Some Asian countries are dropping punitive approaches in favor of a health-centered approach.

Executions, forced and arbitrary detentions, beatings, whipping, incarceration and hard labor — This is a common face of drug policy in many Asian nations, and one that is looking ever more archaic.

Half a million drug users are held annually in compulsory detention centers in China and Southeast Asia, according to estimates from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Arduous physical exercises and military drills are often routine there, as is violence – former detainees described shocks with electric batons and whipping with electric wires to Human Rights Watch.

Roughly 50 to 70 percent of prisoners in Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Thailand are in jail for drug-related crimes. In extreme cases, prisoners pay with their lives. Indonesia is currently preparing executions for drug trafficking.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Asia's war on drugs

Imagine this: You’re a person living with HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV), and you’re arrested for selling a small amount of heroin to support your drug dependence. Before your sentencing, you enter a drug treatment program and take steps to address your dependence.

The judge applauds your progress and acknowledges the negative health impacts incarceration will have. But his hands are tied, because there’s another drug-related conviction on your record from nearly a decade ago. Against all reason, you receive an automatic one-year prison sentence.

In Canada, these are the sorts of irrational sentencing rules that compromise access to treatment or scientifically proven harm reduction measures for people who use drugs.

But sentences like these may soon be a thing of the past in Canada. On April 15, in its 6–3 decision in 

, the Supreme Court struck down mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug offenses, calling them a “constitutional infirmity” that violates the guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment in section 12 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Will Canada’s ruling on drug sentences set the stage for further reforms?

Today the ‘Programme For Government’ was released by the new Irish government. The 156 page document outlines what policy the new Government will pursue during their tenure. The commitments cover an array of topics from health, homelessness, jobs, crime and much more.

You can read the Programme For Government in full here.

The programme for government makes very little reference to the topic of drug policy; however what is stated can perhaps be considered positive, or at least a change from the status quo. Some highlights:

A section on page 56 states that the new government will be.

Completing work and commencing implementation of a new National Drugs Strategy within 12 months.

It is good to see this commitment considering how vital the National Drugs Strategy (NDS) is, as it sets out our drug policy for the next few years. There are some signs to suggest the new NDS will be more progressive than previous incarnations. Leaked information on a report prepared for the NDS suggests Ireland should move away from criminalising people for the possession of drugs for personal use. Instead individuals should be subject to Garda caution rather than criminal prosecution.

What the new Irish government says about drugs

This week, world leaders are gathering at the United Nations in New York for the highest-level meeting on drug policy in nearly two decades. The United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drug policy is illustrating growing divisions in the "drug war" model as more states speak up in opposition to ineffective, punitive policies.

WOLA is at the UN in New York observing and participating in the proceedings. Senior Fellow Coletta Youngers offers insights into the proceedings and explains how, despite attempts to limit debate in support of reform, numerous countries have spoken out from the floor of the General Assembly and called for an alternative policies.

UN General Assembly on drugs: The beginning of a change in the drug war paradigm

Pavel Bém is former Mayor of Prague and a member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy,Czech Republic. Here he gives his assessment of April’s UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the world drug problem.

The United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on “the world drug problem” was an important moment for the international community to evaluate and assess both the advances and the challenges facing drug control on a global level. Member states participated throughout the preparatory process, submitting country and regional positions, hosting meetings, inviting inputs from civil society organizations and engaging in thoughtful policy proposals. United Nations agencies also took note of the importance, submitting detailed reports of the impacts of drug control on human rights, development, health and economic growth. These expert reports were reflective of current efforts and put forward innovative proposals on how to improve policies directed at people who use drugs, producers and people incarcerated and others. The Global Commission participated through attending official meetings, hosting presentations on our recent reports and recommendations, bringing together countries to discuss possible reforms and engaging with the media so that more people would be aware of this historic opportunity.

Much ado about nothing? The Global Commission on Drug Policy assessment of UNGASS

The first time I met Veni she was carrying boxes of clean needles from the Centre for Health Research at the University of Indonesia. She is an outreach worker whose life has been entangled with the physical and social harms of drug use. Her first husband was a drug user who sometimes earned money from drug dealing. While he struggled with his addiction, Veni was left to find ways to provide for her family. After 15 years Veni finally ended the marriage as she felt she couldn’t be her husband’s ‘guardian angel’ any more.

The experience of coping with her ‘junkie’ ex-husband had a profound impact on Veni and in 2008 she became involved in harm reduction, a global intervention program aimed at minimising the medical and social problems associated with illegal drug use. It does this by encouraging the use of legal substitution drugs, like methadone and subuxone, and distributing free clean needles and condoms.

Veni’s involvement in harm reduction started when she was invited to give a testimonial as the wife of an injecting drug user (IDU). Soon after, she was recruited by several non-government agencies (NGOs) in Jakarta to do outreach work meeting with drug users, distributing clean needles and referring those who want access to treatment. She has found outreach work a positive way to share her experience of living with a drug user while, at the same time, earning enough money to provide for her children. Veni believes that she is not only helping drug users and their families but also helping to manage the emotional pain and trauma of her past.

No more money for our needles

“Let us live and save our loved ones.” These powerful words from Dorota Gudaniec convey a simple message to Polish and international drug policy-makers. Medicinal cannabis is saving lives, but people willing to try this kind of treatment are still considered criminals and may face criminal charges and sanctions, including up to three years in prison for possession of a controlled substance. Our new video, produced by Paweł Libera and the Polish Drug Policy Network, provides some insights into the medicinal cannabis situation in Poland.

Let us live and save our loved ones

Illinois lawmakers have approved legislation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana.

The Illinois House passed the bill with a 64-50 vote on Wednesday, that previously passed in the Senate, sending it to Republican Governor Bruce Rauner’s desk.

Possession of up to 10 grams of marijuana is currently a class B misdemeanor, the 

 reports, and could land a defendant up to six months in jail with fines up to $1,5000. The legislation would impose fines between $100 and $200 with no jail time.

News