With the current EU Drugs Strategy expiring in 2012, the European Commission asked RAND Europe to conduct an independent evaluation of the Strategy and its Action Plans and to provide recommendations for a potential successor strategy.
The evaluation provides a detailed assessment of the two policy areas of the Strategy — supply reduction and demand reduction — and the three cross-cutting themes of coordination, international cooperation, and information, research and evaluation.
Evidence collected from across the EU, and from international stakeholders, found that a drugs strategy at EU level can add considerable value to national drugs strategies — responding to the international nature of drugs markets and encouraging learning and the exchange of good practice. There is some evidence of implementation within Member States for every objective included in the Strategy, albeit to varying degrees.
The EU Drugs Strategy has had a discernible impact on the process of drugs policy formulation and adoption in individual Member States.
The EMCDDA compiled this report to support the evaluation of the 2005–12 EU drugs strategy and its two action plans: 2005–08 and 2009–12. The report reviews the main trends and changes in the European drug situation and in the responses developed by the EU Member States. Four main areas are covered by the report: drug use and drug-related problems; drug supply; drug policies; and demand reduction interventions. RAND Europe did not contribute to the report.
Deirdre May Culley
Jirka Taylor
Jennifer Rubin
Stijn Hoorens
Emma Disley
Lila Rabinovich
