#DrugDecrim Month
Over the course of June 2021, the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) organises five weeks of activity to highlight the importance and potential of decriminalisation for the health and well-being of our communities.
Criminalisation is a major obstacle in achieving the IDPC network's vision of 'drug policies that advance social justice and human rights'. Drug policies' current reliance on punishment and criminalisation exacerbates inequalities, racial and social injustice, and drug-related harm. In many parts of the world, drug laws are a colonial remnant which swell prison populations, widen the criminal legal system's net, and worsen public health and welfare outcomes such as HIV and hepatitis infections, and drug-related deaths.
Across the globe, over 30 countries have adopted legal reforms to remove the criminalisation of certain activities related to drug use. The UN System Common Position on Drugs reinforces multilateral support for this approach.
#DrugDecrim Month will showcase the wealth of existing evidence and knowledge on the harmful impacts of criminalisation, and the benefits of decriminalisation to foster safer, healthier and more inclusive communities.
In the coming five weeks, IDPC's social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube) will be sharing publications, interviews and panels, both from the IDPC network and colleagues from civil society and academia at large.
We invite you to join the conversation and share your own thoughts and materials by using the hashtag #DrugDecrim.
Activities during #DrugDecrim Month include:
Drug Decriminalisation Across the World
An updated version of this web-tool inventorying the lights and shadows of decriminalisation models, produced in collaboration with Release and TalkingDrugs.
Decriminalisation e-course
In partnership with e-learning experts at the Health[e]Foundation, and in collaboration with civil society and community experts, as well as government and UN authorities, we are creating a flexible learning tool to develop our movement's capacity to advance decriminalisation.
Decriminalisation of People who Use Drugs: A Guide for Advocacy
The launch of a user-friendly knowledge and advocacy resource outlining practical steps to advocate for decriminalisation and plant the seeds for cultivating healthier, safer and more inclusive communities.
Support. Don't Punish Global Day of Action
On, and around, 26 June, the ninth edition of the Day of Action will see thousands mobilise in favour of sustainable alternatives to criminalisation and the 'war on drugs'. Have plans? Let us know!