The Students for Sensible Drug Policy Conference and Lobby Day is six months away! SSDP2018 will take place March 2-4 in Baltimore, MD followed by Lobby Day on March 5 in Washington, DC. SSDP2018 will be an amazing opportunity to grow your skills as an activist, meet new friends from around the world, and speak truth to power by lobbying your elected officials.

This year's conference is special for a lot of reasons. In 2018, SSDP will celebrate 

 of mobilizing students to end the War on Drugs. We've accomplished so much in our history, and SSDP2018 will mark the beginning of the next 20 years of drug policy activism. It's also a big year because of Lobby Day, our biennial trek to Washington, DC to lobby Congress to end the drug war and start making sense.

SSDP2018 will be our first conference in Baltimore, a historic city in Maryland grappling with the human cost of the War on Drugs. Our opening keynote speaker is Baltimore Police Department veteran Maj. (Ret.) Neill Franklin of Law Enforcement Action Partnership, who will welcome you to Baltimore on Friday evening and set the tone for this important weekend of introspection and learning.

In addition to keynotes from Maj. Franklin and others, SSDP2018's content will be designed by students. If you have an idea for a breakout session, please submit it here and it will be voted on by the SSDP student body for inclusion in conference programming.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy Conference 2018

Agenda

1. Organizational and procedural matters.
2. Annual report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and reports of the Office of the High Commissioner and the Secretary-General. 3. Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development.
4. Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention.
5. Human rights bodies and mechanisms.
6. Universal periodic review.
7. Human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.
8. Follow-up to and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.
9. Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related forms of intolerance, followup to and implementation of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.
10. Technical assistance and capacity-building

Annotations

Organizational and procedural matters

Date and venue of the session
1. Organizational and procedural matters Date and venue of the session.
2. In accordance with its annual programme of work, as considered on 4 December 2017 at the organizational session for its twelfth cycle, the Human Rights Council will hold its thirty-seventh session from 26 February to 23 March 2018 at the United Nations Office at Geneva.

Agenda of the session
3. The agenda of the Human Rights Council is contained in section V of the annex to Council resolution 5/1. The Council will have before it the present annotations relating to items included in the agenda for the thirty-seventh session.

Composition of the Human Rights Council
4. The composition of the Human Rights Council at its thirty-seventh session is as follows: * Afghanistan (2020), Angola (2020), Australia (2020), Belgium (2018), Brazil (2019), Burundi (2018), Chile (2020), China (2019), Côte d’Ivoire (2018), Croatia (2019), Cuba (2019), Democratic Republic of the Congo (2020), Ecuador (2018), Egypt (2019), Ethiopia (2018), Georgia (2018), Germany (2018), Hungary (2019), Iraq (2019), Japan (2019), Kenya (2018), Kyrgyzstan (2018), Mexico (2020), Mongolia (2018), Nepal (2020), Nigeria (2020), Pakistan (2020), Panama (2018), Peru (2020), Philippines (2018), Qatar (2020), Republic of Korea (2018), Rwanda (2019), Saudi Arabia (2019), Senegal (2020), Slovakia (2020), Slovenia (2018), South Africa (2019), Spain (2020), Switzerland (2018), Togo (2018), Tunisia (2019), Ukraine (2020), United Arab Emirates (2018), United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2019), United States of America (2019), Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (2018).

Human Rights Council 37th session

What’s it really like working in international drug policy reform? Join us as we welcome a very special guest from Washington DC.

Sanho Tree is a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and has been Director of its Drug Policy Project since 1998, he’s also a former military and diplomatic historian. Sanho has ‘gone viral’ many times with his work being shared by the likes of Bernie Sanders due to his unique storytelling style.

We’ll also be joined by two of the UK’s leading reform personnel in Steve Rolles from Transform Drug Policy Foundation, a pionnering think tank, and Niamh Eastwood from Release, the longest serving drug law reform organisation in the UK.

We’ll be going behind the curtain and going a little off the record as we chat about what it’s really like working in drug law reform. What are the challenges? Are there many frustrations? And has drug prohibition now officially ‘jumped the shark’? Come and have your say too...

This is a rare opportunity to get to the nitty gritty of the broad subject. This conversation is hosted by UK policy hub VolteFace and produced by the LEAP UK's Stop and Search podcast.

Breaking the fourth wall: Realities of working in drug policy reform

The first Regional Eastern Africa Harm Reduction Conference (1st REAHRC) will be 2017 largest regional harm reduction event. It will bring together all those at the heart of HR in the Region.

