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What was it then in the Frankfurt Resolution that provoked so much that a counterorganisation was necessary? Above all it was two things. Their demand to legalise cannabis and to introduce injection rooms. The underlying text also urges to change or abandon the UN Conventions on Drugs.

These conventions are ECAD’s backbone. ECAD is the largest European organisation for support and protection of the UN Resolutions on Drugs and against the global drug legalisation movement. Today we have some 250 member cities in 30 European cities supporting the ECAD Stockholm Resolution.

However, ECAD is not only about opposition. ECAD is for finding new methods to solve drug problems, for developing drug prevention, for evaluation of treatment and the work of judicial authorities. ECAD continuously works for experience exchange and education of specialists in various drug-related issues.

ECAD’s work is led by the Advisory Board consisting of 10 member cities, among them Aglantzia in Cyprus. Right now the Advisory Board is gathered here in Cyprus not only to participate in the conference but also to plan and decide upon future activities. The highest decision making body of ECAD is the Annual Mayors’ Conference, which this year will take place in Cyprus in May. The previous Mayors’ conferences have been hosted by London, Athens, Paris, Lugano, Malta, Cork, Belfast, Reykjavik and Stockholm. The City of Stockholm, which was one of the main initiators of ECAD, is also the largest single contributor to the organisation. Besides a special subsidy, Stockholm also gives us free office space, phones, computers, postal service and so on.

ECAD also has regional offices in St. Petersburg and Riga. These offices, especially the one in St. Petersburg, carry out extensive education in drug issues. Right now, in St. Petersburg, a two-year education for drug-coordinators is in progress under the auspices of the St. Petersburg State University.

During the past four years, ECAD has carried through a number of projects in Lithuania. For the time being, we conduct a drug prevention campaign in the city of Ignalina. Furthermore, together with our Swedish and Lithuanian partners, we have launched a co-operation with NGO’s in Belarus. These projects are financed by SIDA, the Swedish International Co-operation Agency.

ECAD is a big organisation, and it’s not possible for the staff do carry out all the work. Therefore we have great help from various voluntary agencies and regional ECAD networks. The most active ECAD networks today are those in Norway, Bulgaria and Sweden. These networks organise each an annual conference for ECAD member cities in their countries.

Communication, of course, is of vital importance for an organisation with such great geographical distances. Therefore we continuosly develop our website www.ecad.net and publish our monthly newsletter in five languages, English, Swedish, Russian, Latvian and Lithuanian.

However, personal contacts are the best way to reach out to other people.
That’s why the ECAD staff tries to visit as many member cities as possible.
During last year, the staff had 148 travel days on 42 occasions to 22 cities.

Throughout the years, ECAD has established an extensive net of valuable contacts. As a result of such contacts, MOB, the Swedish government’s mobilisation against drugs, asked us to organise a series of conferences for judicial authorities around the Baltic Sea. In March we organised a seminar where the highest officials responsible for drug combat at the Customs and the Frontier Guard in Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Russia gathered in Riga for two-day discussions on intensified co-operation in connection with the coming extension of EU borders. In October this year we will organise a follow-up seminar for Customs, Police and Frontier Guard of the same countries, this time in St. Petersburg.

We are also very proud of the part we played in the 5-year project for a Drug-Free Iceland. At the end of the five years the project continued, Iceland scientifically proved that this concerted effort succeeded to decrease drug abuse among young people. The evaluation of the project can be found on our website, and is really worth looking into for all our member cities.

From words to action. Whenever possible, we try to assist member cities with less resources. During the past years, we have organised donations of second-hand office furniture and computers to mainly Lithuania. Just a couple of months ago we sent some 100 cubic meters office furniture to be used by our partners in Kuldiga, Latvia and Vilnius, Lithuania.

First and foremost, ECAD is a drug political organisation. Our main goal is to defend the UN Conventions and restrictive, humane drug policies. Therefore we strive to make our voice heard anywhere and everywhere the fight for a drug free society is being given up. We sent an open letter to the Australian Prime Minister before the Olympic Games in Sydney because we were worried about our youth coming into a country where drugs flowed freely. We sent another open letter to the Prime Minister of Belgium when Belgium proposed to decriminalise possession of cannabis. We have critisized the Netherlands for their laxness towards heavy drug smugglers at the Amsterdam Schiphol airport.

The Swedish ECAD network made a statement to the Swedish Government when the Customs proposed heavy cuts in the resources for combating drugs.

ECAD is not afraid to stand out and give criticism, and there is a lot to criticize when it comes to combating drugs. But we also try to be constructive and give credit and praise when it is justified.

ECAD has set its goals high. Our goal is a drug free Europe. It may sound utopian, but what is the alternative? A Europe with medium-sized drug problems? We need a vision to get somewhere, and a drug free Europe is the vision that unites ECAD member cities.

Thank you.

 
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