Strasbourg, 27–28 November 2006
P-PG/MinConf(2006)1
Pompidou Group
Ministerial Conference 2006:
Summary report on the results of the
2004 – 2006 Work Programme
Foreword
This report covers a period of significant transition for the Pompidou Group. Since its creation in 1971 the Group has played an important role in the field of drug policy. However, the changed European context in recent years has made this role less clear. Consequently, the Netherlands’ Presidency has given the highest priority to a process of evaluation and re-structuring the Group’s role and function.
In the past 3 years the Group has worked hard on this. Permanent Correspondents have produced an assessment report, redefining the role and function of the Group as a body that endeavours to concentrate on connecting policy, science and day-to-day practice. Newly introduced “Platforms” have enabled the various disciplines to discuss a wide variety of issues, in the open and creative way which has long been a good Pompidou Group tradition.
As a result of this we are able to present in this report the first set of “signals” coming from these platforms. On basis of these signals, the Permanent Correspondents have formulated conclusions that our ministers can use when developing and implementing drug policies.
I think the Group can be proud of the results. However we must realize that the process is not complete. Permanent Correspondents must continue working hard on this in the coming years; member States must invest in it by giving the Pompidou Group political and financial support, and by sending highly qualified, dynamic and positive people to the platforms and to the meetings of Permanent Correspondents.
Drug policies can only be effective if they are based on a realistic assessment of day–to-day practice, making use of the available scientific capacities and of the right policy tools. I am convinced that the Pompidou Group, by playing this unique role, can continue making an important contribution to the development of future European drug policies.
Bob Keizer, Chairman of the Permanent Correspondents
Preparing for the future
Assessment for future perspectives
The Pompidou Group was charged with two main tasks under its 2004 – 2006 Work Programme adopted during the Ministerial Conference in Dublin in October 2003. Ministers agreed to review the mandate of the Group, and to assess its potential for a future role in the family of international organisations; and they agreed to new working methods better to meet the set objectives.
An overall evaluation of the Pompidou Group took place during the period under the auspices of an Audit Committee of Permanent Correspondents. Its key conclusion was that linking theory, practice and policy remains an important strength of the Group, as does its capacity to organise effective multidisciplinary work. The Group’s functions and working methods allow comparatively small investments to yield timely and practical results for various stakeholders. This is well exemplified in the pilot projects and experimental activities of the Group, and is demonstrated in think tank-type “platform” activities. The bridging role to the greater Europe beyond the European Union, and the freedom of its deliberations from the constraints of legally binding instruments and political commitments, make the Pompidou Group a valuable forum for policy development and for filling gaps that other organisations cannot easily fill.
The evaluation results underline that the Pompidou Group’s working methods give it access to extensive operational-level expertise, that the over-all quality of its products is high and that its operational costs are comparatively low. However, they also showed the Group’s low level of visibility, and the need for it to sharpen its profile vis-à-vis other international bodies, the European Union’s institutions (HDG, EMCDDA, Commission) in particular. This will be a key challenge for the future work programme, one that the new working methods are intended to address.
Ministers are invited to endorse the identified strengths of the Pompidou Group by adopting the 2007 – 2010 Work Programme. It is recommended that particular attention be given to cooperation with other organisations in achieving this, so as in order to create synergy effects and so as to make better use of resources by avoiding overlap. Ministers are further invited to agree that an additional key role for the Pompidou Group should continue to be its bridging role with countries outside the EU, in particular in Eastern Europe and Northern Africa.
New working methods
The new working methods are based on the concept of ‘Platforms’. The main functions of the Platforms are to introduce practitioners’ knowledge and experience into the policy making process and to identify and promote examples of good practice in the successful implementation of policies. Their role is to offer insights from the perspective of practice to help develop policies and academic research. It should be emphasized that the insights offered by the platforms do not necessarily reflect the positions of Permanent Correspondents or national governments. They are suggestions and information on current perceived best practice and on recent trends directed to governments, not recommendations of governments. The ‘signals’ are either evidence based, science based or the result of innovative experimentation.
The Pompidou Group has set up Platforms in the fields of Criminal Justice, Airports Cooperation, Prevention and Treatment. Additional Platforms on Ethics & Human Rights and Research have a transversal role, ensuring that these issues are addressed across policy areas. A summary of signals highlighting new trends, developments and challenges, as well effective policies and practice, are included in this document.
Different assessment procedures implemented as part of an on-going monitoring process to assess the effectiveness of the Platforms in reaching their anticipated objectives have been carried out throughout the 3 year work cycle. The conclusions show that the Platforms have been successfully implemented as a new working method and can, pending adjustments to the specific mandates based on the initial experiences, serve the Pompidou Group well in achieving its ambitious mission effectively and efficiently.
Observations of Permanent Correspondents on Platform signals
Discussions of the results of the 2003-2006 Work Programme during Permanent Correspondents’ meetings lead to the following general observations and conclusions.
