In this episode, Dr Elle Wadsworth talks to Dr Paul Griffiths about his role throughout Lisbon Addictions and specifically in convening the 'Open Track'. Elle and Paul discuss the launch of the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) and how it has changed since being known as the EMCDDA. They talk about EUDA’s work at the boundary between science, practice and policy at a European level. They also talk about collaborating with the Institute on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (ICAD) to organise the Lisbon Addictions conference.

Paul explains the role of the conference's many co-producers in bringing the scientific programme together, going through the themes for each day at the conference, the plenaries and the two debate sessions designed to encourage discussion among conference attendees. One debate will be on 'why are we not doing better at reducing drug-related deaths?', and one on 'how can the voices of people with lived experience, clients and communities impacted by drug use better inform clinical practice, research and the policy agenda?'.

"We're all getting really excited to welcome again a lot of people to Lisbon.... it's going to be a busy week for everyone but I hopefully a fun and productive one!"

Dr Paul Griffiths is the scientific director of the EU Drugs Agency (EUDA, formerly the EMCDDA). 

Dr Elle Wadsworth is a researcher based at the University of Bath and at RAND Europe. 

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