Across the United States, state legislatures are considering a return to ineffective, punitive drug policies, a perpetuation of Richard Nixon’s 52-year-old War on Drugs.

In New Jersey, where officials have spent one billion dollars fighting the failed drug war, lawmakers have introduced legislation to enhance penalties around fentanyl, though the harsh policies already in place have not proven successful in addressing the worsening overdose crisis.

Maryland legislators have chosen to keep drug paraphernalia criminalized, despite evidence that illegality creates barriers to safer use practices and perpetuates numerous drug-related harms.

In Maine, policymakers are attempting to roll back protections offered by their state’s Good Samaritan Law, which offers lifesaving legal immunity to those who call for help and those present at the scene of an overdose.

Open Society is working with our partners to bring awareness to the damages perpetuated by the failed policies of the War on Drugs. In this discussion, policy experts explore the benefits of diverting resources from penalties for people who use drugs toward investing them in harm reduction services that are proven to directly benefit the communities they serve.

Lawrence Grandpre is director of Research for Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle

Meagan Sway is policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine.

Marleina Ubel is a policy analyst and state policy fellow at New Jersey Policy Perspective.

Kasia Malinowska is director of Drugs Policy at the Open Society Foundations.

Drug decriminalization: From punitive policies to effective solutions

In 2023, RightsCon will be a hybrid convening taking place in 

 The venue for in-person participants is the 

, a bioclimatic, eco-friendly, and sustainably-designed space located near the airport and just 

The RightsCon platform, which we have used since 2020, will host the full program as well as provide access to online programming with features that enable networking between participants including one-on-one and group chats, and creative spaces for connecting and socializing. The platform will use different video streaming and conferencing services, including Vimeo, Zoom, and 

Racialised surveillance and the ‘war on drugs’: avenues for resistance against expanding policing technologies

Co-organised by IDPC with European Digital Rights (EDRi) and the Latin American Network of People Who Use Drugs (LANPUD)

Thursday, 8 June | 12:45 (Costa Rica)
Hybrid event – 

For decades, punitive drug policies have provided legal backing for state violence directed at marginalised groups pushed into vulnerability, including people living in poverty, racialised groups, and women and gender non-conforming people (for more information, see the 

). As a result, groups experiencing intersecting forms of oppression have disproportionately experienced criminalisation and incarceration, the denial of basic human rights, and police violence and intimidation. Despite overwhelming evidence on the harms of punitive approaches to drug policy, states are increasingly reliant on surveillance technologies to maintain and expand drug control, including by maintaining registers of people who use drugs surveilling social media (sometimes 

taking down life-saving harm reduction content

 that detect drug use on people under parole).

These developments risk further exacerbating the harms experienced by hyper- policed and under-protected communities, deepening exclusion and marginalisation. The conversation among drug policy reform advocates on this worrying issue is only nascent, and there is a clear need to learn from other human rights movements about the implications of the rise in the use of surveillance technologies by state actors, as well as how to resist this new form of control of particularly marginalised and vulnerable groups. This session will provide a space for dialogue among human rights advocates to reflect on strategies of resistance against the surge in surveillance technologies by the state and how these could be applied in the field of drug policy.

RightsCon 2023

Registration is open and accesible via this link.

1. New evidence and insights about cannabis policy changes


E.g.: cannabis regulation developments; experiences of (new) policy implementation; effects of cannabis policy changes (including implications for illegal markets).


E.g.: conflict zones as magnets for drug production; drug trafficking and organised crime; seaports as nodes for illegal drug trade; corruption and drug trafficking; the intersection between drug policies, policy reform and organised crime.

3. Regional drug policy changes and challenges


E.g.: the North American overdose crisis; tensions in contemporary Asian drug policy; cocaine markets, use and harms in Europe; synthetic drug production and consumption in the Middle East.

4. People who use drugs and the voices of lived experience in drug policy


E.g.: putting people who use drugs at the centre; reducing stigma and discrimination; human rights and drug policy; intersectional perspectives.

5. Drug policy making and the use of evidence


E.g.: role of the EU and Pompidou Group in European drug policy; opportunities for (evidence-informed) policy reform; policy making from global, regional, national to local; the history of prohibition.


E.g.: psychedelics policy; environmental harms of drug policy and illicit markets; the role of new technologies; medical applications of prohibited substances; novel approaches to harm reduction, treatment and prevention; interventions aimed at reducing drug-related deaths.


E.g.: innovations in data sources and analysis; experiences and challenges in monitoring drug policy changes and their impacts; anticipating plausible future trends and developments in drug markets and consumption; evidence assessment.