Communication between stakeholders: Clarification and definition of the role, position, responsibilities of stakeholders in the drugs field, better to coordinate research, policy making and professional action, is needed to develop more effective policies. Policy makers need to request clear and specific guidance from research and practice to develop timely policy responses to issues of pressing importance. At the same time policy makers have to be aware that the full effect and sustainability of responses can only be assured if medium and long-term back-up policies are adopted and resourced. Research and practice need to understand better, and to incorporate into their work, the legitimate demands from the public and from policy makers to deliver results in reasonable time with clear and precise indications on required action and realistically anticipated results. Better synergy between stakeholders can help to avoid overlap and duplication at national and European level.
Broad evidence base: With fundamental values serving as a starting point, evidence based policies can facilitate the development of timely and targeted responses to the multi-faceted and fast evolving problems that relate to drug use, and it is important to establish priorities and guidelines for the public funding of research institutions accordingly. Policy making on drug use should take into consideration not only evidence from research and experience from practice, but also concerns about the wider implications of policies. And simple reliance on empirical data when taking policy decisions will not be sufficient. Data quality, compatibility of statistics, and causal relations, must also be taken into account. Existing statistics need to be combined with interpretations from multidisciplinary perspectives, to be complemented by qualitative research and to be verified by professional experience. A strategy of this kind is more likely to unlock ‘hidden knowledge’ in existing data to be exploited in current and future research. Without investment in high quality data analysis the investment in statistics does not yield a valuable return.
Complexity: Given the complexity of the problems that societies face in relation to drug use, it is crucial that a multidisciplinary approach be adopted. This will require co-operative action across sectors and disciplines and will involve a variety of relevant agencies and stakeholders. Only such intersectoral action can take into account the different dimension of a specific problem and properly ensure the effectiveness of policies and the efficient use of resources.
Coherence: The aims of multisectoral co-operation must be inspired and guided by policy-makers. It is consequently of importance that the political concepts and messages of policy makers on the one hand are coherent with the messages of the different actors working in the field, on the other – not only when new policies are first implemented but also as their effects become known.
Analysis: Skills, tools and resources to evaluate the effect and impact of interventions need to be developed. This will require the strengthening of an evaluation culture in drugs programmes across Europe. A current challenge is to understand the extent to which drug use and drug users are influenced by drug policy. Understanding this requires research on the policy-making process itself and its consequences, in particular to identify and separate out intended and unintended outcomes and effects.
Realism: The setting of unrealistic success indicators can frustrate policy approaches and constitute an obstacle in establishing what actually works and has an impact. Successful policies must have realistic expectations and verifiable results. Outcomes need to be measurable to allow for proper implementation, management and assessment. For example, policy makers should be aware that there is currently no pedagogic evidence on the effectiveness of drug testing in schools as a means of preventing drug use and abuse. In cases where drug testing in schools is considered, all relevant pedagogical and legal issues, in particular ethics and human rights related questions, need to be taken into account.
Balance: The vast weight of evidence favours the balanced approach in supply and demand reduction policies. A tendency to invest more in supply reduction policies can be observed on some levels. It needs to be borne in mind, however, that despite new technologies and changing patterns of drug smuggling, only balanced policies addressing all relevant can be effective in tackling the problems related to illicit drugs.
Experimentation: Producing an evidence base for policy making has limitations in a multifaceted field such as drugs policies, since it is often difficult to establish causal relationships. It is thus equally viable to consider science and knowledge based approaches, for example. However it is important that these approaches do not stifle innovation and block the path for innovative policies. Of course, such innovative policies must accord with the international drug control system as enshrined in the UN Conventions. Within this framework, however, experimentation and unconventional approaches can help to develop new solutions and overcome existing barriers to effective policies.
Summary of Signals on…
…Prevention
The Prevention Platform identifies new approaches and technologies in achieving more effective and widespread impact with prevention efforts
Examples from practice on what works:
Prevention concepts and methods are difficult to evaluate because the timescales over which they can be shown to have worked are long.
There is, though, now a substantial body of research available on what appears likely to work with children in preventing, or at least reducing the age of onset of drug misuse. This suggests that prevention programmes that work:
are research based and theory driven;
impart developmentally appropriate information;
teach social resistance skills;
incorporate normative education;
include interactive teaching;
include close links between teachers and programme developers;
cover topics adequately and include enough follow-up;
are culturally sensitive;
are strengthened by family, community and media components, and by components for special populations;
include evaluations
There is also research that encapsulates what young people themselves want. They appear to want:
their views and opinions listened to;
to engage in discussion and debate;
their drug education to involve drama, true stories and external contributors;
to be taught by people who know what they are talking about;
not to be told to simply ‘say no’;
to know the range of effects of drugs;
to know how to cope with an emergency.
Some life skills approaches therefore appear to be promising.
