European Union Drug Agency (EUDA, PFLAD, RELIS)

The Luxembourg Focal Point for the European Union Drug Agency (PFLAD)

The Luxembourg Focal Point for the European Union Drug Agency (Point focal luxembourgeois de l’Agence de l’Union européenne sur les drogues - PFLAD) is a monitoring centre and hub of expertise in the field of drugs and drug addiction.

Cofinanced by the Ministry of Health and Social Security and the EUDA, the PFLAD gathers, validates, produces and disseminates data on various topics relating to drugs and drug addiction, including their implications and consequences in Luxembourg. In addition to topical research, the PFLAD publishes national reports and other scientific documents relating to the phenomenon of drug use in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Since it was founded in 1994, the PFLAD has developed a nationwide network for monitoring drugs and drug addiction: the Luxembourg Information Network on Drugs and Drug Addictions (Réseau luxembourgeois d’information sur les stupéfiants et les toxicomanies - RELIS). The RELIS spans multiple sectors and includes national outpatient care and residential centres offering speciality treatment, consultation centres, hospitals and the relevant bodies in the judiciary and penal system. This network has helped to set up the national databases, which are updated annually.

The coordinators of the RELIS shine a light on the current state of drug use, using epidemiological indicators defined by the EUDA, and on new trends in terms of drug consumption and the drug market. In so doing, the PFLAD responds to the EUDA's need for data on a national scale and contributes to the production of Europewide reports.

European Union Drug Agency (EUDA)

Based on the principle that reliable information is crucial for the development of effective anti-drug policies, the EUDA’s main goal is to harvest, analyse and disseminate information on the phenomena of drugs and drug addiction, with a view to finding and publishing data that is objective, reliable and comparable across Europe. With this same goal, every year, the PFLAD supplies the EUDA with data on drugs and drug addiction in Luxembourg.

The statistical, documentary and technical data processed or produced by the EUDA helps provide the European Commission and its constituent Member States with a broad view of the phenomenon of drug use across Europe. The results of the data collection, monitoring and analysis are made available to political decision-makers and EU professionals to make them aware of effective tools and strategies for tackling the drug problem.

The EUDA’s work extends beyond its Lisbon headquarters and includes a network of focal points (the REITOX network). The EU Regulation governing the EUDA’s activities requires every EU Member State, and every other country involved in the EUDA’s work, to have a focal point responsible for collecting data at a national level.

European Information Network on Drugs and Drug Addiction (REITOX)

To perform its duties, the EUDA relies on a network of national focal points and other key partners appointed to collect data which, together, make up the European Information Network on Drugs and Drug Addiction (REITOX). REITOX was set up at the same time as the EUDA, in 1993, and currently includes every EU Member State plus Norway.

The REITOX network is the keystone of the European system for monitoring and exchange of data and information concerning drugs. The data collected through this network is also used to support the assessment of EU drug action plans. In addition, this data helps guide EU policies on drugs, and shapes recommendations for countries to adopt appropriate measures to organise drug treatment, prevention and risk reduction activities. Finally, the focal points are part of an Early Warning System (EWS), alerting the EUDA to new trends in the use of psychoactive substances and/or new means of drug consumption that present a potential danger to public health.