IRAP Response to the Call for Evidence on the Upcoming EU Drugs Strategy

We welcome the European Commission’s plan to present a new, balanced, and integrated EU Drugs Strategy together with a complementary Action Plan against drug trafficking. We agree with the assessment that the European drugs landscape is becoming increasingly dynamic, with rising health, social, and security risks. The new framework must therefore be more than a political statement — it should be a practical tool that protects both public health and community safety.

From our perspective, the Strategy should be grounded in the following principles:

• Harm reduction as a policy principle: Harm reduction must be recognized as an integral part of public health systems, not as an add-on. The Strategy should enshrine harm reduction in its core objectives, ensure EU-wide quality standards, scale up services, and secure sustainable funding.

• Human rights as a priority: Drugs policy must be firmly anchored in European and international human rights frameworks. This includes non-discrimination, gender- and age-sensitive approaches, protection of migrants, and access to care regardless of legal status.

• Regulated and substituted markets (safer supply): The criminalised illegal market fuels organised crime, violence, and drug contamination. The Strategy should open space for piloting regulated markets and safer supply programmes (e.g., for opioids), which have been proven to reduce mortality and stabilise communities.

• Access to a continuum of support: Universal access to substitution and support services must be guaranteed, including the right of people with addiction to access their substance in a regulated and health-protective framework. Services should be integrated across prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and social inclusion.

• Financial mechanisms: Sustainable financing is a precondition for effectiveness. We recommend shifting resources from punitive approaches toward evidence-based health and social services. The EU should develop long-term funding instruments for prevention, treatment, and harm reduction.

• Integrated policy: The Strategy must strike a balance between security and health approaches. Tackling trafficking and organised crime is necessary, but it must not overshadow public health priorities. Effective policy requires cross-sectoral collaboration — involving healthcare, social services, education, employment, and security agencies.

• Civil society and community involvement: Meaningful involvement of civil society and people with lived experience is a prerequisite for successful implementation. These actors should not only be consulted but also systematically funded and recognised as strategic partners.

The upcoming EU Drugs Strategy offers a unique opportunity to move away from a disproportionately punitive model and toward a balanced approach rooted in evidence and human rights. Only then can Europe effectively reduce health and social harms, strengthen community resilience, and weaken the power of organised crime.

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