Organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and the Prison Administration of Slovenia, the Pompidou Group held the first study visit of its South-East European network on ‘Developing comprehensive drug treatment systems in prisons’ in Ljubljana and Maribor, on 14-16 June 2022.

The central theme of the visit was challenges and solutions in introducing/improving treatment structures targeting people with substance use disorders in prison, one of the network’s three priority topics. Some 60 policy makers and prison professionals involved in the design, implementation and evaluation of policies related to treatment and rehabilitation of imprisoned people with drug use disorders participated in the event. Along with the large number of representatives from Slovenian line ministries and the prison administration, representatives of 10 other South-East European countries joined the discussions.

Participants learned about the treatment concept in the Slovenian criminal justice system and visited the state prison and forensic clinic of Maribor, and exchanged experiences, concerns, solutions on prevention of the use of new psychoactive substances and setting up therapeutic communities in prison. Medication-assisted treatment and overdose prevention as well as advocacy tools for shaping policy goals related to drug treatment in detention settings were also among the discussed topics.

The work of the group will continue on consolidating a network of professionals working in this field in the South-East European region, developing strategies for raising standards on drug treatment in prison and building a resource pack for the use of prison staff regrouping state-of-the-art knowledge on treatment and rehabilitation of people with substance use disorders in custodial settings.