At a side event of the recent G8 meeting of Foreign Ministers, the US envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke, described what seems like a significant shift in US tactics towards opium poppy cultivation and trafficking in Afghanistan.
A Dutch review of national drug policy has called for a number of key changes and focuses on four key points: concern about drug use among young people (particularly the very young), a more restrictive approach to coffee shops, tougher measures against organised crime and the establishment of a drugs authority.
Michel Sidibe, Executive Director of UNAIDS and Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund call for greater coherence within the UN system on the issue of drug policy, with particular reference to HIV prevention for people who inject drugs.
The US House of Representatives have voted in favour of lifting the ban on the use of US federal funds for needle exchange. Challenges remain but this is an important step in changing US public policy on harm reduction measures.