Gold Medal of the Order of Merit of the Spanish National Plan on Drugs — Executive Director's acceptance speech

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Your Excellency, the Minister of Health,

Your Excellency, the Government Delegate for the National Plan on Drugs,

Your Excellencies and Illustrious Authorities,

Dear Colleagues,

Dear Friends,

Ladies and Gentlemen.

Receiving the Gold Medal of the Order of Merit of the National Plan on Drugs is a great honour and a privilege, which rewards a professional and personal journey that began 40 years ago. Over the years, the Government Delegation for the National Plan on Drugs has been a beacon, a benchmark and an example for drug policy throughout the European Union. For me, it has also been a personal and professional point of reference.

The main characteristics that make the National Plan on Drugs a unique and dynamic model in Europe include: inter-ministerial coordination; multi-disciplinarity; a strong political mandate covering addictive behaviours and the creation of an administration dedicated to its implementation; support of the Spanish Drug Monitoring Centre; and the scientific basis for diagnosing problems and seeking solutions.

I would add to this the absolute importance of the strategic vision, support for the implementation of the plans of the Autonomous Communities, Spain's ability to speak with one voice in all European and international organisations, and the crucial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for international cooperation activities and projects.

For my part, I have experienced many moments in which these numerous qualities have been revealed, whether it be: the essential role of Spain and of the Plan in the creation of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in 1991–1993; the evolution of Spanish policy on harm reduction in 1994–1999; twinning programmes with EU candidate countries in 2000–2008; the strategic development of the European Monitoring Centre's Reitox network in 2005–2015; and the preparation, implementation and evaluation of the COPOLAD programme from 2011 to the present day.

In all these activities, I have had the pleasure, honour and advantage of meeting and working with so many high-quality professionals, scientists, academics and policymakers, with whom we share a humanist and fraternal vision of action on drugs.

As the great poet Antonio Machado said:

‘Nunca perseguí la gloria

Caminante son tus huellas el camino y nada más

Caminante, no hay camino se hace camino al andar

Al andar se hace camino

Y al volver la vista atrás

Se ve la senda que nunca

Se ha de volver a pisar

Caminante no hay camino sino estelas en la mar.’

This path, your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, would not have existed, it would not have had the same colour, the same flavour, nor the same richness, without all these encounters that have shaped our life, and that have made me the person and the professional that I am today.

For this, and so many other things, I would like to express my gratitude for the honour and symbolic significance of being awarded today the Gold Medal of the Order of Merit of the Spanish National Plan on Drugs.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Note

Translation of Poem XXIX of Proverbs and Songs (Poema XXIX de Proverbios y cantares) by Antonio Machado:

'I never chased glory

Wayfarer, your footsteps are the road and nothing more

Wayfarer, there is no road, the road is made by walking

By walking, the road is made

And when you look back

You can see the path that you will

Never tread again

Wayfarer, there is no road, only trails in the sea.'