ECAD XXth MAYORS` CONFERENCE
"TOGETHER WE STAND STRONGER: INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN TACKLING DRUG ABUSE"

Moscow, May 13-15, 2013


An impressive amont of over 800 participants gathered under the roof of Moscow Government House, Novy Arbat Street 36/9 to celebrate ECAD XXth Mayors` conference in Russia on 13-15 of May.

Moscow vice Mayor, Mr. Pechatnikov and Minister for Healthcare of Moscow City Government, Mr. Golukhov, opened ECAD conference.

Representatives from the UNODC, United States White House, Russian Federal Drug Control Service and UNAIDS stood for a broad mixture of western and eastern knowledge and a variety of ways in presenting their message to the public. Overall multifaceted, qualitative and exciting, this conference appears to be the biggest ever in ECAD history so far.

ECAD is thankful to our partners in Russia, All-Russian-Narcological League, for preparing this top - quality conference with a minimum amount of resources. We look forward to cooperation with the City of Moscow in ECAD Advisory Board.

"The ways of structuring and organizing conference programme in Russia and in the Western world are very different, although it does not mean that either of the ways is better than the other, it is just different from what both parties are used to," remarked ECAD director afterwards.

Thanks to lots of efforts of ECAD Russian NGO partner, Russian Narcological League, a number of Russian regions, representing almost all Russian Federal Subjects took part at the conference, bringing exhibitions in English with them, relating of temperance movements and anti-drug activities. Lots of networking among ECAD members, fine presentations and a visit to Moscow Narcological Centre of applied practice and research on drug treatment were extremely rich in information that we are going to share with you here, on ECAD website.

Björg Månum Andersson, Director General for Primary Health and Social Affairs, City of Oslo, Norway 
A brief historical account of ECAD and Norwegian network of ECAD cities (PDF)

Bertha K. Madras, MD, PhD, Prof. of Psychobiology, Chair, Division of Neurochemistry, Harvard Medical School, USA 
Addiction as a brain disease: Implications for drug policy (PDF)

Christina Gynnå Oguz, Director, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, Sweden
An Exposé of the International Drug Policy Debate (PDF)

Kevin A. Sabet, Assist. Prof. Of Psychiatry, Director, Drug Policy Institute, Univ. of Florida, USA
Marijuana Legalization—where do we go from here? A review of evidence (PDF)

Kerstin Käll, MD, PhD, Specialist in Psychiatry, Chief Medical Officer at the Dependency clinic, University of Linköping, Sweden
Medical marijuana—a way to legalize cannabis? (PDF)

Saulius Chaplinskas,MD, PhD, Director, Centre for Communicable Diseases and AIDS
Controversies and challenges tackling illegal-drug-related communicable diseases (PDF)