Prevention programmes based at the work place can be effective in reaching parents as important actors in preventing drug use among children. They can also bring about additional value for businesses in terms of corporate image as well as human resources potential. Successful programmes have the necessary potential to allow parents to overcome what they perceive as barriers in becoming involved in drug prevention efforts.
Participatory approaches, particularly those involving young people as a resource and main target group of prevention activities, have shown to be effective in mobilizing new potential and capacities that can help to reach prevention goals. Making target groups stakeholders can give a higher level of credibility with peers and ensures commitment by those involved.
Involving target groups in prevention can facilitate more effective allocation of resources for achieving specific prevention effects. It can provide new ideas and help to develop new methods of prevention. Moreover the involvement of target groups has been shown to lead to a more lasting change in their attitudes and behaviour.
The use of interactive modern communications technologies, such as internet and mobile telephony, can have a significant impact in reaching target groups with prevention messages effectively. Information disseminated through the new information and communication technologies has a high credibility among young people and provides a low-threshold access to prevention services and interventions.
Barriers and obstacles on the level of policy making:
A major obstacle is the fact that, often, drug prevention messages are incoherent or even conflicting, thus challenging their credibility from the very beginning no matter how well they have been developed. Political involvement in, and commitment to, coherent programmes over time will reduce the likelihood of early failure of prevention programmes.
Often, drug prevention policies are based on assumptions of what will work rather than on accurate information and evidence. This too can challenge credibility.
Idealistic but unrealistic expectations too often frustrate prevention efforts and are an obstacle in establishing what actually works and has an impact. Responses to mere populist opinion, without evidence of effectiveness, too often fail to achieve the desired effects.
Shortage of money means that prevention programmes are often too short-term and too ambitious in their anticipated outcome. Such programmes, even though well designed in other respects, are likely to fail.
Barriers and obstacles on the level of administration and management:
There is a paucity of in evaluating the effectiveness of prevention measures skills across Europe, and a low degree of co-operation.
Setting of unrealistic success indicators (such as reduction of drug use in the population of children whose parents have undergone a prevention programme by 10 %) too often frustrates prevention efforts and is an obstacle to establishing what actually works and has an impact.
Often results are expected within an unrealistically short period of time. It may not be possible to judge the true outcomes of prevention programmes definitively for 5 – 10 years. Moreover, individual prevention activities are seldom effective in isolation: rather, they are likely to succeed cumulatively with others. Discerning the effectiveness of individual preventative programmes therefore requires a high degree of skill.
Not only is there a low level of professionalism in the evaluation and quality management of prevention programmes. There is also a widespread lack, among professionals charged with implementing them, in the capacity to manage networks and resources and ensure coordination and continuity.
What is needed:
Those developing drug prevention policies should try, as far as possible, to make them coherent in themselves and coherent to the society for which they are intended. Programmes should be based on a clearly articulated prevention message with a clear evidential and scientific base and with supporting experience from practice.
To avoid failure, or, indeed, counter-productive effects, prevention programmes should be designed for at least the medium-term, and should have realistic objectives for their anticipated outcomes. Short-term and over-ambitious approaches should be avoided.
Objectives need to be realistic. Practitioners cannot promise that, as a result of their work, adolescents will never use drugs: societies are risk-inherent and the protection of young people is complicated to achieve. Prevention efforts should aim at realistic outcomes, not unachievable ideals.
Reference is made above to the time-lags involved in assessing the effectiveness of drug misuse prevention strategies. Nevertheless, ability to evaluate such activities in a timely manner must be developed, so as to meet the need of political decision makers for evaluation in a time-frame that is relevant to the activity under appraisal, and that is useful for deciding political options. Such timeframes are inevitably shorter than may be needed for final and definitive outcomes from prevention activities. Consequently, it may often be more feasible to apply proxy-indicators, such as the strengthening of protective factors and reduction of risk factors, in developing an evidence base for impact assessment. Provided that it is supported by a validated theory, however, this approach can produce credible and viable results on which an evidence base can be constructed.
New techniques to measure impact evaluation are needed to take account of the fact that individual prevention activities are seldom effective in isolation but are likely to succeed cumulatively with others. Quality control and process evaluation, in combination with the establishment of proxy indicators based on identified protective and risk factors can, in combination, lead to more clarity in impact and effectiveness analysis.
If they are to have a significant impact on society, programmes that have shown a positive impact, such as life-skills trainings or programmes reaching parents, will need to be implemented more widely.
Consideration should be given to withdrawing resources from prevention approaches that have been shown to have no or little effect, and re-allocating them to those that have been shown to impact positively.
... Treatment
The Treatment Platform proposes ways for more effective treatment of young people under 25 with drug problems.
Examples from practice on what works:
Offers of treatment services that combine all available, sources of support, formal and informal, at various levels, including from peer groups, from family and from others of primary importance to the young person, will have the highest chances of achieving results and reducing medium- and long-term relapses.
