The Foundation for a Drug-Free Europe
Forms in Brussels

Welcomed by leading representatives of civil society as "a breath of fresh air in a polluted society"

Brussels, 24 March 2004

The Foundation for a Drug-Free Europe (FDFE) was presented in Brussels with the participation of prominent speakers, members of the Advisory Board of the Foundation, European Institution officials, community and religious leaders. FDFE has been formed with the firm purpose of achieving the goal of a drug-free Europe, collaborating with local, national and European institutions and carrying out positive prevention education campaigns. The FDFE is an organisation open to people and groups from all sectors of society sharing the same goal of a drug free Europe.

The Advisory Board Members of the Foundation for a Drug-Free Europe

Attending the event were officials from diverse drug education and prevention agencies throughout Europe, representing many religious, government and community organizations. These included Joaquin Antuña, founder of the international Spanish NGO Peace and Cooperation and former United Nations official; David Raynes, former Senior Custom & Excise Officer concerned with curtailing illicit drug distribution in the United Kingdom; E. Kenneth Eckersley, CEO of Addiction Recovery Training Services in the United Kingdom; composer and produced, 3 Grammy Award winner, Emanuele Ruffinengo; Asa Graaf, founder and chairman of "Drug-Free Sweden;" Michael Nielsen, Drug Education Consultant, and Miguel Cid Cebrian, attorney, author and former director of the National Plan on Drugs (PNSD) of the Spanish federal government.

In his speech, Miguel Cid, Director of the Spanish Government Cabinet for the National Plan on Drugs (PNSD) until 1996, urged that more attention be paid by European Institutions and national governments to drug prevention and has defined the Foundation for a Drug-Free Europe as "a breath of fresh air in the polluted current society. The project that this Foundation will generate," continued Miguel Cid, "will greatly contribute to governmental efforts to eradicate the drug problem in society."

"Europe is about to expand to 25 countries," said David Raynes, formerly a Senior Custom & Excise Officer in the UK. "It is very important that the Foundation for a Drug-Free Europe can support the effort in tackling drugs across Europe, perhaps taking the focus away from enforcement, where historically it is been, and placing it much more in primary prevention, stopping people from using drugs in the first place."

"In a moment of global challenges, we need global answers and we need global institutions. We need a big institution against drugs. This Foundation for a Drug-Free Europe will be an important contribution to the fight against drugs and public awareness," stated the founder of "Peace and Cooperation", Spanish humanitarian Joaquin Antuña. "I will do all my best for this Foundation, for this global answer."

Peter Stoker, Director of the U.K. National Drug Prevention Alliance , said that "there is an absolute need for someone to speak and act and say there is a 'better way'. The Foundation has accepted this challenge and represents an exciting potential: a potential which absolutely must be realized."