Drug Policy in Austria

Two steps forward and one step back on the road to human rights based drug policy in Austria

Drug policy and human rights are intricately entwined, from drug cultivation and production through transit, sale and consumption; and no government, it is safe to say, is yet implementing a perfectly human rights coherent approach to drugs in their country. But, how would human rights-conforming drug policy look like here in Austria and how close, or far away, is Austria to such a model?

The first HUMAN RIGHTS TALK of 2017 - Two steps forward and one step back on the road to human rights based drug policy in Austria – will cover many bases: drug dealers, public spaces and racial profiling; Austria’s position on the recent global wave of drug regulation and decriminalisation; harm reduction (services aimed at reducing or avoiding negative consequences of drug use) and their availability in Austria; and the efforts being made both politically and by civil society towards sensible and human rights-conforming drug policy in Austria.

Katharina BECLIN (Institute for Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, University of Vienna), Roland REITHOFER (Suchthilfe), Rainer SCHMID (checkit!), Stefan SCHUMANN (Johannes Kepler University, Linz) and Toni STRAKA (Hanf Institut) will discuss. Moderation: Manfred NOWAK (Research Centre Human Rights).

Kindly observe that this event is held in German. Following the discussion, the Research Centre Human Rights and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human would like to invite you to join the subsequent reception.

The admission is free, for logistical reasons we kindly ask you to register at humanrightstalk@univie.ac.at!

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