Building a national drugs observatory : a joint handbook

Abstract

Building a more accurate picture of the drugs situation; addressing both supply and demand issues; identifying emerging trends at an early stage; sharing objective information on best practices for the planning and organisation of interventions, and; providing decision-makers with the evidence needed for the design of national and regional drugs strategies and their evaluation. These are just some of the challenges shared on both sides of the Atlantic by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission of the Organization of American States (CICAD–OAS). In this context, national drugs observatories — or national focal points as they are called in the European Union — play a critical role, as the data and information they provide is the cornerstone of any drugs monitoring system. National drugs observatories have flourished and developed rapidly over the last two decades as a direct consequence of the decisions taken to establish regional drug monitoring systems, both in the European Union and in the Americas. [excerpt]