Pese a los escollos, el 2021 fue un año de gran cambio en el panorama de las políticas de drogas. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

With 2021 now receding in the rear view mirror, we look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly in the arena of drug policy around the world.

The International Criminal Court Eyes Philippines Drug War Killings

Afghanistan's Government Falls, Opium Remains

Mexican Drug War Violence Just Keeps Going

Mexico Didn't Get Marijuana Legalization Done (Again)

Bangladesh Drug War Killings Draw Pushback

Malta Becomes First European Union County to Legalize Marijuana -- Germany, Luxembourg Next?

Italy's Pending Referendum on Marijuana and Plant Psychedelics

Cocaine Production Has Doubled in the Course of a Decade

World Health Organization Declines Move Toward Labeling Kratom a Controlled Substance

StopTheDrugWar.org: Top 10 de los desarrollos sobre políticas de drogas internacionales de 2021

Más de la mitad de las mujeres en prisión en Argentina cumplen sentencias por delitos relacionados con drogas; la mayoría de estos delitos consisten en la simple posesión. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

Paola left her home when she was 13 to escape abuse and violence. She lived on the streets for five years until she became pregnant. Her boyfriend left her when he found out. Without work and food, Paola agreed to deal drugs for a neighbourhood kingpin.

She only had to deliver the drugs when her boss’s clients appeared on a street corner. With the money she made in the first few months, she was able to rent a room and live there with her newborn son. With a new partner and her family’s basic needs covered she felt she could abandon her dealer job.

A pattern is developing in Latin America: aggressive drug policies are filling the region’s prisons with women, many of whom are forced into the drug business because they have no other alternatives to support their families.

In Argentina 43% of female prisoners are serving time for drug possession, according to the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights. It is, by far, the leading cause of imprisonment for women in Argentina. As a comparison, the second leading cause of incarceration – theft – represents only 9% of convictions.

Selling drugs is a survival strategy for women in Latin America. They are the most visible face – and the most exposed – of the region’s drug trade. They are also, in most cases, the product of their circumstances: violence, lack of education, poverty, asymmetric power relations, and inequity.

Las mujeres llenan las cárceles en Argentina por delitos relacionados con drogas – un ensayo fotográfico

La reducción de daños es un aspecto vital de la salud pública, salvando vidas, así como protegiendo la dignidad, capacidad de agencia de las personas y otros derechos humanos. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

By the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Médecins du Monde and the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD)

Over the past decades, drug use is increasingly recognised through a public health and human rights perspective. The evidence-based harm reduction approach is based on years of global experiences and evaluated by extensive research. This three-week course provides great insight into why it is such an effective solution.

See how human rights and public health relate to harm reduction

Public health measures focus on improving the overall health of a population, changing regulations, and increasing government support.

You’ll learn how harm reduction is a vital part of this approach, using an effective intervention model that saves lives, as well as protecting dignity, individual agency and other human rights.

Understand the importance of support instead of punishment

At its core, the harm reduction approach is based on empowering people to better protect themselves from potential risks associated with drug use.

It acknowledges the role of people who use drugs as a vital component of a public health response and promotes the idea that government and community support decrease potential risk factors.

On this course, you’ll see real best-practice examples and explore how you can advocate scaling up harm reduction to make a real impact on individual and public health issues, as well as protecting the human rights of people who use drugs.

Study harm reduction at a recognised leader in global and public health

The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) is strongly connected to the peer-reviewed International Journal of Drug Policy, with much of the research in this field coming from the LSHTM, while also being a world-renowned leader in global and public health.

You can trust their expert guidance as you learn more about using harm reduction to address drug use.

Consumo de drogas y reducción de daños – Curso virtual 

La JIFE urgió a los Estados Miembros a colocar los derechos humanos en el centro de sus políticas para el control de drogas. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

INCB recalls that the three conventions were adopted to safeguard the health and wellbeing of people. It is for this reason that INCB is concerned about continued reports of human rights violations, including arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, other forms of mistreatment, and extrajudicial killings, being committed in the name of drug control. These violations undermine the rule of law and are contrary to the human rights instruments and drug control conventions. INCB would like to remind Member States that the drug control conventions, the Political Declaration adopted by the General Assembly at its twentieth special session, and the Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem all call for a balanced approach, respect for the principle of proportionality and respect for human rights, including the rights of people who are suspected of committing drug-related offences.

In particular, INCB reminds Member States of their treaty obligations to take all practicable measures for prevention, and for education, treatment, rehabilitation and social reintegration for people who use drugs. Such services should be evidence-based, accessible, free from discrimination and stigma, and respect human rights and dignity.

The drug control conventions must be implemented in a manner consistent with international human rights standards. Indeed, compliance with the drug control conventions can lead to the direct and positive fulfilment of human rights, and such compliance is vital for the realization of the right to health, which includes the right to treatment and access to controlled substances for medical purposes.

Drug control policies that meet all human rights principles and standards are effective and sustainable. INCB highlights the important links between human rights and drug control policies and how these policies can lead to the protection of human rights and the promotion of the Sustainable Development Goals.

INCB continues to work with Member States to support the implementation of the drug control conventions and reaffirms its commitment to progress the Sustainable Development Goals.

Declaración del Presidente de la JIFE con ocasión del Día de los Derechos Humanos, 10 de diciembre de 2021

El Vice-Primer Ministro y Ministro de Salud Pública de Tailandia ha prometido que el cannabis, así como el cáñamo, serán retirados de la lista de sustancias estupefacientes el próximo año. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

In a progressive move, the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine plans to have local cannabis strains registered as a national heritage item before seeking Unesco recognition.

The department has gathered over 30 local strains and recorded the DNA of each one to make a database of the strains grown here with the information to be used to register geographical indications.

The move, if successful, will help de-stigmatise the plant, a traditional herb, away from being an illicit drug under the original anti-narcotics law.

Mr Anutin has also set up a panel comprising experts from various fields to find ways to put the policy into practice. Cannabis legalisation was a flagship policy of Mr Anutin's Bhumjaithai Party during the 2019 election campaign which will allow each household to grow a maximum of six cannabis plants.

Noticias

StopTheDrugWar.org: Top 10 de los desarrollos sobre políticas de drogas internacionales de 2021

Las mujeres llenan las cárceles en Argentina por delitos relacionados con drogas – un ensayo fotográfico

Consumo de drogas y reducción de daños – Curso virtual

Declaración del Presidente de la JIFE con ocasión del Día de los Derechos Humanos, 10 de diciembre de 2021

Tailandia: Repensando el cannabis