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European coalition for just and effective drug policies (ENCOD)

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Areas of expertise & Fields of activity:	Economic and Social: Agriculture Crime Prevention Criminal Justice Culture Development Drug Control HIV/AIDS Human Rights Indigenous Peoples International Law Justice Minority Rights Safety Social Development Sustainable Development Women/gender Equality Gender Issues and Advancement of Women: Human rights of women Indigenous women Women and HIV/AIDS Women and health Women and poverty Women in power and decision-making Public Administration: Ethics, Transparency and Accountability Social Development: Cooperative Employment Indigenous issues Poverty Social policy Youth Sustainable Development: Agriculture Education Gender equality Health Indicators International law
Geographic scope:	International
Country of activity:	Slovenia Belgium Austria Chile Mexico Peru Canada United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Colombia United States of America Bolivia (Plurinational State of) Czechia Italy Norway Switzerland Afghanistan Finland Iceland Ireland Netherlands Portugal South Africa Romania Brazil Greece Australia Spain France Morocco Serbia Germany
Millennium Development Goals:	Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Promote gender equality and empower women Ensure environmental sustainability Develop global partnership for development
Mission statement:	The European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies, is a pan-European network of currently 130 NGO’s and individual experts involved in the drug issue on a daily base: either as consumers, ENCOD was set up in 1993 upon the request of the European Commission, as an NGO counterpart to the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction. The association is legally based in Belgium, and is steered by a Committee of 5 people from various EU countries. Our common concern is that citizens are particularly disadvantaged in confronting the effects of the drug trade and the side-effects of drug control policies because of their absence in international fora where decisions on drug control policies are made. The activities of citizens’ organisations may contribute to reducing these impediments. NGOs with a shared concern for drugs issues have a particular role to play by informing on the societal impact of the drugs trade and drugs control policies. The importance of the work of NGOs will increase to the degree that there exists an effective information exchange, shared analysis and effective co-ordination of actions between them. The establishment of ENCOD facilitates this exchange, analysis and co-ordination. What do we aim at? Drug prohibition should be replaced by a rational and balanced approach as the only sensible way of reducing drug related problems. Ending the war on drugs will improve the living standards of hundreds of millions of people, while significantly diminishing one of the major income sources of organised crime. How do we work? We promote peaceful activism and campaigns in order to create a public debate on the need to end drug prohibition. We maintain presence on Internet and in (social) media with news on the state of drug policy in Europe and actions to reform it. We communicate with local, national and European parliament members and authorities, in order to present them concrete proposals on how to end the war on drugs. The concrete form and ways of operating of these proposals depend on the legal, political and cultural standards in the country in which they are is established. However, there are some basic principles and attitudes which all initiatives should adhere to and which distinguish them from other kinds of initiatives. They should protect the rights of drug consumers and producers and help establish drug policies that benefit society as a whole. Drug production should be based on principle that supply is organised in order to meet the demand, not vice versa. In order to create an alternative to the illegal drug market, drug production and distribution should be organised on a not for profit basis, for instance by establishing legally registered associations of consumers and producers, whose internal organisation is democratic and participative. The decision-making body in these organisations is the Annual General Assembly, to which all members are invited to attend. Each member has one vote. A legal drug market should develop an effective policy of prevention of problematic use of drugs and promote safe and responsible use. This includes providing consumers with factual information, elaborating research into health aspects of drugs and informing the public on the results of this research. How are we financed? ENCOD does not receive any support from authorities or private foundations. It is thanks to the contributions of our members that ENCOD exists and grows.
Year established:	1993
Year of registration:	2000
Organizational structure:	Non-Profit association (Vereniging zonder winstoogmerk, vzw, according to Belgian law)
Number and type of members:	145 (companies, NGOs, individuals)
Funding structure:	Membership fees or dues Fundraising campaigns Donations and grants from domestic sources

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