Quantitative or qualitative papers in other areas are also welcome. The terms ‘drugs’ should be interpreted broadly to include any intoxicating substance used recreationally or misused medically, as well as the diversion of legal chemicals used in the production of psychoactive substances.

16th Annual Conference of The International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP)

 Conference 10.00 – 16.00 (Registration from 09.30)


 Platform, 253 Argyle Street, Glasgow, G2 8DL

This conference will bring together a diverse range of speakers from across the UK and Europe to examine the valuable lessons learned over the past 35 years of responding to drug-related issues, with a particular focus on the Scottish context. Equally important, the conference will take stock of our current situation and look ahead to emerging themes and challenges that lie ahead.

 Whole Systems Unit Head, Drug Policy Division, Scottish Government 

 – Professor of Addiction Medicine and retired GP 

 Professor in Psychology, Bangor University and former SDF chair 

 Professor of Substance Use and Inclusion Health, University of Stirling

 Research assistant, University of Stirling

 – Associate Medical Director, Addiction Services at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde

 International Network and Programme Director Correlation-European Harm Reduction Network

 Principal Scientist at European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA)

 Physician and Safer Supply Prescriber at London Intercommunity Health Centre, London, Ontario, Canada

Shaping Scotland’s Drug Policy Conference

The 32nd session will take place in Vienna from 22-26 May 2023. You can visit the official website of the event 

Gender and imprisonment: Experience and recommendations in addressing health needs

Organized by UNODC with support from Penal Reform International, OHCHR, IDPC, Thailand Department of Corrections and the Permanent Missions of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, EU, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, UK and USA

Prisons have traditionally been built for men and designed to cater to their needs. Not only are women and transgender people a growing prison population, they have unique and complex healthcare needs that are often neglected. Their situation is exacerbated by stigma, gender-based violence and inequality in accessing prison services, discrimination and HIV risk behaviours.
This side event will introduce efforts in addressing the healthcare needs of women (and their children) and transgender people in prison and the challenges they face.

Justice for All: Global action to combat discrimination and inequality in criminal justice systems

Organized by the International Legal Foundation with the support of South Africa, the United States, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status, the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum, Amnesty International, the International Drug Policy Consortium, the Open Society Foundations and Penal Reform International

International law sets forth that all are equal before the law without discrimination, and governments have incorporated equal protection and non-discrimination into their constitutions and laws. In practice, however, criminal justice systems around the world discriminatorily criminalise people who are marginalized based on poverty, race, caste, ethnicity, religion, disability, nationality, gender, and other statuses or identities. Building on momentum from last year’s CCPCJ and a growing, global movement to address these inequities, this side-event will bring together governments, practitioners, civil society, and other experts to demonstrate discrimination within criminal laws and policies; share effective solutions; and highlight urgent actions needed to increase international cooperation on addressing inequality in criminal justice systems.

Use of non-custodial measures as pathways to reduce overcrowding in prisons

32nd session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ)

The Seventy-sixth World Health Assembly is being held in Geneva, Switzerland, on 21–30 May 2023.

. Simultaneous interpretation is available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Inter-ministerial dialogue: 'Essential medicines under international control: ensuring equitable and affordable access to and safe use for all'

Tuesday, 23 May | 13:00 - 14:00 | Hotel President Wilson, 47 Quai Wilson, Geneva 

To join in person or online, please RSVP 

by 22 May to Tamara Garcia (tamara.garcia[@]globalcommissionondrugs.org) specifying whether you will be attending in-person or online.

Co-organised by the Global Commission on Drug Policy (GCDP) and the World Health Organization (WHO)

The goal of this Ministerial Dialogue is to provide a space where member States (in this case, Ministries of Health) can present and discuss progress and shortfalls in their national policies, while providing examples and noting promising practices in the field of access to and safe use of essential medicines under international control. The dialogue will also provide a means to check in on global progress and problems, while at the same time aiming to identify and discuss concrete collaborative solutions.

Responding to the global crisis of overdose

Friday, 26 May | 11:00 - 13:00 (CEST) | Hybrid event | UNAIDS Secretariat 20, Avenue Appia CH-1211 Geneva 27 Switzerland in the Kofi Annan Room

Responding to the Global Crisis of Overdose

 Please RSVP to giavana.margo[@]opensocietyfoundations.org to receive a Zoom link

Co-organised by the Open Society Foundations and UNAIDS

Opioid overdose, already a major cause of mortality in many countries, is increasing alarmingly across the world. A key factor in death rates everywhere is the presence of fentanyl and other strong synthetic opioids in the illicit drug supply, coupled with increasing availability and decreasing costs for all drugs. Globally, overdose mortality data is often incomplete and does not tell the whole story. However, many signs suggest this crisis will expand across the world in the coming years.

