Abstract: The European Harm Reduction Network (EuroHRN) has been recently formed by ten organisations with a shared interest in advocating for and sharing knowledge on harm reduction within Europe. It is made up of three sub-regional networks covering North, South and Eastern Europe and managed by a coordinator based at the International Harm Reduction Association in the UK. * The North Europe Sub-Regional Network is led by Foundation De Regenboog Groep (the Netherlands) and Akzept (Germany). * The South Europe Sub-Regional Network is led by APDES (Portugal). * The Eastern Europe Sub-Regional Network is led by the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (Lithuania). A specialist project on drug user networking is coordinated by ASUD (French national drug user organisation) working in partnership with the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD). EuroHRN is coordinated by the International Harm Reduction Association and is advised by a Steering Group of ten organisations who manage the development of the project.

Abstract: A collection of narratives from substance users in Europe about their attempts to control or reduce their consumption is released today by the EMCDDA. Entitled Users’ voices, the paper illustrates how qualitative research can provide glimpses into the experiences and perceptions of substance users that statistics alone cannot provide.Organization in 1986 (WHO, 1986). Quotations, gleaned from interviews with substance users in Europe, help to focus on their total needs by providing glimpses into the different ways individuals attempt to control or reduce their consumption of drugs or alcohol. This paper does not attempt to assess the relative efficacy of any specific drug or alcohol approach or intervention: its purpose is to highlight the fact that there is enormous heterogeneity in different individual experiences and the quotations used give voice to some of these very different experiences. In this way, quotations provide important insights and meaning into the figures on prevalence of drug use and treatment statistics.