

Latvian Police on Drug Fatalities, Jānis Berzkalns, Deputy Chief, Edgars Bukšs, Chief Inspector, Riga Municipal Police Department, Latvia

An innovative Prevention project and Spice-related deaths in Southern Sweden

Drug-induced deaths in Latvia, Diana Vanaga, researcher, Reitox National Focal Point, Latvia