NADPI aims to strengthen the evidence base of European drug policy making by expanding the knowledge base and exchanging best practices on a number of key policy dilemmas related to demand reduction, prevention and harm reduction strategies.

The project brings the areas of practice, research and policy together in a series of expert seminars and informal policy dialogues to address some of the most challenging drug policy dilemmas on the European agenda. NADPI aims to bring technical detail into the policy debate to ensure that choices are evidence-based and outcomes pragmatic and constructive. NADPI activities strengthen collaboration between authorities, public services and NGOs in the region and facilitate civil society involvement in the implementation of the EU Drug Strategy and Action Plan. The Drug Prevention and Information Programme of the European Union and the Open Society Foundation are financially supporting NADPI.

The project, led by the Transnational Institute, in collaboration with IDPC, Forum Droghe and Diogenis, aims to strengthen the evidence base of European drug policy making by expanding the knowledge base and exchanging best practices on a number of key policy dilemmas related to demand reduction, prevention and harm reduction strategies.

More specifically, the project will:

• bring technical detail into the policy debate to ensure that choices are evidence-based and outcomes pragmatic and constructive
• strengthen collaboration between authorities, public services and NGOs in the region and to facilitate civil society involvement in the implementation of the EU Drug Strategy and Action Plan.

A series of expert seminars and informal drug policy dialogues will be organised, bringing together experts from academia, governmental agencies, international organisations and NGOs, to address some of the most challenging drug policy dilemmas on the European agenda.

The main themes on which the project will focus include:

• the European stimulants market, more specifically the development of dependence risk reduction strategies to prevent problematic cocaine use patterns and the development of policy responses to better manage changes in the stimulants market occurring due to the appearance of new psychoactive substances
• the changing landscape of EU drug policy making following the Lisbon treaty
• options to redefine the role of law enforcement in synergy with a health and harm reduction policy framework
• the costs and benefits of existing and potential future cannabis regulations model.

Outcomes

Project

• Innovative cocaine and polydrug abuse prevention programme, Forum Droghe

Informal drug policy dialogues

• Informal Drug Policy Dialogue in Athens, Diogenis and the Transnational Institute (TNI), January 24-25, 2014

• Informal Drug Policy Dialogue in South East Europe, Diogenis, Kalambaka (Greece), June 21-22, 2013

• Informal Drug Policy Dialogue in Warsaw, Diogenis and the Transnational Institute (TNI), February 14-16, 2013

Expert seminars

• Policy responses to changing markets of New Psychoactive Substances and mild stimulants, Energy Control and the Transnational Institute (TNI), Barcelona (Spain), November 28, 2014

• Modernising drug law enforcement, International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), International Security Research Department at Chatham House and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), London (UK), November 5-6, 2014

• Expert dialogue on cannabis regulation models, Federación de Asociaciones de Personas Usuarias de Cannabis (FAC) and Transnational Institute (TNI) with the support of the City Council of San Sebastian, Donostia/San Sebastian (Spain), October 24-25, 2014

• Drugs, law enforcement and health and social services in South East Europe, Diogenis, Sophia (Bulgaria), June 6, 2014

• Global experiences with harm reduction for stimulants and New Psychoactive Substances, Forum Droghe and the Transnational Institute (TNI), Rome (Italy), May 20, 2014

• Costs and benefits of cannabis regulation models in Europe, Transnational Institute, Amsterdam (Netherlands), October 31/November 1, 2013

• Where next for Europe on drug policy reform?, International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) and the General Directorate for intervention on Addictive Behaviours (SICAD), Lisbon (Portugal), June 20-21, 2013

• Drug Legislation in South East Europe, Diogenis, Thessaloniki (Greece), April 5, 2013

Briefings

• Fixing a broken system: Modernizing drug law enforcement in Latin America, TNI/ IDPC Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies No. 29, December 2014

• Cannabis policy reform in Europe: Bottom up rather than top down, TNI Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies No. 28, December 2014

• Time for a wake-up call: An historical and ethnographic approach to the regulation of plant-based stimulants, TNI Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies No. 27, December 2014

• The international drug control regime and access to controlled medicines, TNI/IDPC Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies No. 26, December 2014

• Scheduling in the international drug control system, TNI/IDPC Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies No. 25, June 2014

• Cocaine: towards a self-regulation model, Forum Droghe/TNI Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies No. 24, March 2014

• Cooperation between drug law enforcement, health and social services in South Eastern Europe, Diogenis publication series No. 5, 2014

• Trends and developments in drug legislation in South Eastern Europe, Diogenis publication series No. 3, 2013

• The European Union Drugs Strategy 2013-2020, IDPC Advocacy Note, July 2013

This project is a continuation of an initiative by IDPC and TNI 'Evaluation and prospects of international drug control'.

This project has been executed with the financial assistance of the Drug Prevention and Information Programme (DPIP) of the European Union and the Open Society Foundations (OSF). The contents of this project are the sole responsibility of TNI and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the donors.