The Obama administration’s statement, 'A Drug Policy for the 21st Century', is accepting publicly that the decades of US harsh drug policies have been an expensive mistake.
Around 800 participants attended the conference from all around the world to share the latest experiences, developments and evidence on drug policy and harm reduction.
On 26th June, speakers from UNODC, the CND and other organisations referred to crack in the UN drug control regime at the launch of the 2013 World Drug Report.
It is the addiction that makes people suffer. Nobody is born evil and any one of us could be in this situation. Shouldn’t we ask ourselves why we didn’t provide interventions much earlier, at the time they needed them most?
Civil society organisations played a particularly important role at this year’s forty-third regular session of the OAS General Assembly by promoting a public health, harm reduction, and human rights approach to drug policies.
This year’s annual General Assembly meeting of the OAS, which brings together the hemisphere’s foreign ministers, marked a milestone in the Latin American drug policy debate.
Since the INCB continually refuses to address human rights issues, Stephen Lewis’ accusation that Russian President Vladimir Putin should be indicted for crimes against humanity may not be listened.
The INCB condemned the results of recent referenda in two states in the United States of America, Colorado and Washington, and in some cities in Michigan and Vermont, allowing the non-medical use of cannabis.
INCB President Raymond Yans stated that “these developments are in violation of the international drug control treaties, and pose a great threat to public health and the well-being of society far beyond those states”.
He requested the US Government to take the necessary measures to ensure full compliance with its obligations under the United Nations drug control conventions. Read more about the INCB’s reaction.
On 2 January 2012, the President of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) announced that Professor Hamid Ghodse had passed away on 27 December 2012 after a short illness. Professor Ghodse has served as member of the INCB for over 20 years since 1992, and as its President during the periods 1993-1994, 1997-1998, 2000-2001, 2004-2005, 2008, and 2010-2011. He is remembered for his work on preventing drug use, promoting treatment, rehabilitation and social integration of people dependent on drugs, and encouraging States to ensure the adequate availability of drugs for medical use.
The current President of the INCB, Raymond Yans, said that the “international community has lost a true champion of the basic principle of preventing the damage that drug abuse does to our young people and our societies, by always upholding the ideal of promoting the health and welfare of mankind, as enshrined in the international drug control conventions.” Read his full statement for further details.
Professor Ghodse presented himself as a 'civilising influence' on the more extreme elements on the INCB over the last two decades, and there is no doubt that this was at times the case. Coming from a background in the treatment of drug dependence, he always had a more sophisticated grasp of health issues - such as essential medicines and harm reduction - than most of his colleagues.
We have of course often disagreed with Professor Ghodse on policy and procedural issues, and had been concerned at his long tenure on what is meant to be a constantly evolving Board, but he has always been gracious and charming in his dealings with us. We therefore join others in passing our condolences and best wishes to his family.