Overdose mortality has long term global, economic, social, cultural, and political implications – like AIDS – and similar global health leadership is needed in framing the response. Most opiate overdose deaths are easily avoidable with the right intervention, and there much evidence to support known interventions. We need the political will to bring these solutions to scale.

This event brings together an expert panel to review global trends on overdose and to discuss what progress has been made in the past decade on overdose intervention and response. It will provide a forum to discuss progress and challenges within national policies, while learning from innovative interventions from multiple countries.

76th World Health Assembly

A growing number of cities, particularly in Europe and North America, are supporting, experimenting with or planning the development of a drug consumption room: a pragmatic response to the health and social damage associated with the use of legal and illegal psychotropic substances. However, the urgent need to implement and strengthen innovative and courageous policies is becoming more and more apparent every day, especially with COVID-19, which has made the most vulnerable more vulnerable.

The City of Strasbourg, the Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe, the Ithaque association and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), with the support of the Inter-ministerial Mission for the Fight against Drugs and Addictive Behaviours (MILDECA), the Regional Health Agency of the Grand Est (ARS), the European Forum for Urban Safety (Efus) and Correlation Network, are pleased to invite you to the third symposium on drug consumption rooms, which will be held on 4-5 May at the Council of Europe.

This conference continues the strong momentum started in 2019 at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, renewed in 2021 at the Council of Europe, bringing together nearly 600 people from 50 cities and 33 different countries. Its aim is to promote the model of drug consumption rooms and to harmonize French and European policies on risk and harm reduction. It offers the opportunity to share a diversity of experiences, to deal with different legal frameworks and their evolutions, to put innovations into perspective and to encourage collaborative networks as close as possible to the territories that require it.

The event will be attended by institutional actors and associations in the field, managers of structures, and local, national and European political leaders, who will be able to take the floor.

The pre-programme and the registration link will be available later.

Drug consumption rooms around the world: Working together to provide a local response

The Sixth Breaking Convention is at The University of Exeter on Thursday 20th - Saturday 22nd April 2023. 

Europe's largest conference on psychedelic consciousness, 

 debuted at the University of Kent in 2011 to an audience of 500 delegates. Now in its twelfth year, it has developed into a truly multi-faceted conference selling well over a thousand tickets in forty countries and offering the latest ground-breaking research and insights across human and social sciences, law, politics, art, history and philosophy.

Our main, biennial conference spans three full days, during which we also hold numerous workshops and awards, display an art exhibition and installation programme, show a full cinema programme, curate a museum and blotter art auction, throw killer after parties and publish a book of selected academic works free for every delegate.

Breaking Convention 2023

The harm reduction community will soon be ready to connect again - in Melbourne for HR23: Strength in Solidarity.

The Harm Reduction International Conference, convened by Harm Reduction International in a different city every two years, attracts over 1,000 international delegates and has been held in almost every region of the world. This year's conference (HR23) will be held in Melbourne, Australia, on 16-19 April 2023.

Over four days of presentations, workshops, films, networking events and more, the conference will continue its history of providing a dynamic forum to share the latest research and discussions on best practice in drug use, harm reduction and human rights, bringing together over 1,000 people from around the world working at the heart of harm reduction and drug policy.

Returning to Australia for the first time in 19 years, the conference will be a unique opportunity to showcase Melbourne’s incredible harm reduction programmes and the people who have made them possible, and also to push for further progress not just for the country, but for the region as a whole.

The conference theme, Strength in Solidarity, will underpin all HR23 activities and highlight the importance of our strength – as people, as a community, as a global movement - in sticking together.

The IDPC secretariat is involved in the following events that we warmly invite you to join:

Promoting decriminalisation, and solidarity across movements: 

16:00 - 17:30 | In person (Room: 217) | Facilitated by Nang Pann Ei Kham

Supporting people who use drugs in Africa –What’s working in policy and practice? 

17:00 - 19:00 | In person (Room: 218) | Organised by EJAF, VOCAL Kenya & IDPC | RSVP: rsvp@eltonjohnaidsfoundation.org | Stream: 

Imminent danger: Building harm reduction responses to prevent corporate capture in regulated drug markets

Stagnation, collapse or reform? The way ahead for the global drug policy regime: 

16:00 - 18:30 | In person (Room 206) - Organised by IDPC

Punitive Policy: Prohibition, Progress and Possibilities: 

Making numbers count: Assessing The Global Drug Policy Index as an Advocacy Tool

‘Support. Don’t Punish’ — A prison abolitionist call?