Intervention programmes that seek to reduce immediate risks and incorporate at the same time the aim to reinforce medium- and long-term protective factors have higher success rates. This however cannot be achieved in a uniform way and by ‘quick fix’ type methods. The key to success is based on acknowledging that risk and protective factors change across groups, settings, and developmental periods of the lifespan.
Rapid responses to changing situations, needs and use patterns, are possible, as a variety of examples from practice show. The common denominators of examples of good practice include: a high level of flexibility and the possibility for effective, intersectoral cooperation between law-enforcement, social and health services.
Barriers and obstacles on the level of policy making:
Public resources are regularly aimed at target groups that constitute a visible problem in society and that create a high level of costs and public nuisance. The young people who are at the beginning of the process leading to what is understood as ‘problematic drug use’ are often not registered on the radar screens of care and support services since they do not constitute the target group of primary concern.
Often policy makers develop costly campaigns that have proven to be of little or only limited effect, such as scare campaigns and ‘be healthy’ campaigns. In the same way, some approaches have been shown to be increasingly unpopular with target groups but continue to be praised as tools of choice – for example, Hotlines, where evaluation shows that young drug users are not the majority of the callers.
The use of new technologies in drug treatment on the other hand, such as on-line counselling, internet self-testing etc., have already shown a far greater acceptance by young people. But they are not widely available and are rarely provided by public health services and local authorities. This important tool is left to the non-governmental sector and –for a lack of funding- increasingly taken over by commercial providers whose paid services cannot be afforded by young people/target groups.
Barriers and obstacles on the level of administration and management:
Existing support systems are relatively effective in reaching young people who are already socially marginalised and suffering from the health effects of long-term problematic drug use. However, the systems are ill-equipped to reach young people who are still integrated in society but already consume large quantities of drugs.
Coordination efforts in treatment remain fragmented and, where in place and are often ineffective, rarely developing their full potential. Structural incompatibilities, legal barriers, diverging professional interests and, above all, a lack of methodological knowledge on how to cooperate, are the main reasons that many cooperation efforts cannot achieve their intended effects or fail from the start.
There also appears to be a lack of understanding that much more can be achieved by use of evidence based forms of treatment.
Administrations and agencies setting up intervention programmes and services are often not in the position to convey their information in a way that is accepted by young people. Information that is only based on the philosophy of stopping consumption often deters people in need of help to access services and accept an intervention.
What is needed:
Treatment and support services must develop specific programmes that target 18 to 25 year olds, who are no longer considered children but have not reached full adulthood. The offers of treatment must take into account the specificities of this target group to be successful. The availability of services should not be organised along age-limits but rather according to the developmental needs of the individual client.
To avoid long-term problematic drug use, with its negative social and health problems, it is essential to target the young people who appear fully integrated and functional in society while consuming large quantities of drugs.
It is important to unlock the full potential of general practitioners, who are often the first to come into contact with a young person in need of help. This group of professionals is ideally placed to reach and treat young people: their professional confidentiality ensures a relationship of trust with the patient, and they have the medical expertise for immediately assessing the problems at hand.
It is important to ensure that the mental health dimension is addressed better in all treatment and support efforts. And drug treatment should be considered as a integral part of public health policy
… Criminal Justice
The Criminal Justice Platform assessed the tackling of open drug scenes, drug-related public nuisance and improving practical co-operation between the law enforcement systems and health and social services.
Examples from practice on what works:
New efforts and working practices are being put in place in Europe that tackle the problems related to drug related behaviours in public, including violence, intimidation, aggressive begging, street prostitution, the selling of illicit drugs, public urination, public drug taking, the disposal of drug related litter, related street crime, etc., which present a widespread and serious concern to communities, authorities and businesses (and, of course, such open scenes are harmful to the individual users themselves).
Local action against street level supply of illicit drugs is a prerequisite for successful action against public open drug scenes. The involvement and participation of local residents, as well as proactively offered treatment and harm reduction measures, have shown to be essential and complementary parts of action to reduce these nuisances and to manage such scenes.
Recognising the complexity of these problems, it is now broadly accepted that a partnership approach involving state agencies, the community and voluntary sector and other relevant parties, is needed to ensure the effectiveness of policies and at the same time to make more efficient use of resources.
To achieve a realistic chance of success it is important to start co-operation with precise, narrowly defined objectives and then to broaden them, and to concentrate on what is feasible. It is equally important to include the non-governmental sector and civil society in the co-operation process, and to establish a dialogue with directly concerned drug users.
The aims of any co-operative effort must be inspired by policy-makers. It is consequently of importance that coherence between the political concept and messages of policy makers on the one hand, are coherent with the messages of the different actors working in the field on the other. This applies just as much to the results and messages emerging from the work and its impact.
Barriers and obstacles on the level of policy making:
Policy makers often have insufficient information at their disposal to make clear the limitations and realistic results that can be expected from different policy alternatives. The most effective programmes, which yield the best results and make the most efficient use of resources, are those that are based on goals that are reachable within a reasonable period of time.
