Los equipos o las cabinas para el análisis de pastillas en los lugares donde se sabe que se consumen podrían informar a los usuarios sobre el contenido de drogas ilícitas. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

Suscríbase a las Alertas mensuales del IDPC para recibir información sobre cuestiones relacionadas con políticas sobre drogas.

The death of 19-year-old Georgina Bartter at a music festival on the weekend from a suspected ecstasy overdose could possibly have been avoided with a simple harm-minimisation intervention. Pill testing, or drug checking as it’s known in Europe, provides feedback to users on the content of illegal drugs, allowing them to make informed choices.

Taking illicit drugs, especially ecstasy, is not particularly unusual for someone of Bartter’s age. A 2010 survey found more than 11% of 20- to 29-year-olds and 7% of 18- to 19-year-olds had taken the drug in the previous 12 months. According to annual research among 1,000 ecstasy users, 70% of these pills are taken at clubs, festivals and dance parties.

Australia is internationally applauded for our harm-minimisation approach to drugs but we have failed to introduce pill testing, even though it is an intuitively appealing strategy.

Pill-testing kits or booths at venues where pills are known to be consumed could inform users about the content of illicit drugs. As we have equipment that can test drugs in real time, people intending to take them could have them checked beforehand.

Research shows young people are highly supportive of pill testing; more than 82% of the 2,300 young Australians aged between 16 and 25 years surveyed for the Australian National Council on Drugs in 2013 supported its introduction. The finding is consistent with young people’s overall views about drugs: they want better information in order to make informed choices.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Seis motivos por los que Australia debería ensayar el análisis de las ‘pastillas para fiestas’

Las leyes, políticas y prácticas severas que castigan a las personas que usan drogas solo perpetúan los daños del consumo, y cada vez existen más pruebas de que las leyes de drogas de la India socavan la respuesta al VIH del país.

Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

A national consultation was held in New Delhi today to discuss the emerging challenges faced by India’s drug-using communities. Harsh laws, policies and practices that punish drug users only perpetuate the harms of drug use, and there is increasing evidence that India’s drug laws stifle the country's HIV response.

Organised by India HIV/AIDS Alliance (Alliance India) in collaboration with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the consultation saw more than 100 stakeholders from government, affected drug-using communities, media, international agencies, and civil society come together to discuss the emerging challenges faced by India’s drug-using communities and synergies to address this crisis of health and rights.

Worldwide 16 million people are estimated to inject drugs, and three million of them are living with HIV. In India, HIV prevalence in this group is 24-times that of the general population. Though progress has been made, the HIV epidemic continues to be fueled by the stigma and discrimination often experienced by drug users. In India, the lack of access to services can effectively be a death sentence for people who inject drugs. While some parts of the country, especially the Northeast, have developed a range of services for this vulnerable population, most other states have few if any such services. Even in places where basic services exist, it remains difficult for beneficiaries to access them.

The simple reality is that drug users are dying due to lack of attention to a variety of their health problems, including Hepatitis C, HIV, overdose, and detoxification. Some of these services remain controversial and currently not part of India’s basic harm reduction service package, while others are often not available where needed.

Las severas leyes de drogas socavan la respuesta al VIH en la India

Esta mesa redonda, celebrada en Nueva York, contó con la participación de representantes de varias agencias de la ONU, como el PNUD y ONUSIDA, la Universidad de las Naciones Unidas, funcionarios de países y representantes de la sociedad civil. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

This panel discussion on "The road to the United Nations General Assembly’s special session on the World Drug Problem 2016 (UNGASS 2016)" was organised by the United Nations University (UNU).

El camino a la Sesión Especial de la Asamblea General de la ONU sobre el problema mundial de las drogas en 2016

En esta conferencia se analiza cómo los métodos para aplicar la legislación internacional de los derechos humanos pueden servir de herramienta para examinar cuestiones relacionadas con el control de drogas. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

The human rights impact of drug laws and policies is a new and emerging issue among human rights scholars and advocates. Using the issue of the compulsory detention of people who use drugs as a case study, this lecture will explore how methods for applying international human rights law can serve as a tool to scrutinise drug control issues.

Analizando el control de drogas desde una óptica de derechos humanos: el caso de la detención obligatoria por drogas

Con las reformas de justicia penal y de cannabis en varios estados, el cambio de la política de drogas se ha convertido en una extendida demanda.Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

With marijuana legalisation measures passing in Oregon, Alaska and Washington, D.C., and with groundbreaking criminal justice reforms passing in California and New Jersey, there's no longer any denying that drug policy reform is a mainstream -- and quite urgent -- political demand.

These wins will boost efforts already underway in states such as California, Massachusetts, Maine, Nevada and Arizona to end marijuana prohibition in 2016, as well as efforts in Congress and around the country to scale back the disastrous policies of mass incarceration.

And speaking of 2016, yesterday's results now mean that Presidential candidates and other prominent candidates for public office will have no choice but to take positions on these issues, which could prove to be another tipping point in national politics. While some major politicians have yet to evolve on marijuana legalization and drug policy reform, that’s likely to change in the coming months and years, as drug war proponents start to pay a heftier price at the polls for their cluelessness.

Noticias

Seis motivos por los que Australia debería ensayar el análisis de las ‘pastillas para fiestas’

Las severas leyes de drogas socavan la respuesta al VIH en la India

El camino a la Sesión Especial de la Asamblea General de la ONU sobre el problema mundial de las drogas en 2016

Analizando el control de drogas desde una óptica de derechos humanos: el caso de la detención obligatoria por drogas

Elecciones 2014: Estadounidenses listos para terminar la guerra a las drogas