At a seminar organized by GIZ Albania, experts from the European Union and the European Union Drugs Agency presented how the future framework of Albania’s drug policies is being developed and where medical cannabis fits within it.
The National Drug Control Strategy 2026–2030 requires data, not only political commitment. This was the key message of the national seminar on drug policies, organized on 26 May 2026 by the Global Partnership on Drug Policies and Development (GPDPD/GIZ), in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Social Protection. The National Cannabis Control Agency participated in the discussions alongside other state institutions involved in the drafting process of the Strategy.
The seminar opened with presentations from international experts. Alexandru Costache from DG-HOME highlighted the European Union Drugs Strategy, while Frédéric Denecker from the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) presented the ongoing cooperation between EUDA and Albania. Julie Hannah from the University of Essex shifted the discussion from technical aspects to a fundamental principle: every drug policy framework, whenever addressing control measures, must place respect for human rights at its core.
National experts presented the Albanian context, including the progress of the inter-institutional working group established under the Ministry of Health and Social Protection, the Ministry of Interior’s draft strategy against organized crime, the indicators of the National Drug Observatory, and the emerging challenges identified by the Early Warning System regarding new psychoactive substances.
At the conclusion of the seminar, discussions focused on the structure of the Strategy, moderated by Thomas Martinelli, expert from the Trimbos Institute, where the next concrete steps and coordination mechanisms among the institutions involved were defined.
Medical and industrial cannabis are part of the same policy framework that the Strategy aims to establish. Every step towards a clearer national drug policy framework directly affects how the control and supervision of the cannabis sector will operate in the coming years under the responsibility of the Agency.