: 11:00 - 12:30 | In person (Room: 217) - Facilitated by Juan Fernández Ochoa

Advocating for Drug Policy Reform: Examples from Around the World:

Growing intersectional feminism in drug policy
advocacy in Southeast Asia

Treatment by Force: Mandatory Detention and Treatment of People who Use Drugs: 

A year of radical drug policy reforms in Thailand: lessons learned and gaps that remain

Drop us a visit to exchange ideas on advocacy and campaigning, stock up on goodies, and take snaps at our photo booth!

Using harm reduction to resist police violence: Experiences and lessons from Cracolândia, Brazil - 

Authored by Ana Luiza Uwai, Karin di Monteiro, Janaina Gonçalves, Maria Angélica Comis, Adrià Cots Fernández.

27th Harm Reduction International Conference

The 66th session will take place from 13-17 March 2023. For general information on the CND, check out the dedicated section of our website on 

Vienna NGO Committee's (VNGOC) Guide for Participants

A video introduction to the Commission's functioning and mechanisms of engagement is also available.

 enables you to navigate and engage with the debates at the CND. This mobile application will help you track, in real time, what is happening and where, receive notifications on key events, resolutions and speakers, and browse CND resolutions and UN-agreed language on specific drug policy issues

For an optimal experience, please download the app from the 

 store. Alternatively, you can access some of the app's functionalities with 

Global Partnership on Drug Policies and Development

A record-breaking 155 side events are scheduled to take place during the session and most of them will be accessible online. Flyers and access links will be accessible on the 

The IDPC Secretariat and network members co-organised almost 40 side events!

You can find a list of all side events co-organised by the IDPC network, with links to [real-time] transcriptions and recordings, as available 

The IDPC Secretariat co-sponsors 16 side events that we warmly invite you to join:

Ending gender-based violence against women and gender non-conforming people who use drugs

 | Organised by IWRAW Asia Pacific with the support of Australia, WHRIN, IDPC, EHRA, CELS, IDUCARE.

Ensuring human rights protection in Nordic drug policy: 

9:10 – 10:00 | In person (M0E07) | Organised by the FHN with the support of Iceland, Norway, IDPC, RIO.

The ineffectiveness of disproportionate sentencing: Towards sensible and people-centred policies

13:00 – 13:50 | Hybrid (M0E07) | Organised by Instituto RIA AC with the support of Colombia, Elementa DDHH, Dejusticia, ATS, DPA, IDPC and LEAP.

The impact of drug policy on economic, social and cultural rights: Overturning decades of neglect

 | Organised by IDPC, with the support of Colombia, Czechia, Ghana, Norway, Portugal, OHCHR, Amnesty International, Dejusticia, EHRA, HRI, HFHR, INPUD, TNI.

It all begins with health: Using a substance use health lens to achieve broad improvements in drug and government policy: 

8:00 – 8:50 | In-person (M0E05) | Organised by CCSA with the support of IDPC, Dianova International, RIO, CAPSA.

The efforts of Ghana towards placing health and human rights at the heart of national drug policy: Lessons learned and future opportunities

 | Organised by Ghana with the support of Czechia, Germany, Nigeria, South Africa, Switzerland, the AU Commission, OHCHR, ICHRDP, IDPC.

Human rights and drugs: What have we learned and where are we heading?

 | Organised by Czechia with the support of Colombia, Ghana, Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, OHCHR, GCDP, IDPC.

Drug-related detention: Assessing efforts to relieve a crisis in South-East Asia

 | Organised by Amnesty International with the support of IDPC, LBHM, IDUCARE, TIJ.

Aligning drug policy with environmental protection

 | Organised by TNI with the support of Brazil, Colombia, GDPO, HPA, IDPC, OSF, Viso Mutop, WOLA.

Mitigating the risks of corporate capture for legal cannabis markets

 | In person (M0E07) | Organised by Transform with the support of IDPC, MUCD, HPA, Norwegian Association for Safer Drug Policies.

Young sex workers who use drugs: Addressing the stigma and need for change

 | Organised by Youth Rise with the support of the UNAIDS, WHRIN, HRI, INPUD, IDPC, EURONPUD, SSDP International, Dejusticia.

The right to health of people who use drugs: Harm reduction and access to voluntary treatments in a human rights perspective: 

8:00 – 8:50 | Hybrid (M7) | Organised by Forum Droghe with the support of IDPC, HRI, EURONPUD, la Società della Ragione, Associazione Luca Coscioni.

 | Organised by MUCD with the support of IDPC, LANPUD, Intercambios A.C., Elementa DDHH.

