The new EU drug strategy was adopted on December 7 without much in the way of fanfare. It had been a lengthy process and is quite late in arriving. A year ago, civil society organisations had been concerned that changes in governments within EU member states, and changes in priorities within the European Commission might lead to a weaker strategy than had been in place from 2007-2012. that strategy had been seen as a very important development in the drug policy sector.
Fortunately, the final approved document, while not taking things further, is strong on key areas including human rights (which runs throughout the strategy) and civil society participation. On the latter, the strategy explicitly endorses the meaningful involvement of people who use drugs and young people.
A year ago, it was believed that harm reduction within the strategy might be at risk, but it has been strongly retained, with a clear focus on HIV, HCV, and overdose. The formulation that developed was ‘risk and harm reduction’ which appears to reflect diplomatic debates over the term. (In the past Italy has preferred the term ‘risk reduction’ but an issue with this had been that the Italian view of it was prevention and treatment, which are covered elsewhere)
Risk and harm reduction clearly includes addressing the structural factors surrounding drug use and drug related harms. but here the EU strategy is weak, as it unquestioningly retains the same kind of supply side enforcement we now know to be futile and harmful. However, the strategy is clear on the need for evaluation on the basis of outcomes achieved. Indeed, this introduces and closes the strategy, and we must work to ensure that drug law enforcement is subjected to same scrutiny and rigour as demand reduction, and in particular, harm reduction interventions.
The EU drug strategy is important because it directs and requires collective EU action in international forums, such as the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the UN General Assembly and because the strategy will have an important role in EC funding priorities. The EC has been an important donor in the harm reduction and drug policy fields.
While imperfect, and could not have been otherwise with the diversity of the EU, the strategy is an important development and overall a positive one.
