By the Nightcrawlers, Release UK, Harm Reduction International and the International Drug Policy Consortium

, acclaimed photojournalist and main subject of the National Geographic documentary 

An unflinching, verité-style exposé, 

 follows a determined group of photojournalists on their mission to chronicle the deadly battle being waged against the Philippines’ drug epidemic — and the tragic cost of this brutal crusade.

Gloria Lai: International Drug Policy Consortium

Giada Girelli: Harm Reduction International

We encourage participants to watch the documentary beforehand for free on YouTube to learn more about these brave journalists. Questions can also be submitted in advance of panel once you RSVP to the event.

While the event is free of charge, the number of attendees is limited, so save your spot now by clicking the "save my spot" button.

Support. Don’t Punish: Challenging the war on drugs in the Philippines

EMCDDA is hosting a webinar about the impacts of COVID-19 on patterns of drugs use. The event will take place on

 17th June from 12.00 to 13.30 (Lisbon time)

Helena Valente, Founder of Kosmicare, Portugal

Iga Kender-Jeziorska, Deputy Director | Youth Organisations for Drug Action, Hungary

Mireia Ventura, Director of the Drug Checking service of Energy Control, Spain

Nicki Killeen, National Social Inclusion Office, Health Service Executive Ireland

Impacts of COVID-19 on patterns of drug use

YouthRISE Nigeria is hosting a two-part webinar series with experts in drug policy, criminal justice, mental health and youth development to discuss the intersection between criminal justice reform and drug control, in Nigeria and West Africa.

The event is scheduled for 18th June 2020 at 2pm (WAT).

COVID-19: A wake-up call for criminal justice reform

By the California Department of Public Health, Office of AIDS and the California Department of Health Care Services

Jointly hosted by the California Department of Public Health, Office of AIDS and the California Department of Health Care Services, this webinar will explore opioid treatment services during the COVID-19 pandemic, including opportunities to build on recent changes to federal regulations that have made buprenorphine and methadone prescribing more flexible and accessible.

Presentations will include perspectives from both people with personal experience of utilizing treatment and providers delivering innovative opioid treatment services.

Elizabeth Day: Harm Reduction & Hepatitis C Educator, North Carolina Survivors Union

Aaron Ferguson: Urban Survivor’s Union Leadership Team Member and Opioid Treatment Advocate

Andrew Tatarsky, PhD Director, Center for Optimal Living

Louise Vincent, MPH Executive Director, North CarolinaSurvivors Union

Leah Warner, NP, MPH Street Medicine, San Francisco Department of Public Health

Meeting number: 145 934 5183 Password: P3mAeXeme43

Are we helping? Access to opioid treatment during and after COVID-19

This fourth webinar in the series takes a deeper dive into issues of access to housing, shelter and health services for people who use drugs during COVID-19, and the amplified challenges faced during this time. The aim of this webinar is to share experiences and facilitate an interactive discussion on both existing services that have been adapted, and new initiatives that have been established to address the challenges faced by the community related to housing and shelter. The speakers will discuss how COVID-19 has affected their programmes, the role and mobilisation of civil society, and advocacy for housing, shelter and survival support for PWUD.

Webinar #4 on COVID-19 and Harm Reduction Programme Implementation

Part 1 of a series on Psychedelic Community & Racial Justice.

The killing of George Floyd has once again put the spotlight on the ongoing systemic issues of racial injustice, police violence, and criminalization of marginalized BIPOC communities. The psychedelic community must stand in solidarity with wider activism for collective liberation, including and extending far beyond ending the war on drugs.

Where do we go from here? How do we build a better, more equitable and caring future?

First we'll look at the history to understand how we got to this moment and how we can advocate for policy that repairs the harms of the past, from colonization to the drug war and modern policing.

Camille Barton (they/them) is an artist, writer and somatic educator, working on the intersections of wellness, drug policy and transformative justice.

 is Executive Director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP, formerly Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) and a retired Major of the Maryland State and Baltimore City Police Departments. Following the tragic murder of his close friend, Corporal Ed Toatley, while making an undercover drug buy, Neill resolved to reform failed drug war policies.

 (they/them) is an Outreach Coordinator for DanceSafe, President of New York DanceSafe, and the Technical Program Manager at NEXT Distro.

 is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and the Founder of the Psychedelic Society of Western New York, out of which he developed a local psychedelic harm reduction organization.

 History of the drug war, colonization & racism

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP Nigeria) is inviting you to a scheduled virtual conference on Zoom on 

Theme: Drug policy in Africa; the best approach

To join the Zoom meeting follow this link.

Meeting ID: 815 0002 2867
Password: 506201

Drug policy in Africa - The best approach

As the United States and the world reel from COVID-19, another epidemic, opioid addiction, continues to ravage the U.S. The opioid epidemic has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans, generated vast national economic and social costs, and exposed the critical weaknesses and limitations of U.S. drug policy.

