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Category: News

Published: 08 April 2017

Our thoughts and hearts lies with the residents of St Petersburg and Stockholm who both suffered from vicious acts of terrorist madness within just a couple of days.

The attack in St Petersburg resulted in at least 14 dead victims and many more wounded. It is still too early to call out an exact number for the attack in Stockholm, so far 4 deaths have been confirmed.

ECADs main office is situated in Stockholm and our staff was only a short distance away from the site of the attack. Unconfirmed rumours spoke about gunfire a few blocks away in another direction. The choice between staying in office or trying to reconnect on foot with their families using small alleys and streets suddenly became a matter of life and death for our staff.

Fear, uncertainty and a sense of unreality yet also keeping calm, solidarity and rational thinking characterized the residents of Stockholm yesterday.

Already a number of heroes can be called out. First of all, the truck driver whose vehicle was hijacked yet who actively fought and resisted by putting himself in the way of the hijacked truck, should be recognized for his bravery. Several by passers rescued pedestrians into shops and cafés away from the runaway truck. Many others assisted stranded commuters with housing and logistical assistance. Police, medical and rescue personnel deserve a great shout out for their efforts yesterday and last night.

Our impression of the authorities’ efforts to uphold security and investigate those guilty of the attack is good. Police agencies seem to work well together, be rehearsed and professional in their dealings with the general public and media. Two arrests have already been made in northern Stockholm and the police have been very present in the streets during yesterday.

We now hope the perpetrators have been arrested, and we can leave the immediate dangers behind us. For the future, terror must be fought with both hearts and minds. Our hearts and our courage should prevent us from allowing fear to dictate or limit our lives. Our anger should be directed at the perpetrators of the crime and all those who sympathize with, facilitates, or actively assist similar deeds. All the rest of us are one and the same.

Our minds must recognize that we have so far underestimated the threat of terrorism. The police have acted admirably in this case, but prevention efforts have so far largely failed. No society can completely insulate itself from these type of acts. Yet, much can be done to counteract and disrupt plans on terrorism among individuals and groups.

We know, and have known for some time, that organized crime and jihadism are becoming two increasingly intertwined phenomena in a growing number of districts in our cities. In those districts the state is in retreat and police find it difficult to take action against social unrest and drug trafficking and to prevent young people from becoming lured into gangs.

It is urgent that we apply strong measures of repression to combat the sleeping cells of terror and returning IS fighters we know have been accumulating in our cities and who plans new acts of terror in other European countries. It is also urgent to bind the rest of us together into a oneness of all of us. The latter should be done with a big heart.

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Category: News

Published: 03 April 2017

In February this year, ECAD was nominated by the Swedish government and the Pompidou group of the Council of Europe to take part in a two-module training session on NPS (New Psychoactive Substances). The permanent correspondents of the Member States of the Council of Europe chose the topic this year, which underlines the significance of NPS as an issue on the world map of drug policy.
25 countries were represented at the first module of this training that was held in Haifa,  Israel. Israeli Anti-Drug Authority (IADA) hosted the training and the focus is on NPS demand reduction.

A lot of new prevention and intervention techniques were shared with the participating group and the user`s perspective was provided. A stress on the global approach when choosing the intervention and the control over the risks of the NPS use were underscored by the organizers.

ECAD was interested in defining the NPS user groups in order to tailor the prevention tactiques and to learn more about alternative legal responses and the legislative initiatives of Israel seem quite unique.
The challenges of detecting and identifying the NPS are still the same for the police and the health sector, while the number of users with double diagnoses is growing.

The discussions of what was innovative in the Israeli approach to prevention and intervention with the NPS use patterns are of great value for ECAD. We look forward to continue with the second training module this May in Alicante, Spain.

Contact us if you find this topic interesting for your city and we will be happy to share the latest info with you.

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Category: News

Published: 21 March 2017

ECAD and Triple R project partners had a seminar on March 20, in Brussels, in connection to the launch of the three project publications: on Rehabilitation, Social Reinsertion and Justice Intervention. The publications summarize a great deal of experience and work in the field of recovery and alternatives to incarceration.
Participants from 7 European countries came to the Norway House in Brussels yesterday to be present at the launch of the Triple R publications. ECAD Secretary General was moderating the event.




The main message of the seminar:

There is a distinct need for a person-oriented and sustainable recovery, imbedded in national drug policy initiatives. The reason for this is a clear cost and benefit correlation effect, the longer the investment in recovery of drug addicts, the bigger are the chances of getting active and working citizens and tax payers in return. The long-term investment is attainable ensuring cooperation between public agencies and civil society and recovery communities.

The polemics at the seminar focused on :
 - investing in personal empowerment
-  offering alternatives to imprisonment,
 - working with drug addicts to motivate for recovery, working with trust and involving peer to peer approach
 - the challenge of free time for recovering addicts.

Suggestions for the policymakers:

• Drug policy should be human-centered, with individuals, their needs as the care focus ( directly opposite to the focus on the substance abuse)
  
  
• Recovery should be the leading paradigm in national drug policy legislation, because it offeres the best chance for the long-term well-being of the former addicts, their families and communities
  
  
• Recovery programmes need time and resources to be successful. Politicians should consider supporting the implementation of recovery in practice, according to the national legislative framework.

Contact us to get a hard copy of the publications at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or

download your copies from the project website http://www.tripler-project.eu/publications


HERE ARE THE SHORTCUTS TO THE PUBLICATIONS:

Manual on drug rehabilitation and recovery

Handbook on Justice Interventions and alternatives to incarceration for drug abuse offenders

Handbook on social reintegration of recovered drug users

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Details

Category: News

Published: 21 March 2017

Last week ECAD was working in Vienna, participating at the 60th Session of the Commission on Narcotic drugs at the UN.
Among the side events we co-organized, some special attention was devoted to the successfull work in the cities that take part in the Youth in Europe Project.



In cooperation with the Government of Iceland, Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis, and IOGT International,  two ECAD cities, Riga and Kaunas, highlighted their experience in working with drug use among adolescents.
Cities are the key in implementing the obligations of preventing drug use set up in the UN General Assembly outcome document and the UN drug conventions. A comprehensive use of data on youth life styles and behaviour helps city practitioners to identify local and specific risk and protective factors to guide the cities` interventions on youth. Cities that take actions based on sound data can substantially decrease the levels of adolescent substance use and other unwanted social behaviour.

Background

The presentations of Riga and Kaunas in Vienna were set against the background of the Icelandic research that dates back to 1998.
In 1998, substance use amongst adolescents in Iceland measured the highest in comparison with all the European countries. In 2015 substance use amongst Icelandic adolescents plummeted to the lowest in Europe. The improvement in substance use is the result of a concerted and in science well-grounded action that can be replicated elsewhere.


General discussion and points raised

·         Cities use data differently, some cities work actively with suicide prevention;

·         Some cites see reduction in tobacco and alcohol use but not in cannabis use. Why this was the case, turned into a vivid discussion in Vienna;

·         It is important to have a comprehensive strategy to address both licit and illicit drug use;

·         Difficulties in importing the model from Iceland.


Recommendations

·         Cities should adopt evidence based primary prevention as a basis for their actions on drugs.

·         National legislation should be grounded in evidence and experience gained from evidence based primary prevention.

·         Member states and civil society need to hear that prevention does work when conducted properly.



Further reading on the Icelandic research

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