Paul Griffiths and Roland Simon

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Wrap-up presentation What has the EMCDDA learned
?
Paul Griffiths and Roland Simon
2
Overview

• Taking forward the findings
• 3-year work programme
• Conference proceedings
• Identify concrete issues for EMCDDAs future work
• Roland Simon policies and practices
• Paul Griffiths trends and horizons
• Michael Farrell scientific challenges

3
Approach

• Identify transversal findings that have direct
  relevance to our work
• Explore how we might take them forward and
  suggest some concrete next steps
• Not a comprehensive review of all the
  presentations made during the last three days

4
.. a personal impression

• Big variety of presenters and presentations
• Opportunity for networking
• Exchange between different groups working with
  the EMCDDA
• Scientific staff appreciated the opportunity to
  listen, learn, and discuss with you

5
Policy

• Strong commitment to evidence-driven policies
• Difficult to achieve
• Policy has shifting priorities
• Growing interest in evaluation of effectiveness
• Different perspectives at national, EU and UN
  level, but also increasing commonalities and a
  wish to learn from the experiences of others
• Policy makers call for
• Solution oriented information
• Methods which allow to better understand the
  impact of drug policies

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Policy Implications for the EMCDDA

• Promote coordination between national, EU and
  international reporting system
• Develop reporting practices to better inform
  policy processes (timeliness, topics, format)
• EU action plan on drugs
• Evaluation of national drug strategies
• Moving from description to analysis
• Developing tools and methods for
• policy analysis and evaluation
• comparative analysis of drug policies and laws
• supply reduction issues

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Practices

• In many areas a growing understanding of what
  works
• Commitment to evidence-based practice, challenged
  by difficulties in transferring knowledge into
  actions
• Different approaches to define evidence
• Need to avoid duplication of efforts and make
  best use of international and national
  investments
• Bring together different types of knowledge, be
  sensitive to national contexts, and involve
  stakeholders

8
Practices Parallel sessions

• Prevention, treatment and harm reduction
• Sensitive to different needs
• Matching responses to the settings
• Develop novel approaches, including for
  non-opiate users and poly-drug use
• Increased focus on outcome and recovery
• Interventions related to supply reduction and the
  criminal justice system
• Data sources often poorly developed
• Need to better know what works
• Growing awareness of importance of the prison
  setting
• Clear need for research

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Practices Implications for the EMCDDA

• Strengthen our role as platform for knowledge
  exchange
• Making better use of expert networks
• Developing the best practice portal
• Support the development of EU guidelines based on
  national and international experiences
• Identification, critical evaluation and reporting
  on novel approaches
• Developing conceptual frameworks and tools for
  data collection in the fields of supply reduction
  and criminal justice

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Summary Policies and practices

• A unique position to inform policy making and
  support the development of drug-related
  interventions in Europe
• Further develop as a platform for knowledge
  exchange
• Key challenges are to produce knowledge tailored
  to the needs of our different audiences and to
  cover those areas which have received only
  limited attention until now

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Trends Horizons

• Covered a incredibly diverse and complex set of
  themes
• Monitoring issues were often implicit rather than
  explicit but always there
• And despite the diversity of topics covered we
  kept coming back to some fundamental common
  issues

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Trends

• Multi-methods approaches, sensitivity and
  timeliness are common issues for drug monitoring
  systems
• Learn about the strengths and weaknesses of the
  EU system by looking at the US and Australia
• Value in working together
• Process and sustainable structures are critically
  important
• Combining different types of information
  (qualitative/ quantitative) and levels of
  analysis (local/national/Int.), remains a key
  challenge

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Trends Parallel sessions

• Hitting a moving target
• New drugs, new suppliers
• Blurred lines between medicinal products,
  legitimate goods and illicit substances
• Increasing potential exists to track changes over
  time
• Understanding problems and consequences
• Differentiation of patterns of use to better
  understand drug problems
• New data sources and new analytical approaches
• The need for monitoring to be based on a better
  overall understanding of drug-related mortality
  and morbidity and the factors that influence them

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Trends Parallel sessions (2)

• Understanding drug production, trafficking, and
  availability
• Europe as drug producer
• Holistic approach to a dynamic marketplace
• Old drugs may prove to be new threats
• Information in this area has considerable
  potential to inform our understanding but
  clearly requires development
• Methods, comparability, availability,
  reliability all problematic

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Trends Implications for the EMCDDA

• Maximize the analytical value of the available
  information
• New sources and approaches to improve sensitivity
• Develop capacity to respond more rapidly to
  critical information needs
• Need to develop further our approach to
  monitoring analysis of patterns of use and
  consequences (problems, dependence, mortality)
• Develop and strengthen drug market indicators

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Horizons Implications for the EMCDDA

• Need to keep track of technology developments
• Overviews
• Adjustment of monitoring tools to keep them on
  target
• Improving our interaction with the European
  research community
• As data provider, user and disseminator
• Language issues
• Drug use in neighbouring countries
• Knowledge transfer and capacity building
• Putting Europes drug situation in context

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Final thoughts

• Considerable information resources in the EU
• Ongoing endeavour a glass half empty or half
  full
• Has to produce useful and relevant outputs
• Synergies between the conference debate and the
  EU Drug Action Plan
• Sustaining the existing system during a time of
  financial difficulties
• Improving sensitivity to change whilst remaining
  non-alarmist and reliable
• Probably should do this again before 2024

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Thank you