For three days there will be presentations, workshops, panel discussions, community village networking events and many more.

Being the first of its Kind in the region, the Conference in being hosted by KNCO and Partners at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies. East Africa is beginning to wake up to a forward looking approach in Harm reduction and rug policies, the progress is slow, inresponse the REAHRC will help build a movement that will learn, share and benefit form policies based on human rights and dignity.

To share knowledge and experience in Harm reduction

Inter-sectorial debate to define the value of harm reduction policies in the region and Africa

To share different strategies in harm reduction programing

Creation of action plans to follow-up on outcomes of the conference and reinforcepartnerships

To mainstream harm reduction discussion among policy makers and institutions

A high-level statement from the Ministries Represented

Following-up action plans on Harm reduction programming in the Countries represented

Regional partnership and networking for harm reduction advocacy

Eastern Africa Harm Reduction Conference

The western campus of the Center for Research and Post Graduate Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS in Spanish), and the anthropologist Beatriz Labate, invite researchers and those interested in topics related to traditional, therapeutic use, history, politics and the legality of psychoactive plants, to submit abstracts with proposals to participate in the upcoming international conference Sacred Plants in the Americas, to be held on February 23, 24 and 25, 2018, in Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico.

Sacred Plants in the Americas has the primary purpose of exploring and discussing aspects related to the diversity of uses of psychoactive plants throughout history and in different geographical areas, as well as their current use, both in traditional and none-traditional contexts, scientific research, empirical experiences, cultural manifestations and the ways in which governments have attempted to control these practices.

The issues of drug policy reform are intersectional, particularly in Latin American. The public, political and academic discussions in Mexico over the last two years have primarily focused on the regulation of cannabis for medicinal purposes. Recently a federal reform was approved, so it is pertinent to provide spaces for discussion on other topics, such as those concerning sacred plants and their increasing diversity of uses.

The content of the Congress will be divided into: history and anthropology of shamanic and religious uses of sacred plants, traditional medicine, urban and contemporary uses, science on the therapeutic uses of plants and their psychoactive compounds, as well as the politics surrounding them.

Those interested in participating are invited to submit abstracts on the following topics:

• History and ethnography of the traditional use of sacred plants.

• History and ethnography of urban and contemporary uses of sacred plants.

• Biomedical and psychological studies related to the therapeutic use of psychoactive plants and compounds.

• Analysis of the consequences of policies associated with sacred plant use and reform proposals.

• Sustainability and conservation of sacred plants and their relationship with physical spaces.

• Political economy of the use of sacred plants (production, transit, commercialization, tourism), and

• Gender and identity issues related to the use of sacred plants.

Sacred Plants in the Americas

The First CND Intersessional meeting 2018 will be held on 21 February 2018 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Boardroom D, 4th floor, C-Building of the Vienna International Centre, Vienna, Austria.

The provisional agenda for the intersessional meeting is as follows:

Preparations for the 61st session of the CND

Briefing by the Secretariat on agenda item 5(a) – “Changes in the scope of control of substances”

Preparations for CND ministerial segment in 2019

Contributions to the Economic and Social Council

NGOs in Consultative Status with ECOSOC are invited to nominate observers to attend the session. To register, please send the names and e-mail addresses of the designated observers to info@vngoc.org as soon as possible and no later than 

at 3:00pm CET (Vienna time).

For those who do not hold an annual grounds pass for the United Nations Office at Vienna, the following additional information is required to secure your access:

type of ID you will bring on the day of the meeting (preferably passport, national ID card or driver's license)

CND Intersessional meeting

Darknet markets, or “cryptomarkets,” are changing the way that people buy, sell, use, and make drugs around the world. These anonymous online markets are democratizing access to global drug supply chains, introducing new challenges and opportunities for supporting the health of people who use the products that flow through them.

Please join the Open Society Foundations for an event exploring technologies, practices, opportunities, and challenges emerging from cryptomarkets. This event will present a framework for understanding the role of cryptomarkets in global drug supply chains and how principles of harm reduction manifest in discourse and practice within them. We will examine product innovations seen within cryptomarkets to reduce the health harms related to illicit substances purchased online, explore implications of recent interdiction events, and frame guidelines for the ethical practice of harm reduction service and research in this space.

Michael Gilbert, MPH, is a public health technologist with a specialization in epidemiology and harm reduction.

Nabarun Dasgupta, MPH, PhD, is an epidemiologist studying the medical and nonmedical use of prescription opioids and heroin at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Daniel Wolfe (moderator) is director of International Harm Reduction Development at the Open Society Foundations.