Strategies often do not take sufficiently into account that relying mainly on a law enforcement approach, without integrating the backup of social and health services, has little effect in reducing the problems.
Unsupported “Zero Tolerance” strategies have been shown to be incapable of containing the phenomenon completely. They tend, in effect, to do no more than move people from one area of the city to another (or to prison) where they continue to cause nuisance and harm.
Co-operation across agencies has been promoted but, so far, regulations, infrastructure and training have often not been adjusted or put in place to facilitate multidisciplinary and cross-sectoral approaches in practice. Competitive cultures between Ministries and between agencies hinder cooperation efforts that are highly dependent for success on political commitment and endorsement by senior management of agencies.
On the level of administrations, service providers and law enforcement agencies:
Cooperation efforts and partnerships are frequently based on models or existing experiences. Simply copying these will often lead to failure and frustration. Every partnership and cooperation will require a unique inception and planning effort that takes into account the specific local situation, the political support, and the capacities and limitations of the partners involved. Besides these more technical requirements, the preparation process needs to be built with the full commitment of all stakeholders. There is a widespread misconception that this can be achieved merely by instructing people/agencies to cooperate.
Establishing co-operation is a process that can take a long time, and its difficulty is often under-estimated. It is likely to require a change of attitude and perception among the agencies concerned, a process that is often insufficiently supported, or supported only in the early stages, rather than over the prolonged period necessary. Partnerships of this kind need a high level of mutual understanding and trust, as well as administrative support, to succeed.
In general multi-agency strategies and cooperative partnerships face barriers that make it difficult to implement fully functioning partnerships. Incompatibilities of rules and regulations governing the work of different stakeholders, protective legislation that safeguards civil rights, confidentiality interests of law-enforcement agencies, mutual prejudices between stakeholders involved, different communication cultures, varying decision-making hierarchies, are all examples of such barriers.
What is needed:
There is a need for strategic planning and for agencies to work across disciplines and in partnership in designing responses. In particular law enforcement services and support services need to be able to work together in an effective way to allow for adequate responses and interventions.
When designing responses at the planning stage, preparation should consider all possible outcomes, including negative outcomes and unlooked for side-effects. Limitations of stakeholders also need to be taken into account and care must be taken to ensure that outcomes don’t conflict or undermine other policy goals.
Well developed communication skills must be developed and procedures must be put into place to ensure that issues of distrust and questions of distribution of decision-making powers, that are permanent and recurring issues in partnerships, will be addressed adequately and swiftly.
Cultural blocks within various parts of the system or community need to be overcome through training and education. This could involve the community, police social services including social workers, the judiciary, prosecution etc having some form of joint training
....Research
The Research Platform proposes ways to connect research, policy and practice to meet challenges ahead.
Examples from research on what works:
Descriptions of the drug situation, and a substantive base of descriptive data on interventions and policies in Europe, have been developed and improved considerably over 20 years.
Similarly, tools have been created that are capable of monitoring and assessing the impact of interventions and policies implemented. These enable decision makers and managers to evaluate and review the impact of legislation adopted and different policy approaches carried out.
A substantive base of descriptive data on demand reduction policies and interventions (prevention, treatment, harm-reduction, criminal justice), and how widely they are distributed in different European countries, has been generated and is widely available. And, contrary to some perceptions, research and science has been able to accumulate and establish evidence (process and outcome evaluation) on what works for specific interventions in these areas.
Barriers and obstacles on the level of policy making:
Tools for measuring and monitoring drug demand exist but are not always implemented or applied. This sometimes leads to an analysis of the drug situation that is less advanced and does not adequately reflect the realities. In addition, this non-application of available tools account for some of the differences between different countries.
Policy responses are frequently based in cultural influences, organisational structures and public opinion. Even over a relatively short period, these factors impact with different intensity on policies, often leading to frequent changes in direction and even strategy. These types of changes have particularly negative effects on dealing with drug misuse issues, where longer-term and coherent approaches are required to achieve change.
Policy-makers frequently demand statistical data from research while not making available adequate funding and time frames to conduct the research that will generate the desired data. Moreover, it has become difficult to get funding for qualitative research that tries to understand reasons and patterns of drugs use and the complex causal relationships behind it, and that cannot be properly assessed by quantitative research. This has resulted in a general lack of theory driven research.
Research carries authority. It can challenge values and ideology. It is therefore prone to influence by them, since the holders of such values and ideology will want research to support what they believe. Implicit assumptions flowing from such values and ideology can have an important impact of how knowledge is translated into action and can often not concur with, or even be in stark contrast to, what research, science and professional experience suggests as effective.
When translated into policies, there is a risk that scientific knowledge and data from research will be interpreted and translated in over-simplified ways, with the inevitable result that expectations will not be met. This includes particularly the awareness and recognition of the fact that positive outcomes at one level are often achieved at the expensive of negative or unintended consequences at other levels.