Health and HIV in prisons: Effective strategies to address urgent needs

 | Organised by PRI with the support of Belgium, Brazil, Czechia, Mexico, Sweden and IDPC.

“Nothing about us without us”: Opportunities to involve youth in drug policy

 | Organised by SSDP with the support of Australia, Canada, CSSDP, Youth RISE, SSDP Australia, IDPC.

Challenges and opportunities for drug policy reform: 

14:10 – 15:00 | Hybrid (M0E07) | Organised by the Brazilian Harm Reduction and Human Rights Network with the support of IDPC, INNPD, PBPD, Drug policy programme/Fiocruz, É de Lei Drop in Centre.

As in previous years, the VNGOC has organised several informal NGO dialogues with representatives from UN bodies:

 | Tuesday, 14 March, 11:00-12:00, M3 & 

 | Wednesday, 15 March, 11:00-12:00, M3 & 

 | Thursday, 16 March, 09:00-10:00, CR-6 & 

 | Thursday, 16 March, 11:00-12:00, M3 & 

Five resolutions have been tabled and will be negotiated by Member States. The drafts are 

The VNGOC's Annual General Assembly is scheduled for Thursday, 16 March 2023 at 16:00 (Vienna) at the Vienna International Centre, (Room M-3, M-building 1st floor) and online 

.

The Vienna NGO Committee (VNGOC) will hold 

 for the following positions in its Board: 1) Chairperson, 2) Deputy Treasurer, 3) Deputy Secretary. For more information about this process, visit the 

.

Please check if your organization has already paid the 2023 

 and if not please do so as soon as possible. In order to be able to vote during the General Assembly please make sure to settle outstanding fees before Wednesday, 15 March 2023.

The 2022 Drugs “Omnibus” Resolution: The first-ever United Nations vote on drugs places human rights at the centre of international drug policy

The 2022 Commission on Narcotic Drugs - Report of Proceedings

 – An analysis of last year's meeting that brings the 66th Session into context.

The spectre of article 14: The INCB Report for 2021, regulated cannabis markets and the board’s potential enforcement measures

66th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND)

There has been substantial progress in the discussion and implementation of decriminalisation of drugs in the past 10 years. The issue is more broadly discussed and is more central to wider discourse around drug use and drug harms. Despite this progress, there remain barriers to ending criminalisation and preventing the consequent harms for people who use drugs and wider society.

SDF will be hosting a webinar to coincide with the publication of a new report, 

Working To Decriminalise People Who Use Drugs: Learning From Decriminalisation Efforts In 5 International Jurisdictions

. This report has been prepared for Ana Liffey Drugs Project by the Scottish Drugs Forum with support and funding of The Open Society Foundation. The report evaluates the recent decriminalisation and advocacy efforts in Scotland, Poland, Norway, Ireland and Maine (USA). These jurisdictions were selected as they had hosted decriminalisation advocacy projects funded by Open Society Foundation (OSF).

This webinar will cover the international policy context of decriminalisation and the findings from the report. Panel members will share the learning from good practice examples from their jurisdiction. There will be an extended discussion of the challenges and learning from implementing these changes.

Chair – Tony Duffin, Ana Liffey Drug Project, Dublin, Ireland

Introduction – Matt Wilson, Open Society Foundations

Brendan Hughes – European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction

Kenneth Arctander – RIO (Norwegian Users’ Association in The Field of Alcohol and Drugs) and Norwegian Public Drug Policy Reform Committee (Norway)

Magdalena Dąbkowska – Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (Poland)

Courtney Ross – Recovery Voices, Maine (USA)

Learning together: Progressing decriminalisation in Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Poland and Maine

This eighth edition of the IDPC webinar on the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) focuses on its 

66th Session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs

 (CND), which will take place in Vienna from 13-17 March 2022.

This year’s session is a momentous one, convened against the backdrop of 

 resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and ongoing preparations for the mid-term review of the 2019 Ministerial declaration.

The webinar will shed light on these and other key issues that are likely to structure the debates, discuss tabled resolutions and opportunities for engagement (especially in light of the session’s hybrid format), and showcase the experience of IDPC network members in navigating and leveraging this forum for political advocacy.

This event will be available in English, Spanish and French.

Maria-Goretti Ane (International Drug Policy Consortium - IDPC)

Adrià Cots Fernández (International Drug Policy Consortium - IDPC)

Ruth Birgin (Women and Harm Reduction International Network - WHRIN)

Past Events