The European Commission's new 2026 to 2030 EU Drugs Strategy and Action Plan risks reversing decades of evidence-based, health and human rights-focused drug policy. Its emphasis on law enforcement, border control and security reflects a punitive approach that has repeatedly failed.
Now, the European Union faces a choice: go down a punitive path or uphold decades of progress.
Europe's legacy of innovation
Europe has long been at the forefront of progressive drug policies. In the 1970s and 1980s, courageous political leadership addressed rising heroin use with harm-reduction interventions such as needle and syringe programmes, opioid agonist treatment and supervised consumption rooms.
These decisions prevented thousands of deaths and curbed the spread of infectious diseases.
France offers a striking example. In 1996, HIV prevalence among injection drug users was about 40%. After harm reduction expanded rapidly — via fast, low-barrier access to buprenorphine — the rate dropped below 20% by 2002. Meanwhile, heroin overdose deaths decreased by more than 80% between 1996 and 2003.
Portugal further shows the benefits of ending punitive approaches. Before decriminalisation in 2001, the country accounted for more than half of all new HIV diagnoses in the EU, largely related to injecting drug use, despite representing only 2% of the EU population. By redirecting resources from criminal justice to treatment and harm reduction, new infections dropped from 518 in 2000 to 13 in 2019, drug-related mortality fell to less than half the EU average, and incarceration declined from over 40% of prisoners in 2001 to 15.7% in 2019.
These European successes stand in sharp contrast to punitive models elsewhere, as seen in recent United States military operations in the Caribbean and east Pacific.
A shift towards security
The previous EU Drugs Strategy and Action Plan offered a more balanced approach across prevention, treatment, harm reduction and international co-operation. In the new strategy, however, harm reduction has been relegated to a chapter addressing individual and social risks, alongside the recruitment of minors into organised crime or driving under the influence.
Harsh enforcement does not reduce drug use or disrupt markets. Instead, it fuels violence, increases stigma and pushes people away from essential services. This 'balloon effect' is evident: intensified enforcement at major EU ports in the Netherlands and Belgium has pushed trafficking toward other entry points, expanding the scope and volatility of the market.
Prohibitionist approaches have fuelled the rise of potent synthetic substances worldwide. Supply crackdowns, in fact, produce a 'whack-a-mole' effect, shifting production to new locations and encouraging the emergence of riskier substances.
For instance, Afghanistan's 2022 opium ban has reduced production by roughly 95%, creating a major supply shock that has triggered a rise in synthetic drug consumption.
Two decades earlier, in the wake of the Taliban's 2002 opium ban, Estonia experienced a serious fentanyl overdose crisis that persisted for over 10 years. The country was eventually able to contain the epidemic through targeted enforcement and was also aided by an uncommon scenario: the fentanyl supply chain was relatively centralised, unlike today's fragmented and complex drug trafficking systems. The most vulnerable communities, including youth, women and migrants, have faced the greatest harm.
Reaffirming Europe's legacy
The shift comes at a critical moment for global drug policy. In 2025, the UN initiated a process to review the international drug control framework for the first time since its inception, while the High Commissioner for Human Rights has called on the international community to shift away from punitive approaches and explore responsible regulation of drugs.
The next Drugs Strategy will shape policy for years to come, and it should prioritise supportive housing, community-based care and social measures addressing structural drivers of harmful drug use.
Dedicated funding for the health pillar is crucial, and the European Parliament must play a central role in framing a policy that protects public health and reaffirms Europe's leadership to advance global reforms.
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