Barriers and obstacles inscience and research:
Many policies and programmes developed in response to drug problems are based on and justified by prevalence figures of drug consumption. It is often not fully understood that such prevalence data often only gives a picture of the past rather than recent and current prevalence.
Statistical reporting systems are not always reliable and valid. Data collected for political and administrative purposes do not always include information that is useful for epidemiological analyses. The changes in reporting systems make it difficult to analyse time series.
Researchers need to be open about the complexity of drug-related issues and the limitations of their field/science in contributing to the solution of the drug-related problems. This is an essential prerequisite to developing the potential inherent in multidisciplinary research.
Research and science require a better understanding of the context in which policy makers have to develop solutions. Time-limitations and budgetary constraints in policy are often insufficiently acknowledged in the design of research and the conclusions.
Specific philosophies and drugs policy approaches influence research at times. While it is understood that all research is subject to such bias, it remains frequently unclear to decision makers to what extent these issues have impacted on the research. This makes it difficult to advance further to establish evidence-based policies.
Researchers are often not able to translate findings and results of their work into a language and format that is appropriate for decision makers’ consideration. In addition, the results often require more refined articulation to be conveyed as messages relevant to the challenges as faced from the perspective of policy makers.
What is needed:
Methods that forecast trends and measure overall costs attributable to drug use; analysis of the impact of demographic, social and economic context factors on the drug situation that need more in-depth research to enable decision makers to develop policies that can make more effective use of funds.
Specific methods to assess types of interventions and evaluate legislation and policies and their potential impact should be further developed to assess the effects attributable to a specific drug policy.
Instead of investing in new data-collection, a strategy is needed to enable ‘hidden knowledge’ from existing data to be exploited in current and future research. Without investment in high quality data analysis the investment in statistics will not yield a valuable return.
The one-sided emphasis on empirical research at the expense of qualitative studies requires rebalancing. More qualitative studies are needed in fields where empirical research has reached is limits or can only generate results with the investment of disproportionate resources.
Qualitative methods should also be encouraged in cross-national studies in order to get more information on the context, and more understanding of the situation, to allow comparison, since the compatibility of empirical data that is used in comparisons between countries is often extremely limited.
Since drug policies have not been able to stop the use of drugs, the challenge now is to understand to what extent drug use and drug users are influenced by drug policy. This requires research on the policy-making process itself and its consequences, in particular to identify intended and unintended outcomes and effects.
…Ethics
The Ethics Platform assesses ethical problems of drug testing in schools
What needs to be observed:
Young adolescents are particularly vulnerable as concerns the use of psychoactive substances. It takes fewer quantities for a teenager to become addicted than for an adult. Delaying first contact with psychoactive substances for as long as possible should consequently be one of the priorities of any drugs-policy that seeks to reduce addiction levels and health problems.
To reduce the levels of intensive drug use by young people that lead to a high risk of addiction and health problems, it is essential to support young people in forging prospects of a worthwhile future. The school education of young people should enable them to find other means of achieving fulfilment in a society that must be open to all. Consequently curricular components addressing this important objective should become recurring elements throughout the school career, addressing the issue from the perspective of the different developmental stages.
In particular the following aspects need to be taken into account at the school level:
even the best information and training to combat drug abuse can only be understood by young people who have been educationally prepared to grasp the implications in terms of their own experience;
recognition of human dignity in all circumstances, and human rights as enshrined in the main international instruments, must be included in syllabuses and curricula, as a basis for building this dialogue between the generations;
According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, schools must assume their responsibility to protect children from the use of licit and illicit drugs.
Teachers and educators need to develop, maintain or restore an open dialogue with their pupils and the pupils' parents. This makes it easier to detect when pupils are at risk or in trouble, and to help them overcome the problem.
Barriers and obstacles:
There is currently no pedagogic evidence of the effectiveness of drug testing in schools as a means of preventing drug use and abuse. There are indications that the use of such tests in school may undermine the confidence necessary for a good pedagogic and educational relationship between teachers, parents and pupils.
Testing in schools may conflict with ethical principles such as individual autonomy and respect for privacy, to the extent that they are unjustified intrusions by the state or other authorities into young citizens' private lives that expose them to humiliating or ambiguous situations.
Such tests may also infringe the beneficence – or doing good – principle, since it is doubtful whether the benefit of carrying out tests in schools for preventive purposes outweighs the disadvantages for the young persons concerned, and the non-maleficence – or not doing harm – principle, since the young persons would always suffer unnecessary inconvenience from being subjected to such tests.
What is recommended:
Authorities responsible for drug policies in schools, including parents’ representatives, at all levels, should be given the facts on and arguments for and against drug testing in schools and strategies for effective drug prevention. They must also be offered reliable, documented information about how preventive activities are organised and conducted, the results obtained and how effective they are.
Policy makers and managers responsible for implementing policies need to be provided with adequate information that enables them to take informed decisions on the issue of drug testing in schools. The Pompidou Group provides the necessary capacities and integrity to develop existing knowledge and information in a way that this purpose can be achieved within reasonable time-limits.
