The aim is to provide a platform for cooperation among law enforcement officials and experts on drug related cybercrime, connecting specialists (customs, police, prosecutors, judges, computer crime specialists) and relevant international organisations and the private sector, notably IT companies and internet providers.

The Pompidou Group’s aim to link Policy, Practice and Science is at the core of exchanges and activities carried out in the field of research. After developing a number of data collection and monitoring methodologies, the research field has evolved towards the analysis of the impact of research on drug policies and on the development of evidence-based policy.

MedNET is the Mediterranean network for co-operation on drugs and addictions of the Pompidou Group. It promotes co-operation, exchange and mutual transfer of knowledge between countries from both sides of the Mediterranean, respecting human rights and gender equality.

EXASS Net is a European network of partnerships between stakeholders at frontline level responding to drug problems providing experience and assistance for inter-sectoral cooperation.

Drug prevention remains an important area in the work of the Pompidou Group. Life-skills training, building resilience and credible drug policies are at the core of the programmes that actually show prevention effects. Mobilising new potential by involving young people and parents should bring about more targeted and effective prevention. The European Drug Prevention Prize, a key event of the Pompidou Group, is awarded every two years to promote and encourage the development of drug prevention work that involves young people.

Prison is a high-risk environment – both for the prisoners and the staff. In particular, injecting drug users are exposed to various health risks: overdosing, abscessed infections of injection sites, and the transmission of blood-borne diseases such as Hepatitis C or HIV. In Europe, the Pompidou Group’s Criminal Justice and Prison Programme support governments in developing evidence-based criminal justice policies and comprehensive drug treatment systems in prisons.

The Pompidou Group has pioneered the integration of the gender dimension into drug policies in Europe for almost two decades. Triggered by a proposal of the Norwegian Minister of Justice, it sought a better understanding of the specificities of each gender. The first concrete result of that proposal was a Pompidou Group symposium on women and drugs, hosted by Switzerland in 1988.

Executive training for drug policy managers is a hallmark activity of the Pompidou Group. It was launched as an initiative under Polish Pompidou Group Presidency in 2010. It seeks to link policy, research and practice by offering training and further education in support of drug policy management. The main aim is to facilitate know-how and build capacities for more effective policy implementation, management and evaluation of drug control policies and related programmes.

The Pompidou Group promotes a human rights-based approach to drug policy encompassing all areas, from drug policy development through implementation and monitoring to evaluation. It provides assistance to national authorities in identifying and embracing timely responses to contentions about human rights in drug policy, as well as in assessing the intended and unintended effects of envisaged drug policy measures, taking into account potential impact on the enjoyment of human rights.