European cities against drugs
European Cities Against Drugs (English: European Cities Against Drugs ECAD ) is the leading organization for promoting a drug-free Europe. It covers 250 cities, including 20 capitals, in 30 European countries and represents millions of European citizens.
ECAD members support the United Nations (UNODC) anti-drugs efforts based on the United Nations Conventions on the Control of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances .
ECAD is a member of the international citizens' forum on drug policy (CSF).
history
European Cities Against Drugs (ECAD) was launched in 1994 on the initiative of the City of Stockholm (Stockholm Resolution) in Sweden.
The “Stockholm Resolution” was also supported by the world's metropolises (Berlin, Buenos Aires, Jakarta, Cairo, Lima, Mexico City, Moscow, New Delhi, Paris, Beijing, Rome, Sao Paulo, Tokyo, Vienna, etc.), which together represent with the ECAD a population of around 170 million.
In the spring of 1995, more than 230 major cities in the USA followed the example of the ECAD, founded the American Cities Against Drugs ACAD and signed the Atlanta Resolution against the legalization of drugs and for more therapy and prevention .
Mission statement of the ECAD
- The various measures of the European Union and various countries against the increasing abuse of illegal drugs lack a common strategy. The united Europe must take a leading role in the fight against drugs.
- The development in Europe into a center of drug trafficking, distribution and consumption of drugs is the result of half-hearted, resigned and often reactionary politics. Millions of Europeans would suffer directly from these policies as drug addicts, parents, relatives or victims of crime.
- The ECAD sees its goal of a drug-free Europe as neither utopian nor impossible, as long as action is not only geared towards what appears possible, but what is necessary.
- The fight against drugs must be coordinated and intensified in a similar way to the measures taken to combat tobacco abuse.
- The ECAD aims to mobilize capitals, cities and towns across Europe to become involved in the fight against drugs and to use the available resources as efficiently as possible.
- All states must undertake to apply the United Nations conventions and to strictly monitor compliance with them.
- The separation between "soft" and so-called "hard" drugs must be abandoned, since soft drugs are also harmful to health and lead to dependence. They should be treated in the same way as other narcotic drugs in terms of monitoring, rehabilitation, and preventive measures.
- The ECAD is for the prevention of the commercial sale of drugs in open drug markets and in drug scenes in European cities.
- The "scientific" projects on heroin use as an attempt to legalize drugs must be prevented by giving the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP) the right to withdraw all import licenses for heroin if the heroin is intended for drug addicts.
organization
ECAD has offices in Russia, Sweden, Latvia, Bulgaria and Turkey.
ECAD partner
Drugnews , San Patrignano , ActNow
ECAD capitals
Ankara, Athens, Belfast, Belgrade, Bucharest, Chișinău, Helsinki, Minsk, Moscow, Oslo, Podgorica, Reykjavík, Riga, Skopje, Sofia, Stockholm, Tallinn, Tirana, Valletta, Vilnius
ECAD countries
Albania, Armenia, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Belarus, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Macedonia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Northern Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, Turkey
Projects and Conferences
In October 2012, ECAD organized a three-day seminar on prevention and treatment with internationally renowned experts and NGOs with close ties to UNESCO and ECOSOC, which are developing innovative programs and projects in the field of education in 11 countries. The seminar and an international WeFree day took place in San Patrignano , the largest therapeutic community in Europe with a drug withdrawal rate of over 70 percent.
The 22nd ECAD Mayors' Conference will take place from 11-12. May 2015 in Malta.
Web links
- Official website of the European Cities Against Drugs (ECAD)
- European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD)
- European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction
- WeFree International Network
- INCB: ECAD conference in Stockholm