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Kathy Robertson
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Media relations and marketing
Tel: (351) 211 21 02 00/32
Fax: (351) 21 813 1711
Maria José Louro
Media relations assistant
Tel: (351) 211 21 02 00/40
Fax: (351) 21 813 1711
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(5.12.2007, LISBON) The EMCDDA Management Board today selected 15 high-level scientists from the EU Member States to be members of the agency’s Scientific Committee.
The Scientific Committee plays a major role in the agency’s efforts to attain scientific excellence. The new EMCDDA regulation adopted on 16 January this year stipulated that the Committee — previously composed of one representative of each EU Member State — be slimmed down to 15 members chosen through a public selection process on the basis of scientific excellence and independence.
Details on the call for expression of interest and list of new members
(22/11/2007, LISBON) After over a decade of rising drug use, Europe may now be entering a more stable phase, says the EU drugs agency, the EMCDDA. Not only are there signs that heroin use and drug injecting have become generally less common, but new data suggest that levels of cannabis use may now be stabilising after a sustained period of growth. Nevertheless, positive messages are marred by high levels of drug-related deaths and rising cocaine use. These comments come today as the agency launches its 2007 Annual report on the state of the drugs problem in Europe in Brussels.
Links to graphics referred to in the Annual report 2007: highlights news release:
Chapter 1, Figure 1: Indexed trends in reports for drug law offences in EU Member States, 2000–05
Chapter 5, Figure 7: Trends in last-year prevalence of cocaine use in young adults (15–34)
Table SZR-10: Quantities (kg) of cocaine seized 1995 to 2005
"Today’s Annual report on the state of the drugs problem in Europe addresses two fundamental questions: What do we currently know about drug use in
These questions are important because, regardless of political persuasion or ideological position, policy-makers across
The full message from the EMCDDA's Director on the occasion of the launch of the 2007 Annual report is available below in 23 languages.
(5.11.2007, LISBON) Key issues on drugs in Europe are addressed in the upcoming 2007 Annual report from the Lisbon-based EU drugs agency, the EMCDDA.
(26.10.2007, LISBON) The European Union and the Russian Federation will be sharing information on drugs more systematically in future thanks to an accord signed today by the Lisbon-based EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) and the Federal Service of the Russian Federation for Narcotics Traffic and Control (FDCS).
Today’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in the margins of the EU–Russia summit taking place in Mafra under the Portuguese Presidency of the EU. The signatories were EMCDDA Director Wolfgang Götz and FDCS Director Viktor Cherkesov.
(25.6.2007, LISBON) Ensuring a high level of security for the general public is prominent on the European policy agenda and stepping up work to prevent drug-related crime is one of the key goals of the current EU drugs action plan (2005–2008). But, before countries can measure the extent of such crime, or assess the impact of measures to counter it, they must first agree on a common language to describe the problem.
This issue is taken up by the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) in the latest edition of its policy briefing Drugs in focus, released on International day against drug abuse and illicit trafficking (26 June).
(29.6.2007, LISBON) Joint projects to prevent and control drug-related infectious diseases will be facilitated in the future thanks to a cooperation agreement signed today by the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
(7.6.2007, LISBON) ‘Hallucinogenic mushrooms were among the first psychoactive substances consumed by man. But today they present us with a new dilemma’, says EMCDDA Director Wolfgang Götz in the latest edition in the agency’s policy briefing series Drugs in focus out today.
Entitled Hallucinogenic mushrooms: the challenge of responding to naturally occurring substances in an electronic age, the briefing raises questions such as: ‘How to effectively regulate such a complex group of naturally occurring products?’ ‘How to apply controls when they are promoted and sold globally via the Internet?’ and ‘What can be done when regulatory actions may simply result in suppliers switching to alternative and possibly even more damaging products?’
See also previous resources published on this issue on 26 June 2006: ‘Hallucinogenic mushrooms: an emerging trend case study’.
See previous news release No2/2006 at http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/?nnodeid=24055
(29.3.2007, LISBON) As of today, objective and scientifically sound descriptions of internationally controlled drugs will be available on the EMCDDA website in the form of ‘drug profiles’.
The profiles cover six substances controlled by the United Nations conventions: amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine/crack, heroin, MDMA and methamphetamine.
(23.3.2007, LISBON) Europe has responded to rising concern over the use of the stimulant drug BZP by formally requesting an investigation into the health and social risks of the substance. The decision was announced by the Council of the EU today in line with a special legal procedure designed to respond to potentially threatening new psychoactive drugs in the EU (1).
The risk-assessment exercise, which will result in a report by mid-June, will be undertaken by the Scientific Committee of the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA), with participation of additional experts from the European Commission, Europol and the European Medicines Agency (EMEA). The exercise is part of a three-step procedure: information exchange, risk assessment and decision-making (e.g. legal controls).
Europol–EMCDDA Joint Report on a new psychoactive substance: 1-benzylpiperazine (BZP)
(14.3.2007, VIENNA) Cooperation between the EMCDDA and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) took a further step forward in Vienna today with the adoption of a new joint work programme and the launch of a practical toolkit to help countries collect data on people seeking treatment for drug problems.
(16.1.2007, LISBON) As of today, the EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) will play a more active role in monitoring new drug use patterns and emerging trends, following the adoption by the European Parliament and the Council of the EU of a new mission statement for the agency. The revision of the original regulation was launched at the initiative of the European Commission in August 2005.
The revised regulation (see below), which updates and replaces the one founding the agency in 1993, was signed in Strasbourg on 12 December 2006 following a co-decision procedure. It enters into force today, 20 days after its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union on 27 December.
(12.1.2007, LISBON) The EU drugs agency (EMCDDA) and the World Customs Organisation (WCO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Lisbon today to enhance international drug control efforts.
Page last updated: Friday, 28 January 2011
