Next March, we hope that governments will acknowledge the disastrous human rights impacts of the last decade (and beyond) and openly admit that there is no progress to speak of towards eliminating the global drug market.
The divergence between the Commission’s progressing stance on legal regulation and Trump’s Global Call to Action reminds us of the many obstacles facing drug policy reform. But it is also a promising reminder of the waning hegemony of the war on drugs rhetoric.
Far from an effort at achieving mutual understanding and genuine consensus on drug policy, the "Global Call to Action" is yet another instance of heavy-handed U.S. “with us or against us” diplomacy.
A side event at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs brought together experts to discuss how drug policy outcomes are measured, with the Sustainable Development Goals discussed as a potential mechanism of evaluation.
There is still a long way to go. But what is clear though is that the combined efforts from academia, policy circles, and the involvement of the grassroots in the development of solutions can pave the way for more systematic responses to the tough questions on illicit economies.
The workshop highlighted the fact that a local policy addressing Harm Reduction and HIV services (including human rights aspects and service equity) is best designed through community collaboration and consultation with local and international advocates.
Despite the unequivocal link between the drug policy debates and human rights, the negotiations in Geneva held over several weeks were not easy, demonstrated by the oral amendments to the text that were made even in the last hour.
The conference was hosted by KANCO and brought together over 600 participants from more than 20 countries. It was a rare opportunity for Eastern Africa to have a conversation about drug policies that are progressive and that put people and communities first.
On International Women's Day: Recognising the women incarcerated for drug offences in Indonesia, and the urgent need for a gender sensitive approach for drug offences.
Building on twenty years of youth activism against the drug wars, Students for Sensible Drug Policy offers an overview of upcoming actions that exemplify the network's dynamism and growth.
World Cancer Day asks us to reflect on how we can play our part, as a collective or as individuals, in reducing the global burden of cancer. The “global burden of cancer” is actually an aggregate of the very real burden that falls on individual people: on cancer patients, their family members and…
By Katherine Pettus, PhDAdvocacy Officer, International Association of Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC)
Efforts to harmonise drug legislation in the region could contribute to the health and wellbeing of West Africans, but punitive approaches remain dominant.
