Continued from Part 1 of the ‘Lassie in Lisbon’ blog post.
Day 5 – Today’s lectures covered The Cost of Drug Policy, Drug-related Research in Europe, International Co-operation and the EMCDDA Trendspotter Methodology, and it was welcomed to have some group work in these sessions.
Weekend – With no scheduled activities over the weekend we were free to do some sightseeing. For me that involved a visit to Belém, seeing Portugal unfortunately go out of the World Cup, and a walking tour of various Lisbon neighbourhoods, before eating lovely food at a large food market.
Week 2
Day 1 – This was a really interesting day and included a Drugs Characteristics session, then sessions on Drug Markets in Europe, the Production and Geopolitics of Drugs, and finally Monitoring Drug Production and (Drug) Law Enforcement in Europe.
This evening we also had a study visit to the IN-Mouraria Harm Reduction Centre. We received a warm welcome from the worker, volunteer and peer supporter. They explained all about their service and how they help people. I was able to tell them about Recovery Walks and they thought this was a great idea, maybe it’ll spread!
Day 2 – Today’s lectures included a session from a former student of the summer school about her role as an EU negotiator, then a session about the ‘Darknet‘, before two sessions about Prevention – the main reason I applied for the summer school. These sessions were really great, I wish there could have been more time on the topic.
We also had another study visit tonight, to the Methadone Mobile Unit. The workers told us all about their service that reached out to the most vulnerable people and helps them with various health interventions, with methadone provision being one part of that. It was great to hear about the success stories of the people who use this service and maintain a job and relationships with families.
A view of a colourful information window at the In-Mouraria Harm reduction service 
A postcard gift from the IN-Mouraria harm reduction centre 
Half of the group at the Methadone Mobile Unit 
Two Portugal fans await the start of a football match during the 2018 World Cup 
A view of the Jerónimos Monastery 
Belém Tower – located in the civil parish of Santa Maria de Belém 
The Padrão dos Descobrimentos monument, located on the northern bank of the Tagus River estuary