Abstract
This paper discusses the European approach to drug problems, especially regarding contemporary trends and implications in harm reduction, based on an examination of certain historical aspects of the approach and interviews and observations of harm reduction activities in selected cities in Europe. The results are as follows: the reason why harm reduction, as a decriminalizing and public health model, has spread over most of Europe is partly because the measure has been supported by the Commission, which has been mainly responsible for the economic and social domain of the Community. The principle of subsidiarity, which originally functioned to protect the sovereignty of Member states against the Community, now often supports the adoption of harm reduction at the municipal and local level. The paper also discusses workfare, which accompanies contemporary harm reduction, and indicates it is a sign of the change in harm reduction itself.
