A reminder that countries must not neglect margenalised groups as health measures to counter covid-19 are rolled out.

As long as UNODC continues to carefully and deliberately hold back from mentioning the harmful impact of states’ own drug policies, we cannot trust the agency to communicate all the facts.

A minority of African nations with diplomatic representation in Vienna has stifled the continent's voice for progressive drug policy reform.

As I have written in several previous blogs on UN drug policy, the ever flimsy veil of consensus continues to fall away as the weight of the damage and failure of punitive drug policies becomes ever more undeniable.

Accessible and evidence-based treatment services for people experiencing difficulties in relation to their drug use are rare in Thailand. Investment in a public health approach, departing from harmful and costly punitive responses, is urgently needed.

Besides the material losses and psychological impact of the demolition of ROG, this action speaks of the deteriorating conditions for community and civic mobilisation in Slovenia.

We stand in solidarity with our members, partners, donors and friends in continuing the fight for social justice, for human rights and to end the damaging ‘war on drugs’.

Colombia's investment in coca's promising potential could support ending vicious circles of stigmatisation, informality and research stagnation.

At a recent workshop organised under the SPIRIT project, transgender sex workers who use drugs shared experiences and learning on harm reduction and the need for alternatives to punishment.

A regulated cannabis market could ensure traditional varieties, as well as cultivation and production practices, are valued and benefit traditional growers.

The Swiss experiment seeks to build an evidence-base to inform potential future regulatory proposals.

Together, the three case studies underscore the importance of applying tailored methods to better reach and meet the needs of women who use drugs and of supporting women themselves to participate meaningfully in the programme design, implementation, and evaluation.

As almost all coca leaf markets have been disrupted by the pandemic situation and prices have fallen, coca growers throughout the Andean region are in dire need of assistance.

Despite the difficulties farmers face, cannabis production remains the most immediately viable and rapidly scalable livelihood in the Rif mountains.

Governments are quick to pay lip service to the importance of young people in drug policy design, but they rarely offer a seat at the table.

Under the constraints imposed by the pandemic situation, young people are developing creative ways to organise against punitive drug policy.

Language can contribute to undo the damage punitive drug policies inflict on the lives of people who use drugs.

While repressive drug policies have weaponised the state against communities of colour, it is sadly crucial to remember it was in part designed to do just that.

As prisons in South East Asia are dangerously overcrowded, the release of prisoners incarcerated for drug offences in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic is a matter of life and death.

Tandon recounts how India's decision to impose a lockdown, forcing people who use drugs to go through withdrawals without treatment, can result in tragic deaths, highlighting the need for a policy change.