To harness the lessons learned and provide policymakers with a wide range of policy options and recommendations, experts from Brookings and beyond have undertaken a multidisciplinary effort — in the forthcoming series “The opioid crisis in America: Domestic and international dimensions” — to develop new insights and best practices for policy stakeholders working at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as members of the public who are on the front lines of the opioid crisis. The project has analyzed and assessed a broad range of the opioid epidemic dimensions.

, in the first of two webinars, the Brookings Institution will release the project’s findings on prevention, treatment, and regulation of the opioid crisis. Brookings President John R. Allen will introduce the project and event. Representative David Trone, D-M.D., will provide keynote remarks and join Brookings Senior Fellow Vanda Felbab-Brown in a conversation. Subsequently, NPR correspondent Brian Mann will moderate a panel of experts from the Brookings Opioid Project: Carol Graham, Jonathan Caulkins, Beau Kilmer, and Rosalie Liccardo Pacula. The panel will then take questions from the audience.

The opioid crisis in America – Prevention, treatment and regulation

As the world has been gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic, the global “war on drugs” has continued in ways that are both surprising and tragically familiar. We can see how the drug war is utilized as political proxy, authoritarian instrument, and mechanism of oppression by charting recent examples across the globe: from President Trump’s surprising April 1 coronavirus press conference announcing “enhanced counter-narcotics operations” in the Western Hemisphere to restrictions on press freedoms in the Philippines to police brutality and systemic racism in the United States.

This live-streamed conversation will explore the current state of the drug war, the anti-racism protests taking place across the world, responses from political leaders, and the rise of authoritarianism in the context of COVID-19. The event will take place on 

Sheila Coronel: Sheila Coronel is director of the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at the Columbia University School of Journalism.

Geoff Ramsey: Geoff Ramsey is director for Venezuela at the Washington Office on Latin America.

Aqeela Sherrills: Aqeela Sherrills is director of the Newark Community Street Team.

Matthew Wilson: Matthew Wilson is deputy director for the Open Society Global Drug Policy Program.

How the war on drugs continues to fuel authoritarianism

Last year, thousands of activists in 261 cities of 92 countries joined arms to promote policies and practices that centre solidarity, reduce harm and protect human rights. The 2020 Global Day of Action is all about accelerating momentum for reform. And, to do so, we need each other.

Since the first Global Day of Action, in 2013, the Support. Don’t Punish campaign has seen local partners organise activities in hundreds of cities of over 100 countries around the world. We are united in the recognition that the “war on drugs” is a war on us all and, in particular, those of us experiencing stigma, exclusion and criminalisation.

If you’re thinking about joining the 2020 Global Day of Action, fill the form available online and in Word format below.

Should you need inspiration or guidance, check out our repository with hundreds of activities organised in previous years, or get in touch via Slack and e-mail.

The deadline for submissions is Monday, 27 April 2020.

Important note on Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

At the moment of drafting, over 150,000 cases of COVID-19 have been detected across the globe. It is impossible to accurately estimate how the pandemic will evolve in the coming weeks and months, but we know it will disproportionately affect many of the populations at the heart of the Support. Don’t Punish campaign. We believe we have a responsibility to do our best to keep ourselves and others healthy. When completing the form, we invite you to consider alternative plans in case the pandemic impedes the realisation of your initially-planned activities.

To help stimulate your creativity, check out our 'Bank of Ideas for Mobilisation'.

Please, check the official advice of public authorities in your country. We also invite you to consider the following resources:

Rolling updates and guidance on coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
By the World Health Organisation

COVID-19 Harm Reduction for People Who Use Drugs
By the International Network of People who Use Drugs, in collaboration with TalkingDrugs

COVID-19 Guidance for People Who Use Drugs and Harm Reduction Programs
By the Harm Reduction Coalition

Submission period: 16 March – 27 April 2020

Assessment period: 27 April – 4 May 2020

Expected disbursement period: 8 - 22 May 2020

Feedback submission period: July - September 2020

2020 Support. Don't Punish Global Day of Action

By Mainline and Poppi: Drugs Museum Amsterdam

, Poppi: Drugs Museum Amsterdam open the doors for a unique photo expo: Dutch Drugs Stories. This pop-up event takes place in Amsterdam. For a full month we will organise thematic nights, debates, film screening and lectures. There is room for theatre, spoken word and storytelling and music. All drugs-themed.

For more info and tickets, please click here.

Dutch Drug Stories

A special commemorative event of the sixtythird session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, organised at the occasion of the United Nations International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Traffickingt, will be held virtually on 

Friday, 26 June 2020, starting at 2:00 p.m

. Vienna Time (CEST). During this event, the World Drug Report 2020 will be launched, followed by a discussion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world drug situation, from a regional perspective.

Presented in six separate booklets, the World Drug Report 2020 provides a wealth of information and analysis to support the international community in implementing operational recommendations on a number of drug policies issues, including the recommendations contained in the outcome document of the special session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem, held in 2016.

The launch of the World Drug Report 2020 will be followed, after a short break, by a discussion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world drug situation, co-sponsored by the European Union and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

The event will be webcast, accessible through the following link: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/commissions/CND/session/63_Session_2020/special-event-launch-of-world-drug-report-26-june.html.html

Events