9th NordAN drug network meeting, June 15, 2026

Oriol Esculies, Association Proyecto Hombre, Spain

Oriol Esculies presented the Barcelona Forum on Drugs as a broad, participatory process that builds on the momentum created by the Oviedo Declaration. He described the Oviedo Declaration as a global initiative to strengthen the role of science-based prevention in drug policy and to place prevention more clearly on political agendas. The declaration has had a wide international reach, supported by thousands of institutions and country focal points who have helped to promote it nationally and locally.

The Barcelona Forum on Drugs, planned for January 2027, was presented as more than a conference. Oriol explained that it is part of a three-year process collecting ideas, proposals and recommendations from experts, organisations and different world regions. The goal is to prepare a roadmap that can help guide drug strategies and policies in the coming years. Inputs are being gathered through webinars, consultations, focus groups, questionnaires, study visits and other activities, with the drafting process expected to move forward later in 2026.

Oriol outlined the nine thematic sections that will structure the process: substance use prevention among children and adolescents, addiction treatment and reintegration, crime prevention and therapeutic justice, low threshold interventions, alcohol and other normalized substances and addictive behaviours, mental health, intersectionality, social media and artificial intelligence, and world regions and cooperation. He encouraged NordAN members to contribute ideas on challenges, possible solutions and what organisations themselves can add to the process.

He also described the Forum itself, including study visits, high-level meetings, masterclasses and the main sessions at the CosmoCaixa Science Museum in Barcelona. NordAN is involved as a collaborating partner, and Oriol noted that participation will be limited, with priority given to those who have contributed to the process.

Takeaway points:

1. The Barcelona Forum on Drugs is not only a conference, but a wider participatory process leading toward an international roadmap on drug policy.

2. NordAN members have a clear opportunity to contribute through the Forum’s nine thematic sections, especially by sharing practical experience, concerns and proposals from the Nordic and Baltic region.

3. Prevention is central to the process, but the Forum also connects it with treatment, reintegration, justice, low threshold work, alcohol and other normalized substances, mental health, intersectionality, social media and international cooperation.

Kati Laitila, Finnish Red Cross, Finland

Kati Laitila presented the Finnish Red Cross work to prevent drug-related deaths. She explained that the aim is to help people recognise signs of overdose or drug poisoning, lower the threshold for calling for help, and provide basic first aid skills. The work also seeks to strengthen cooperation between different actors and support practical campaigns that can reach people at risk.

The Finnish Red Cross has built this work on its existing experience with outreach work and first aid. Volunteers are trained to visit places where people who use substances can be reached, including treatment units, housing units, drop-in services, child welfare institutions and prisons. The project has already trained around 1,200 people who use substances. Kati stressed that the attitude of volunteers is central: they need to be able to meet people respectfully and practically, without stigma.

The training focuses on concrete situations where lives may be at risk. In Finland, many deaths involve opioids and benzodiazepines, often with several substances used at the same time. Kati explained that many deaths happen during sleep, so the training includes recognising risky situations, trying to wake the person, placing someone in the recovery position and calling for help early enough. Young people may not recognise when help is needed, while people with longer-term substance use may fear the consequences of contacting emergency services.

Kati also presented cooperation with Finland’s wellbeing service counties. Materials developed by the Finnish Red Cross have been used in campaigns, including social media, leaflets, posters and bus stickers. Eleven of Finland’s 21 wellbeing service counties were involved in the spring campaign, with more expected to join later. She also discussed naloxone, which is not yet widely available in Finland. It remains prescription-based at the moment, although changes toward easier access are expected.

Takeaway points:

1. Preventing drug-related deaths requires practical first aid knowledge, early recognition of risk situations and a lower threshold for calling emergency help.

2. The Finnish Red Cross model shows the value of reaching people who use substances in the places where they already are, including housing units, drop-in services, treatment settings, prisons and other services.

3. Respectful, non-stigmatizing contact is central. Training works best when volunteers, first aid experts, people with field experience and regional authorities cooperate.

Peter Moilanen, Narkotikapolitiskt Center, Sweden

Peter Moilanen gave a broader update on the drug policy situation in Europe and globally. He pointed to two seemingly contradictory developments. On one hand, European drug reports warn that availability remains high and that the market includes many substances, often at high potency. On the other hand, European school survey data show that cannabis use among 15-year-olds is at its lowest level since measurements began in 1995. This, he said, shows the complexity of the current situation.

Peter also highlighted the revised EU drug strategy, which gives more attention to universal prevention, recovery and reintegration, and places harm reduction within a broader continuum of care. He connected this to the wider prevention momentum discussed earlier in the meeting, noting that prevention is again becoming more visible in international drug policy debates.

Much of Peter’s presentation focused on cannabis legalisation and decriminalisation. He argued that the idea that the whole world is moving in one direction toward legalisation is too simplistic. In North America, several recent votes on cannabis legalisation have failed, and some jurisdictions have reconsidered or reversed earlier decriminalisation models. He also referred to Canada, where the legal cannabis market has grown but the illegal market has not disappeared, and where wider social and criminal justice problems remain.

Looking at Europe, Peter noted that only a limited number of countries have legalised cannabis or are running pilot projects. He pointed out that EU rules have limited commercial cannabis models, and that several countries are instead focusing on prevention, recovery, differentiated sanctions or other alternatives. He also discussed medical cannabis, stressing the need to distinguish clearly between cannabinoid-based medicines and broader “medical cannabis” narratives. In his view, cannabis-based products should be subject to the same evidence, regulation, approval and follow-up requirements as other medicines. He also referred to two recent reports, one on decriminalisation, recriminalisation and drug policy strategies in British Columbia, Alberta and Oregon, and the report Prescribed Ambiguity: Medical Cannabis in Europe Between Medicine and Market.

Takeaway points:

1. The drug policy situation is complex. Europe faces high availability and new risks, while some youth drug use indicators, especially cannabis use among 15-year-olds, have moved in a more positive direction.

2. Drug policy is not moving in one single global direction. Cannabis legalisation, decriminalisation, prevention, recovery, sanctions and treatment alternatives are developing differently across countries.

3. Medical cannabis debates need clearer definitions and stronger evidence-based regulation, so that cannabis-based medicines are treated like other medicines and not used as a back door for commercialisation.