… Airports
The Airports Platform facilitates technical and practical cooperation in drug supply reduction through airports
Results from law enforcement practice in airports
Drugs seizure trends show that airport law-enforcement agencies continue to play a significant role in supply reduction efforts and have been proven to meet the challenges of fast evolving changes in patterns and smuggling methods. In addition, airport law enforcement agencies have been able to put themselves ahead of developments by developing new mechanisms of detection and international cooperation, thus increasing the effectiveness of the work and impact in reducing the import of illegal drugs.
Data collection systems and information exchange in Europe have been considerably consolidated and expanded.
Barriers:
The following organisational difficulties and bottle-necks were identified by law-enforcement agencies:
Even after the occurrence of an offence has been established, it often difficult to investigate;
Incompatibilities in the different organisations involved regarding their competencies, powers, objectives, strategies, etc.
An absence of joint operational teams at certain airports to help overcome these difficulties;
Lack of knowledge on the interrelation between criminal activities within the airport and outside the airport;
Cooperation between different law enforcement agencies has increased but is far from fully implemented.
Further difficulties concern: data collection and protection, language, the scope and extent of data collection (air, rail, tourist buses, cargo, etc), data collection discipline, seizure reports, rapidity of information transmission and the choice of system to which the database should be attached.
What is needed:
Internal threats:
There is need for constant awareness-raising concerning airport crime, for standard procedures on airport crime reporting, methodologies for risk analysis, etc and for a regular exchange of experience and information on the subject.
Relevant authorities are strongly encouraged to adopt and use on a national level methods for risk analysis and to continue to hold training seminars on the subject to qualify staff in the use of the Register.
Providing equal access for all law enforcement agencies to the existing data base on airports crime is needed. It should be ensured that Regulation (EC) no. 2320/2002 of the European Parliament and Council dated 16 December 2002 on the introduction of common rules in the field security of civil aviation is also applied in the fight against trafficking in illegal drugs.
The common definition, as used by the Airports Platform of the Pompidou Group, should be used by all Members States in order to assure most effective and coherent cooperation on this issue.
While many efforts have been undertaken to improve the control of employees at airports, further initiatives would be welcomed since this aspect of European regulation on civil aviation security is constantly evolving.
External threats:
In so far as external threats from drug couriers are concerned, legal access to airline databases of airlines is an important issue.
On the issue of analysing drug seizures in airports, there is a need to explore further technical and political conditions for setting up a common international database and information exchange system, with the participation of representatives of RILO WE, WCO and INTERPOL, among others.
Reference documents
Platform Signals & Activity Results....................................................... P-PG/MinConf(2006)2
Draft Work Programme 2007 – 2010...................................................... P-PG/MinConf(2006)3
Tasks and responsibilities in the Pompidou Group................................... P-PG(2006)6rev
Review of the functioning and role of Platforms....................................... P-PG(2006)17
Communication Strategy....................................................................... P-PG(2006)18
Publications and Documents................................................................. P-PG(2006)19
Policies in action: objectives and results 2004-2006
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Evaluation of the use of the European Handbook on Prevention Assessment of a need for future handbooks and manuals on prevention Investigation of the use of prevention materials in outreach work and outreach training Elaboration of innovative forms of disseminating prevention materials. |
2005 Conference “Prevention:do it–share it!” 4 Conference materials, downloads at: : www.coe.int/T/dg3/pompidou |
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Prevention Prize þ |
Awards for the best drug prevention programmes in Europe that involve young people in an active participating way. |
EuropeanPrevention Prizes 2004 & 2006 |
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European Consultative Forum on Drug Prevention þ |
Generating proposals and ideas for prevention programmes and projects that can more effectively target young people and make them stakeholders in the field of prevention rather than mere objects of protection policies. |
1st and 2nds Prevention Forum in 2004 & 2006 2 Proceedings P-PG/PrevCF(2005)1 |
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Youth workshops þ |
Involvement of young people in prevention activities; to identify good practice; to nominate programmes for the Prevention Award |
Prevention Prize Jury meetings 2004, 2005 & 2006 |
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Mobilizing parenting skills for drug prevention þ |
Empowerment and support for parents for better use their parenting skills as a tool for drug prevention. |
Support Network for Parents and professionals 2 Self-help manual P-PG/PrevSN(2005)15 2 Website methods P-PG/PrevSN(2005)15 2 Training materials P-PG/PrevLS(2004)5 P-PG/PrevLS(2005)1, 2 & 3 : www.narkohelp.net |
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Creating on-line support for parents networks þ |
Development of IT programmes to facilitate information exchange, networking and on-line support and training in prevention work involving parents. |
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Communicating prevention knowledge to parents þ |
Development of non-formal training approaches and artistic forms of expression to facilitate effective drug prevention work involving parents. |
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Involving parents and young people and inter-agency co-operation þÖ |
