Claudia Costa Storti
Cláudia Costa Storti works at the European Union Monitoring Centre in Lisbon and her main interests are the economic aspects of drug policy.
She is currently in charge of analysing the socioeconomic determinants of the drug phenomenon, impact of economic cycle and the public costs of drug-related policy and the impact of the economic recession.
The analysis of drug markets has also been part of her duties, leading to the publication of scientific articles in drug-related journals, editorials in MIT books and other EMCDDA technical papers.
She holds an MSc in Economics from the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium, and a degree in Economics from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal.
Session
Abstract:
Background and aim: European countries have acknowledged the importance of integrating health, social, and labour market policies to support individuals who use drugs. The European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) highlights the need for a comprehensive, multi-sectoral approach to social and health policies, including active labour market interventions within drug national drug strategies and action plans.
Despite its relevance, limited and outdated data exist on the interplay between drug and labour market policies in Europe. This study aims to address this gap and analyse national drug policies in this light.
Methods: Annually, national authorities report their drug use phenomenon to the EUDA. Qualitative and quantitative information is reported and grouped into various topics. This study systematically reviewed the national reports of EU(27) countries, plus Norway and Turkey, from 2023. The topics surveyed were ‘Drug Policy’, ‘Treatment’, ‘Prevention’, ‘Research’ and ‘Prisons’. Topic-relevant keywords supported the search. Despite the fact that reports do not include specific questions regarding active labour policies, the search aimed to have a preliminary map of the intersections between active labour market and drug policies applied by the EU countries.
Key findings: 138 national reports were scanned, of which 101 contained relevant data in 296 data entries. 17 out of 29 countries report that drug policy is coordinated with labour market ministerial bodies. Labour market programmes are mentioned in 10 countries’ policy documents in Drug Strategy or/and Action Plans. Countries report active labour market interventions as an active policy to interact with drug policy, tackling drug use, prevention and recovery (treatment and social reintegration in prison settings).
Conclusions: Although these reports do not include specific questions regarding active labour policies, countries report their frequent interplay with drug policy, revelling their practical relevance at a national level. Despite acknowledging the need for structured, regular, and up-to-date data on labour market interventions, this study will attempt a preliminary discussion of the basic principles of policy evaluation to this field.