Donald MacPherson has been awarded the Nora and Ted Sterling Prize in Support of Controversy for his work in driving unconventional policy solutions to address drug problems.
Marijuana busts increased last year, with nearly 600,000 people being arrested on a possession charge, a staggering number that costs taxpayers billions of dollars.
This week Penal Reform International and the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS) made a joint statement on drugs and human rights at the 36th Session of the Human Rights Council.
Harm-reduction strategies such as legalization, opiate substitution (or prescription) and supervised injection have proven their effectiveness in places like Portugal and Switzerland.
Rather than address these communities’ concerns, the security forces fired indiscriminately on the protesters, resulting in at least eight reported murders and over fifty wounded.