Drug policy profile: Poland

This paper describes the development and main characteristics of drug policy in Poland. It starts with the early days of drug control in Poland in the 1920s, describes the changes related to the emergence of Polish heroin – Kompot – in the late 1970s, and highlights the role played by NGOs in shaping national responses and developing a public-health-oriented drug policy approach in a Communist country during the 1980s. The specificities of central and eastern European drug policies, both before and after 1989, are analysed and compared with other parts of Europe.

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