The 6th European Drug Prevention Prize was awarded on Wednesday 19 November 2014 in Strasbourg during the Pompidou Group’s 16th Ministerial Conference. Three projects were rewarded for their innovative work in drug prevention with the active involvement and participation of youth.

In August 2014, the jury of 6 young people from Austria, Bulgaria, France, Morocco, Spain and “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” examined 56 applications from 24 European countries and selected the three projects they considered to be the most innovative in terms of content, efficiency and active youth participation. Six other projects which they found interesting and worthwhile promoting were nominated for their noteworthy work in drug prevention with the active involvement of youth.

Risk Reduction Superheroes (Toulouse, France)

Risk Reduction Superheroes is a project created by a team of seven young volunteers to reduce risk-taking by the public during the Toulouse Carnival concerning psychoactive substance abuse, hearing damage and unsafe sexual activity. The group sought training on these issues and then passed their knowledge on, through training sessions for other civic service volunteers, and by putting on a show for the parade's organisers and other participants at a pre-Carnival party. On the day of the Carnival, they distributed prevention and risk reduction materials such as breathalysers and condoms to tens of thousands of partygoers all along the parade route, dressed as 'risk reduction superheroes'.

CHECK!N – Free mind to fly (Porto, Portugal)

CHECK!N – Free mind to fly works with teenagers and young adults through specific interventions at parties, schools and other youth organisations, using peer education and outreach strategies as ways to promote changes in the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of young people towards drug use. The project runs several different activities, including a peer education programme, online interventions and awareness-raising and training sessions. CHECK!N also runs stands at clubs and big festivals where it provides counselling and information about drugs and sexuality, material such as condoms, drug content analysis, and support for drug users in health-related crisis situations.

Get Hooked on Comic Books (Split, Croatia)

Get Hooked on Comic Books is a programme of workshops for young people that combines art work with learning about addiction problems and social responsibility. The participants – a mix of high school students and at-risk youth who live in a residential care home – get to know each other and themselves through various fun, creative and introspective activities. Together they create a comic book on the subject of addiction and set up and present their work in an exhibition. Through developing their creativity, the youth can better recognise and express their feelings, enhance their stress coping skills, improve their social skills, learn about addiction problems and become a positive influence on their peers.