EU - Civil Society Discussion Forum on Drug Policy in the EU

[Lunar Loops]

This report comes from the TRANSFORM website (article link):

Civil Society Discussion Forum on Drug Policy in the EU

In a useful new development, the European Commission (EC) has announced the launch of a Civil Society Discussion Forum on Drug Policy in the European Union (EU). The letter from Carel Edwards (Drug Co-ordinator at the EC) states:

"the Forum will serve as a platform for informal exchanges and opinions between civil society organisations in the EU.

The forum is open to any NGO working in the drugs field in the EU and all organisations are welcome to register and contribute to the discussions on the site. Please note that registrations may take up to two days, as the Commission will be validating each participant individually.

The Discussion forum can be found at forums . ec. europa . eu/drugs/. For any problems you encounter please email melanie . potamitou @ ec . europa . eu"

The Commission is to be congratulated for setting up a new opportunity. Do pass this on to colleagues in the field to encourage transnational interchange.

[nick23]

Beautiful,I checked the forum out when it opened and all I saw was tumble weed blowing.

I'm sure it will become a hive of activity........all of it pointless.


I'm gonna have to lie down,all that sarcasm was very tiring.

[Lunar Loops]

Originally Posted by nick23

Beautiful,I checked the forum out when it opened and all I saw was tumble weed blowing.

I'm sure it will become a hive of activity........all of it pointless.


I'm gonna have to lie down,all that sarcasm was very tiring.

Well, that's one view. A very cynical one and only time will tell if you are correct or not, but in essence it is a good idea with potential.

Anything like this will take time, if it is to work.

[nick23]

Originally Posted by Lunar Loops

Well, that's one view. A very cynical one and only time will tell if you are correct or not, but in essence it is a good idea with potential.

Anything like this will take time, if it is to work.

Want to bet on the outcome?

[Lunar Loops]

Originally Posted by nick23

Want to bet on the outcome?

No, but anything that can potentially help is to be applauded.

If you attempt to do something to influence change, you are not guaranted success, but if you don't try and do something, then it is certain that nothing will ever change.

[nick23]

Originally Posted by Lunar Loops

No, but anything that can potentially help is to be applauded.

If you attempt to do something to influence change, you are not guaranted success, but if you don't try and do something, then it is certain that nothing will ever change.

I should point out that I've been working in harm reduction/user involvement for over 2 decades and man............I'm tired.

I was at the UN beyond 2008 NGO meeting in Vienna recently and that just about finished my interest in the field and I'm now considering a career change,maybe go flip burgers under the golden arches.

So,my cynicism is based in a very painful reality.........it's probably easier to ignore me.

[Lunar Loops]

Wasn't questioning whether or not you had 'done your bit' and have no wish to ignore you either. This is an open forum and all are entitled to their opinions.

The task of attempting to change policy in such areas is always going to be incredibly difficult and for those fighting that fight, they may have to accept that it won't happen in their lifetimes (it may, it may not). The only point SWILL was trying to make was that the only sure thing is that if nobody bothers, then nothing will happen for sure.

SWILL is not trying to denegrate you or your efforts, because you have obviously done more than most, but that doesn't mean that others should be discouraged from taking up the torch.

SWILL has to fight with himself at times to stop the cynicism taking over (for his natural bent may be to say "what is the point"). Those of us long enough in the tooth have seen many proclomations of a new dawn when their appears to be an unstoppable groundswell of opinion, only for that dawn to prove false. SWILL is still looking though in the hope that one day it will be for real.

Jaysus, just read that again and SWILL sound's like Captain bloody Cliche, but hopefully you get the drift.

Originally Posted by nick23

I should point out that I've been working in harm reduction/user involvement for over 2 decades and man............I'm tired.

I was at the UN beyond 2008 NGO meeting in Vienna recently and that just about finished my interest in the field and I'm now considering a career change,maybe go flip burgers under the golden arches.

So,my cynicism is based in a very painful reality.........it's probably easier to ignore me.