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About

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE

The Second International Urban Drug Policy Conference (UDPC2016) is one of the largest international events dedicated to narcotics policies in the urban space. Its goals are the professionalization of urban drug policies, improvement in the quality of cooperation between sectors, the transfer of knowledge between European cities and the promotion and dissemination of urban drug policies based on scientific evidence.

The conference arose out of the desire for integration and cooperation between local government authorities, politicians and policy-makers, representatives of programs to counteract drug addiction, police officials, prosecutors, penitentiary staff, NGO activists and researchers.

UDPC2016 is:

  • A meeting of people from local and national governments with those from the NGO world to exchange experience and knowledge, and to have an opportunity to network.
  • Outstanding experts, from Poland and worldwide, in the areas of drug policies, harm reduction, addiction treatments, epidemiology, prevention, NGO administration, management, CSR, communications and other areas.
  • Debates, lectures and workshops, as well as scientific publications and reports.
  • Side events: study visits, seminars, workshops, as well as group excursions to discover Warsaw.

MISSION

The mission of the conference is to elicit discussion regarding the challenges that face local narcotics policies in the context of national and international policy.

The guidelines worked out to implement national priorities and global anti-drug-abuse strategies will be presented at a higher-level meeting (UNGASS 2016, planned for April 25, 2016), where a global policy for the drug control system is to be formed. The discussion that is stimulated concerning the challenges faced by local drug policies will serve in the formation of a strategy for financing harm reduction in large European cities as well as being a center for working out common European guidelines for UNGASS 2016. Due to the financial crisis that has hit the whole of Europe in recent years, many cities have either abandoned or greatly reduced the resources allocated to harm reduction. Often the problem is not a lack of financial resources, but improper distribution. The conference will be an opportunity to take a closer look at the problem and also work on uniform guidelines for the implementation of a rational drug policy on the local government level, which will not only influence municipal financial strategies, but also serve as a position statement at UNGASS 2016.

The time has come to implement and promote good practices conceived under the auspices of local drug policies. This is mainly an issue of harm reduction programs, such as safe injection sites or needle and syringe exchange programs, which are less and less common in Polish cities. The exchange of European best practices will be made possible by the international scope of the conference.

One outcome of the conference will be the creation of policies for the achievement of national priorities and global drug strategies, known as the Warsaw Declaration, which will also be presented at the CND (Commission on Narcotic Drugs) in Vienna that is formulating a position statement for UNGASS 2016.

COOPERATION

All organizations, companies and institutions interested in participating in the conference and working together under the auspices of the UDPC2016 program are invited to contact the office of the organizing committee.

HISTORY

The first edition of this event took place in 2010 in Prague, in the Czech Republic – URBAN DRUG POLICIES IN THE GLOBALISED WORLD. The Prague Declaration – 7 Principles for Urban Drug Policies was announced during the conference.

Conference Program Committee:

  • Krzysztof Krajewski: Lawyer and sociologist, head of the Department of Criminology at the Jagiellonian University, member of the Research Committee of the European Monitoring Centre for Narcotics and Drug Addiction. He is the author of numerous publications regarding drugs and addiction in Polish criminal law against the backdrop of regulatory models from other countries, including: “The Sense and Nonsense of Prohibition.” From 2009-2011 he led a group of 15 experts working on an amendment of the law, which was enacted in December 2011.
  • Jerzy Vetulani: Psychopharmacologist, neurobiologist, biochemist, professor in the Brain Biochemistry Department of the Pharmacology Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN) in Krakow. He is an active member of the Polish Academy of Learning, an associate member of PAN, an honorary member of the Indian Academy of Neuroscience, former Head of the Neurobiological Science Committee of PAN and the Polish Neuroscience Society, and Deputy Head of the Scientific Council of the PAN Pharmacology Institute. He has written over 500 publications, including more than 200 original research articles.
  • Marcin Wojnar: Psychiatrist, Chair of the Psychiatric Department and Clinic of the Medical University of Warsaw, and chairman of the Polish Association for the Study of Addictions.
  • Monika Płatek: Lawyer, academic, and feminist. She holds a post-doctorate degree in law and is an Associate Professor at the University of Warsaw. Her research and socio-political activities focus on such areas as criminal law enforcement, human rights including women’s rights, penitentiary studies, criminology, victimology, penology, social psychology, gender studies, mediation, restorative justice, and the sociology of law. She is the founder (in 1994) and long-time president of the Polish Association for Legal Education. She also sat on the program board of the Panoptykon Foundation. Prof. Płatek was a representative of the Polish Ombudsman for victims’ rights (2002-2006), as well serving as a legal expert for parliamentary committees, the Open Society Institute and the Council of Europe.
  • Ewa Wojdyłło: Doctor of Psychology and addiction counselor. She works in the Stefan Batory Foundation, where she coordinates the Regional Program for Counteracting Addictions. For her work she was awarded the Medal of St. George by Tygodnik Powszechny (2002), the Golden Order for “services rendered in penitentiary work” given by the Minister of Justice (2002), as well as the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta, awarded by the President of the Republic of Poland (2005).
  • Paweł Moczydłowski: Sociologist, criminologist, commentator and civil servant, a colonel in the Prison Service. From 1990-1994 he directed the Central Board of Prison Services in the Ministry of Justice. At that time he also fulfilled the function of general director and director of the Prison Services Board. He was a member of the Advisory Council for reforms of the National Security System in the Ministry of the Interior (1990) and the Commission for Criminal Law Reforms in the Ministry of Justice (1991). Dr. Moczydłowski has also served as an administrative advisor to the Office of President Lech Wałęsa (1995). After 1995 he worked in the non-governmental sector and headed the Patronat Penitentiary Association from 1995-1999. He was also on the political board of Ruch Stu, a Polish right-of-center party operating in the late 90’s. Dr. Moczydłowski has operated his own consulting business since 2000. He worked with the Open Society Institute as an expert on prisons in post-communist Asian countries: Azerbaijan (1999), Mongolia (2000), Tajikistan (2000-2001), Kyrgyzstan (2000-2004) and Georgia (2000-2004). He has conducted research in a number of European and Asian countries as well as the Americas.
  • Marek Balicki: Psychiatrist and Director of the Wolski Psychiatric Health Centre. As a politician he served as Minister of Health in the cabinets of Prime Ministers Leszek Miller and Marek Belka, and was an MP for three terms and a Senator for one. For many years Dr. Balicki has been involved in the area of reforms of Polish narcotics policies. He is a proponent of not punishing those charged with possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use (according to threshold quantities), and the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes.

Organizing Committee

Bogusława Bukowska – National Bureau for Drug Prevention
Agnieszka Sieniawska –Polish Drug Policy Network
Agnieszka Dobija –Nowak – Warsaw City Hall
Agnieszka Lichnerowicz – Radio TOK FM
Małgorzata Abramowicz – Warsaw Medical University
Magda Dąbkowska – Open Society Foundations, Global Drug Policy Program
Jan Stola – YODA (Youth Organizations for Drug Action)
Marcin Chałupka – Political Criticism
Agata Kwiatkowska –Polish Drug Policy Network

The organizers of the conference are the City of Warsaw, the National Bureau for Drug Prevention and the Polish Drug Policy Network.