Development of guidelines about cooperation between parents, young people and institutions on issues related to drug prevention, legal measures and treatment. Guidelines were prepared for cooperation of young people with institutions. The aspect of involving parents was addressed in the Support Network for Parents programme (see above). |
2 Guidelines for involving young people in prevention P-PG/Prev(2005)2 |
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Evidence-based input to political decision making on drugs þ |
Development of guidelines about evidence-based prevention policies for bridging the gap between evidence-based concepts and concepts based on political approaches. This proposal did not receive voluntary contributions and the topic was then taken up by the Prevention Platform in their work of developing signals from practice. |
21st Platform report P-PG/PrevPF(2005)3 |
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Funding and implementation of prevention programmes x |
Development of guidelines on fundraising methods, programme implementation forms, needs assessment, programme monitoring and evaluation. This activity was not implemented due to a lack of capacities and an absence of voluntary contributions. |
None |
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Adapting treatment to new modes of consumption þ |
Definition of strategies for adapting service provision to various and changing treatment demands and, where possible, development of relevant protocols |
2 Report on the care of young people using drugs P-PG/TT(2006)5 |
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Narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances x |
Review of control issues related to implementation of the UN conventions; elaboration of proposals for detailed work on specific issues. No proposals received for addressing specific issues |
None |
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Examination of specific control issues x |
Follow-up to previous activities with regard to methylphenyldate; to evaluate the implementation of the CND resolution on the appropriate use of Benzodiazepines. No concrete activity proposals received |
None |
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Prison training programmes x |
Training programme for Montenegro; Absence of funding / voluntary contributions |
None |
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Drug abuse and road safety þ |
Follow-up to previous activities with regard to drug abuse and road safety; to assess related developments and initiatives. |
2nd RTD Seminar 2Proceedings seminar 2003 ISBN 92-871-5503-8 |
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Local Monitoring þ |
Promotion of integrated evidence-based drug policies and intersectoral cooperation; development of guidelines for the implementation of local monitoring systems to support policy and practice; development of guidelines for the use of information in day-to-day practice. |
Seminars 2 Guidelines P-PG/ResLM (2005) 2 |
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ESPAD þ |
Facilitating support to the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and other Drugs (ESPAD) |
Adapted survey methods Increased visibility Improved policy impact 2 2003 ESPAD Report |
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MEDSPAD þ |
Developing a network on drug issues in the Middle-Eastern and North-African countries |
Surveys in: Algiers, Morocco, Lybia and Tunesia 2 Report P-PG/Res-Med (2004) 2 |
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Data analysis to identify youth at risk þ |
Assessment and interpretation of risk factors for alcohol, tobacco and drug use among young people; development of analytical tools for examine ESPAD data. |
2 Report on risk and impact P-PG ResRF(2006) 2 |
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Impact of Treatment Demand Data on Policy and Practice þ |
Review of how treatment demand data have been used to influence policy formulation and practice Identification of examples of success Development a process of better using TD data to support evidence-based policies. |
2 Publication ISBN 10-92-871-6086-4 |
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Strategic Conference 2004 þ |
Proceedings of the conference Publication on strengthening of policy-relevant research on drugs in Europe by investment in a long-term strategy on research. |
2 Conference Proceedings on connecting research, policy and practice 2 Drugs and drug dependence: linking research, policy and practice ISBN 92 871 5535 6 |
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On-line register of current drug research þ |
Feasibility study and draft plan for inventory on current research prepared Technical implementation proposals developed Activity to be continued |
2 Inventory of current drug research P-PG/RES (2006) 5 rev |
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15th International Conference of the European Society for Social Drug Research (ESSD) þ |
To signal the latest issues that arise from drug research in the social field, psychological and biomedical fields and promote the interaction between disciplines in line with the emergence of the new discipline, social cognitive neuroscience. |
Research on Drugs and Drug Policy - European Perspective 2 ISBN 3 89967 270 4 Drugs in society: European perspectives 2 Radcliffe Press, 2006 |
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Developments in drug research þ |
Information on developments in biomedical drug research Information on developments in psychological drug research |
2 Biomedical research in the drugs field ISBN 10 92 871 6017 1 2 Psychological Drug Research ISBN 10: 92-871-6032-5 |
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Human rights and preventive drug testing in schools þ |
Assessment of human rights issues related to preventive drug testing in schools |
2 Report and recommendations P-PG/Ethics(2005) 3 & 7 |
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Professional ethics and human rights issues in police prevention Ö |
Identifying human rights issues related to the engagement of police forces in drug prevention work Developing ethical guidelines for police officers involved in drug prevention work. The Ethics Platform decided to give priority to issues relating to drug testing in schools and at the work place |
2 Recommendations on ethical problems linked to drug testing in schools P-PG/Ethics (2005) 7 rev 2 Discussion paper P-PG/Ethics (2006)1, 2, 4 & 5 |