The National Focal Point and Marshal Office of Wielkopolskie Province (represented by the Provincial Drug Information Expert) jointly with the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) held an international conference on new psychoactive substances. The conference took place on 26-27 October 2016 in the city of Poznan. The event was attended by experts from over a dozen countries (Poland, Portugal, Italy, Germany, France, Ireland, Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Czech Republic, Romania) as well as European Commission.
The conference featured presentations of the results of the latest research and monitoring in the field of new psychoactive substances with emphasis placed on the situation Central and Eastern European countries. Moreover, the European Commission-financed I-Trend project was presented. It was implemented in Poland, France, Czech Republic, Netherlands and United Kingdom. It was led by the French Observatory of Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT) while the activities in Poland were coordinated by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (SWPS).
During the event, matters related to new psychoactive substances (NPS) were discussed such as:
- Early Warning System,
- NPS-related epidemiological situation,
- NPS users,
- NPS market,
- Legal response,
- NPS supply reduction.
The conference was attended by nearly 70 participants from a number of institutions such as universities, central level agencies (Police, Customs Service, Sanitary Inspection), Focal Points (monitoring centres), EMCDDA, non-governmental organizations, etc.
In addition, one of the sessions was dedicated to the NPS situation in the Polish province of wielkopolskie.
The conference was an example of successful collaboration between the National Bureau for Drug Prevention and Network of Provincial Drug Information Experts established in 2001.