Your Excellencies, Honoured Guests, Prominent Speakers and Moderators, Distinguished Delegates, Friends

Welcome to Stockholm and the second World Forum Against Drugs. My name is Sven-Olov Carlsson, and I am president of the World Federation Against Drugs.

First of all I would like to say thank you very much to Monica Luppi who is the International Relations Officer in San Patrignano, Italy for an excellent speech at this conference opening session. It was a very strong and committed message. Thank you Monica once again!

Two years ago, 2008, the first ever World Forum Against Drugs took place here in Stockholm. The Forum was organized by eleven Swedish NGOs, all working to reduce drug abuse and stop drug trafficking.

One of our major goals with the Forum was to reach out to non-governmental organizations on all continents and invite their members to a world conference where they could share experiences and talk about a vision of a drug free world.

The Forum was a marvelous success and inspired many people to take constructive action in pursuit of our vision.

One of the outcomes of that first Forum was that The World Federation Against Drugs (WFAD) was established last year.

The World Federation Against Drugs (WFAD) is a multilateral community of non-governmental organisations and individuals. The aim of the WFAD is to work for a drug-free world. The members of the WFAD share a common concern that illicit drug use is undercutting traditional values and threatening the existence of stable families, communities, and government institutions throughout the world.

 
The work of the WFAD is built on the principles of universal fellowship and basic human and democratic rights. We believe that working for a drug-free World will promote peace and human development and dignity, democracy, tolerance, equality, freedom and justice.

WFAD bases its work on the UN Conventions. Experience tells us that a balanced and restrictive drug policy limits the problem of drug abuse. The key to success is to prevent the problem; the success of treatment is rather limited although treatment must be a part of a balanced policy. Misuse of illicit drugs is normally initiated in close friendship relations at a relatively early stage of the drug "career". Therefore it must be a top priority to work with early intervention for a drug policy to be successful in order to limit the spread of misuse of illicit drugs.

This second World Forum Against Drugs is organized by World Federation Against Drugs. At this Forum 60 countries are represented. That’s very impressive and is the result of much hard work by a lot of people, but we could never have done it without generous financial support from the Swedish government, the Ministry of Health and the City of Stockholm. We are also very grateful to the private companies that have sponsored the Forum and the public Music Against Drugs activity which will take place in Kungsträdgården here in Stockholm later this evening.

Drugs and substance abuse cause harm to individuals, families and communities.

They should not be looked upon as lifestyle choices. Drugs are addictive and therefore not a genuine choice.

They affect many more people than the user, often their closest family and friends.

BUT,

There is an alternative, positive vision of a society that values health and wellbeing first. CHANGE  IS POSSIBLE, but it doesn’t come automatically. WE HAVE TO WORK FOR IT.

Healthy societies support families, social networks and communities.

We invest in each other and our relationships.

Drug and substance abuse distorts decision-making skills, limiting the ability to care for oneself or others. 

Drug and substance abuse override or replace healthy social interaction and undermining the fundamental relationships within society.

AND

Drugs and substance abuse undermine our values and have no place in a vision of a healthy society.

An important question is:

WHO benefits from drugs and substance abuse?

And the answer is that those who benefit are criminal organizations and individuals involved in drug trafficking.

Who pays the price?

The answer is that individuals, families and the whole society do. The widespread harm to communities comes from all aspects of drug and substance abuse - ranging from cultivation, production, transport, marketing, distribution, sale and consumption

THIS IS NOT AN ACCEPTABLE SITUATION!

What can we do?

First: Like-minded NGOs and community groups can and need to work together to counteract pressure to liberalise drug and substance use policies. This Conference is a good example of how we can work closer together.

Second: Policy-makers at all levels need an awareness of the harms of drug and substance use.

The strength of the international drug control system is its universality.
But drug policies are too important to be left to drug experts and to governments alone. It is a society-wide responsibility that requires society-wide engagement. This means working with children, starting from parents and teachers, to ensure that they develop self-esteem. This means supporting family-based programmes because prevention begins at home. This means advocacy.

My key message is therefore:
Human rights are incompatible with drug abuse. All individuals have the right to a life that is not harmed by drugs. Policy-makers need to defend and protect this right. The rights and interests of drug users are not served by supporting the continuation of drug abuse.

Alcohol, tobacco and drugs are phenomena that affect every geographic region in the world and no country can tackle these problems alone. To have an impact, there has to be a consistent approach to these products and this means creating strong coalitions that can help governments to find the political will to act.

As an NGO World Federation Against Drugs can play a crucial and a very important role in this matter.

We will now have two days together to listen to speeches in plenary and special sessions, and do a lot of networking in between.  I hope that you all will enjoy these days of learning and the ability to exchange ideas with people  from all over the world.

Once again, I would like to extend a warm welcome to Stockholm and the second World Forum Against Drugs!

Thank you for your attention!

Now it is my privilege to introduce the next speaker for this opening session - the Mayor of Stockholm Mr Sten Nordin. Please Sten, the floor is yours.