On behalf of the Mayor of Breda, it is my pleasure to invite you to the international conference “Innovative Local Approaches towards New Trends in PsychoActive Substance uSe; Timely responding to new psychoactive substances in our communities.” The conference is organized by the EU DPIP funded LOCAL PASS project (http://www.localpass.eu/) and will be held on February 5 – 6, 2015 in Breda.
The combination of NPS and the internet is a genuine Game Changer of which the consequences can, at this point, barely be imagined. One thing is, however, clear. New drug trends no longer necessarily start in (cultural) capitals, harbor cities or along physical drug trafficking routes; these can now emerge in any municipality, large or small, urban or rural. But, national or international level monitoring of NPS may not be sensitive enough to local developments and the information these systems generate may be dated when reaching the municipal level. Hence the conference focus on multi-stakeholder collaboration at the municipal level and the LOCAL PASS project activities.” The LOCAL PASS project is developing local multi/stakeholder approaches for identification, risk assessment and intervention of new psychoactive substances (NPS or “Legal Highs”) and emerging drug trends, that will allow local communities to timely and effectively respond to the changed parameters of drug diffusion.