Development of Portugal's National Plan for the Reduction of Addictive Behaviors and Dependences

Laws & Policies

"The National Plan for the Reduction of Addictive Behaviors and Dependences 2013-2020, (PNRCAD), appears in the sequence of an end of cycle of the National Plan Against Drug and Drug Addictions 2005-2012 (PNCDT) and the redefinition of policies and health services.
"Facing the new challenges identified in the last years, it was decide to enlarge the approach and responses to the ambit of other Addictive Behaviors and Dependencies that include not only psychoactive substances, illicit drugs, new psychoactive substances, harmful alcohol use, but also medecines, anabolisers and gambling. PNRCAD is an important reinforcement in the domain of health policies, by the repercussions and impact that these problematic have in individuals’ life, families and society. PNRCAD is composed by two main domains: demand and supply, approached in a balance way, two structural measures, PORI, referral network and 4 transversal areas (Information and research; training and communication, international relations and cooperation and quality).
"Concerning the demand reduction domain, the citizen is the center of the conceptualisation of policies and interventions in CAD, having as assumption that it is fundamental to respond to individuals needs, perspectivated in a dynamic way throughout his life cycle.
"As regards the supply field, the decrease in the availability and access to traditional and new illicit psychoactive substances, the regulation of licit substances and their market monitoring and harmonization of existing legal provisions or to develop, in particular on gambling area and internet constitute the center of policies and interventions based on the assumption of national and international cooperation.
"The principles of PNRCAD are Humanism and Pragmatism, Centrality in the Citizen, Integrated Intervention, territoriality, quality and inovation. The global strategy of action in the context of PNRCAD is based on a coordinated action, in order to enhance synergies between the strategic and budgetary frameworks of services and organizations with intervention in these areas. The PNRCAD defines general objectives, indicators and quantified targets to be achieved in the two years of reference, 2016 and 2020.
"PNRCAD will be operationalized through two Action Plans of 4 years, 2013-2016 and 2017-2020."