EMCDDA news

The EMCDDA will be joined by a range of its external partners today in a virtual event following on from International day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking (26 June). The meeting is a symbolic gathering of representatives of the European Commission, the Permanent Missions representing the partner countries in Brussels, the Delegations of the European Union in these countries and the partner countries’ national correspondents.

On the occasion of International day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking, the EMCDDA and Europol are joining representatives of the EU institutions today in providing the European perspective on the impact of COVID-19 on the world drug situation. The panel discussion will conclude a special event of the United Nations’ Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and is co-sponsored by the European Union and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

Thank you Chairperson and colleagues, I am pleased to provide some closing remarks to this CND special event commemorating the United Nations International day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking. We were privileged to hear the highlights from this year’s World Drug Report and to take part in a rich, and highly relevant, discussion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world drug situation.

The EMCDDA Management Board took the unanimous decision today to renew the mandate of the agency’s Director, Alexis Goosdeel, for the next five years. Mr Goosdeel took up the post of EMCDDA Director on 1 January 2016 and will now hold the position until 31 December 2025.

A decline in stimulant drug use but some rises in the consumption of cannabis and licit substances are among the findings presented today in a new EMCDDA report The impact of COVID-19 on patterns of drug use and drug-related harms in Europe. The report describes how national confinement measures and disrupted street drug markets have reduced both the opportunities to use drugs within social environments as well as the availability of some substances. But it also suggests a rise in the use of alcohol and prescription medicines, in some groups, as a means of conquering anxiety and depression during lockdown.

New products and services, working in partnership, and support to policy and practice in the fields of health and security are among the features presented in the latest EMCDDA General Report of Activities published today. The report, covering key achievements and governance in 2019, presents the implementation of the agency’s work programme activities over the 12-month period.

Today, EMCDDA Director Alexis Goosdeel presented to the European Parliament the agency’s recent research findings on the impact of COVID-19 on the drug phenomenon in Europe. Speaking via video conference to the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE), the Director demonstrated how the agency had been ‘taking the pulse’ of the impact of COVID-19 in three areas: drug use, drug services and drug markets.