Drugs and the Darknet: Challenges and Opportunities

On behalf of the Organising Committee, it is my pleasure to invite you to Bangkok for the 20th Bangkok International Symposium on HIV Medicine 2018, held from Wednesday 17 to Friday 19 January 2018 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. As many of you are already aware, the HIV Netherlands Australia Thailand Research Collaboration holds an International Bangkok Symposium on HIV Medicine in January every year.

The key objective of the annual Bangkok International Symposium on HIV Medicine is to provide health care workers and members of the HIV-infected and affected community from Thailand and all over the world with a comprehensive review of the management of HIV infection and opportunistic infections, efforts to improve access to therapy as well as the latest updates on research into HIV treatments and vaccines.

The symposium also aims to stimulate debate through a series of panel discussions on issues such as access to care and the cost of ARV in developing countries. In the last 5 years, over 3,000 participants from Asia Pacific, Europe and the America have attended the symposium.

An expert faculty of speakers from Thailand, Asia, Australia, Europe and USA will present a comprehensive review of current HIV management. World class international and local speakers present plenary sessions and facilitate interactive workshops.

The Symposium is a premier medical-scientific conference in HIV and related diseases in South East Asia.

You will hear about the latest advances in HIV research and treatment from leading local and international experts.

You will gain recognition for Continuing Medical Education (CME), Continuing Nursing Education (CNE), Continuing Pharmaceutical Education (CPE) and Continuing Medical Technology Education (CMTE).

You will have an opportunity to network with colleagues from the South East Asia region and all over the world.

You will have a chance to visit Bangkok, a beautiful city. A cosmopolitan, steamy, pulsating, yet smiling metropolis of more than ten millions - intense at first, but addictive as anything.

Click here for more information and to register for the event.

20th Bangkok International Symposium on HIV Medicine 2018

Building on the vibrantly strengthening network of access to justice advocates for People Who Use Drugs (PWUD), including the Pro Bono Network for Users (PBN4U) this session will both raise awareness and provide key strategies for Pro Bono services to assist in the ways and means PWUD can better achieve access to justice.

Pro bono as a mean to strengthen access to justice for people who use drugs

The twenty-ninth session of the Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group will be held in Geneva from 15 to 26 January during which the next group of 14 States are scheduled to have their human rights records examined under this mechanism.

The group of States to be reviewed by the Universal Periodic Review Working Group during this session are (in order of scheduled review): France, Tonga, Romania, Mali, Botswana, Bahamas, Burundi, Luxembourg, Barbados, Montenegro, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Liechtenstein and Serbia. The meeting will take place in Room XX at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Representatives of the 14 countries are scheduled to come before the Working Group, which comprises the entire membership of the 47-member Human Rights Council, to present efforts they have made in fulfilling their human rights obligations and commitments, in particular since their last UPR review, assessing both positive developments and identifying challenges.

Universal Periodic Review (UPR) 29th session, Human Rights Council

The upcoming session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) will be held in Washington DC from the 13 -15 December. CICAD is the Western Hemisphere's policy forum for dealing with the drug problem. The CICAD Executive Secretariat supports the Commission by strengthening the human and institutional capabilities and channeling the collective efforts of its member states to reduce the production, trafficking and use of illegal drugs. More information will be posted shortly.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Sixty-second Regular Session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD)

Established in 1994 by a resolution of the UN Economic and Social Council and launched in January 1996, UNAIDS is guided by a Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) with representatives of 22 governments from all geographic regions, the UNAIDS Cosponsors, and five representatives of nongovernmental organizations, including associations of people living with HIV.

The Lancet reviews on people who inject drugs and HIV: What do the new figures tell us and how should we respond? (Tuesday, 12/12/2017 - 12:45)

Organised by: The Strategic Advisory Group to the UN on HIV and Drug Use

To confirm your attendance, kindly email olga.szubert@hri.global

“From Invisibility to Indivisibility”: Robert Carr civil society Networks Fund informal briefing to member states (Thursday, 14/12/2017 - 12:45)

Organised by: The Robert Carr civil society Networks Fund (RCNF)

This informal briefing on the margins of the 41st UNAIDS PCB will offer an opportunity for member states to hear more about the impact of investing in global and regional civil society and ISP-led networks and will showcase the work and impact of civil society and community led networks in the HIV response through illustrative examples highlighting the transformative power of collaboration and strategic partnerships in pursuit of common goals.

Please RSVP to Maria Phelan at mphelan@robertcarrfund.org

Past Events