Constant intimidation of children and young people. More frequent testimonies about the difficult experiences of users of psychoactive substances. More lectures encouraging young people to use these substances. Uselessly spending money on ineffective approaches. Less quality training for experts and decision-makers in prevention. Fewer successful, healthy, capable young people in Bosnia and Herzegovina. All of the above and many other ineffective approaches to addiction prevention would be much more prevalent in our society if NARKO-NE had not been consistently dedicated to the development of quality and comprehensive addiction prevention for more than two decades. It is important for us not to neglect any aspect of life in which both addiction and health arise. Therefore, we work with families, at school, at the workplace, with the media, in the local community, but also with the entire environment to change the regulations that affect all these aspects. Our path is characterized by expert knowledge on the subject of scientifically based and proven effective addiction prevention, continuous monitoring of trends in this field, cooperation with key prevention agents in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the world, patience and consistency. The very fact that we stayed and survived, but never strayed from our mission, is enough to make us proud! But besides that, we were constantly learning, growing and developing.

So, to simplify (or complicate) – Association for Addiction Prevention NARKO-NE has been increasing the capacities of decision-makers and practitioners in the field of science-based prevention since 2002. In addition, it strives to enable well-informed choices about funding and implementation priorities at the national, regional and local levels. We want to provide more funds for prevention programs that are based on evidence, lower costs for solving problems in the areas of health, social protection and crime, and better conditions for children and young people to became, or stay, healthy and safe.

We deny the stereotypical stories that no one does anything in the government sector every day by achieving successful cooperation with government representatives at all levels who show a willingness to listen to us and make concrete changes in the approach to addiction prevention work in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A significant link in our work, apart from the aforementioned decision-makers, was and still is the youth themselves. More than 3,300 high school and male students from 79 cities and municipalities participated in our trainings and programs, and through their volunteer engagement with more than 3,500 children, they worked to reduce the risk of addiction and promote a healthy lifestyle. NARKO-NE is the only one in B&H that has licensed trainers for the implementation of the European Prevention Curriculum – a key European document for science-based addiction prevention. We are happy to share our knowledge with others not only through trainings, but also conferences such as the first regional conference in the field of addiction prevention and the conference of the European Society for Prevention Research held for the first time in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 2016, we won the first and only award in BiH awarded by the Council of Europe in the field of prevention – the European Drug Prevention Award. Although the award made us happy, and even today it adorns the shelves of our office, we are equally happy (maybe even more so) with the opinion of our members.

All this gives us the wind behind us to continue our efforts to increase comprehensive capacities in the country so that the greatest possible focus is on the promotion of science-based prevention. We are aware that we have a long way to go, but we are enjoying the journey.