The National Bureau for Drug Prevention was founded in response to undesirable social phenomena during the Polish political, economic and social transformation at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s. More prevalent drug use, mainly among young people, was particularly alarming. In the middle of the eighties, the first instances of HIV in Poland were reported among injecting drug users. Already in the nineties, the issue had intensified and grown into a social phenomenon.   In response to the situation, various community organisations intensified their activities in the field of helping people with drug issues. However, they needed support from a specialised government agency, which could be their partner in fulfilling the tasks set forth in the statutes.

Due to the above circumstances, the Minister of Health and Social Welfare established the Bureau for Drug Addiction in 1993. The main goal of the Bureau was to undertake actions aimed at drug demand reduction. Until the year 1999, the basic activities of the Bureau included not only the tasks aimed at drug addiction prevention, but also funding the treatment and rehabilitation for drug addicts in NGO-run centres.

In 1999, due to a reform of the social insurance system, funding for drug addiction treatment was taken over by regional sickness funds.  The reform and the process of Poland’s accession to the European Union somehow imposed the Bureau to verify the tasks set forth in the statute. In the year 2000, by the ordinance of the Ministry of Health, the Bureau for Drug Addiction was transformed into the National Bureau for Drug Prevention. The provisions of the amended Act of 2001 on counteracting drug addiction extended the Bureau’s scope of tasks, which now included the coordination of all actions undertaken to reduce drug demand, as well as the monitoring of implementation of the National Programme on Counteracting Drug Addiction.

Poland’s accession to the European Union obliged us to assume the duties related to active participation within the Community.  It meant, among others, information exchange and decision-making at an EU level and participation in developing strategies for the anti-drug policy of the European Union. Adopting the acquis communautaire of the European Union was accompanied by the establishment of institutions responsible for carrying out the tasks, which are a common duty of the Member States. To comply with the above requirements, Poland adapted the national strategy for counteracting drug addiction, coherent with the EU strategy and action plan; the Council for Counteracting Drug Addiction was established, as well as the Information Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, which is the main point of contact for the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and cooperates with the REITOX network of contact points in other EU countries.