Closing remarks and future challenges

The conference closed with a stark reminder that even though effective initiatives are gaining popularity in many places, the challenges, particularly in the drug field in Europe, are monumental.

Alexis Goosdeel, director of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), was the last speaker at the conference. The speech, titled Everywhere, Everything, Everyone, referred to the increasing prevalence of drugs over Europe.

– The main message is: drugs are back, and they are everywhere. We have reached pre-pandemic levels on the European market, and every week a new kind of substance is found. Today, everyone knows someone who has struggled with addiction in one way or another. Protecting the youth is and should be our top priority.

”The main message is: drugs are back, and they are everywhere.”

The economic challenges posed by the pandemic and amplified by the war in Ukraine hit the most vulnerable in society the hardest. Drug-related violence is on the rise in Europe, and there is huge pressure on the market because of the increased availability of many kinds of drugs.

The EU is nowadays also an exporter of illegal drugs: in 2020 around 350 drug laboratories were seized within EU territory. In order to combat these challenges, Alexis Goosdeel promotes diversification of the treatment services, with a particular focus on prevention.

– It is not only a war on drugs. Guaranteeing the fundamental rights of the people using drugs is very important, and we need a balanced approach with both harm reduction and law enforcement.

The bottom line is, according to Goosdeel, that we need to change our perceptions of what drugs are today. The old categorisation of, for instance, soft–hard or legal–illegal drugs is no longer relevant. As new substances keep appearing on the market, medical teams need accurate and up-to-date information. When someone shows up in a delusional state, the reasons could be different from what they used to be.

Alexis Goodseel would like to see more diverse and more face-to-face services. The pandemic has left society more fragmented than before. The antidote for the “post-truth” and “fake news” era is a personal connection.

– We need to rebuild social relationships. The aim is to integrate and connect professionals from different fields. The clients should be involved in this as well. They should be seen as part of the solution rather than just part of the problem.