SOAS University of London, 10 Thornhaugh Street London WC1H 0XG United Kingdom

Friday, 17 October 2025. 18:00 - 20:00 (GMT+1)

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/coca-talks-tickets-1747837702619

Organised by Futuro Coca in association with the Colombian Embassy, SOAS, and the International Coalition for Drug Policy Reform & Environmental Justice, this event will explore the coca plant’s critical intersections: with Indigenous knowledge systems, drug policy frameworks, and environmental justice.

Coca Talks includes presentations and discussions by leading experts:

, Indigenous Arhuaco activist and environmental land defender

, Indigenous- Campesino Professor of Environmental Studies & Critical Geography and Colombian Lead for the Coalition

, Indigenous Māori, Environmental and Indigenous Rights Advocacy

, Senior Policy and Campaigns Officer for Health Poverty Action & Co-ordinator for The International Coalition for Drug Policy Reform & Environmental Justice

, Drug Policy Analyst at Transform: Drug Policy Foundation

, Colombian journalist and filmmaker with a deep focus in peace, reconciliation and ancestral indigenous visions.

, SOAS and LSE inequalities and public policy professor


Coca talks - Futuro coca

The ECDD is a scientific advisory body to WHO that consists of an independent group of experts in the field of drugs and medicines and drug dependence liability.

The 48th Expert Committee on Drug Dependence meeting will be held from 20-22nd October 2025. A public information session will be held on 20 October 2025. 

This meeting will consider the following substances and make recommendations for their scheduling to the CND: 

 N-pyrrolidino isotonitazene (Isotonitazepyne) and N-Desethyl etonitazene.

The WHO’s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) is the body responsible for conducting reviews towards the scheduling, re-scheduling or de-scheduling of psychoactive substances. The recommendations of the WHO's ECDD are voted upon by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), typically at its March session.

This meeting marks a pivotal step in the international community’s coca review, offering the first WHO critical assessment in nearly 75 years. It could correct historical injustices, reconcile drug control with Indigenous rights, and reshape treaty schedules to permit traditional uses while maintaining controls on cocaine production.

ECDD Public Information Meeting: Registration

WHO Expert Committee meetings are closed to the public. However, a public information meeting will be held so that individuals and entities external to WHO may listen to an update on current and future activities of the ECDD Secretariat, and to provide comment on issues on the ECDD agenda.

Individuals or representatives of public and private institutions and civil society who wish to present information to committee members on issues related to the meeting agenda are invited to register their interest to attend a 

 20 October from 10.00 to 13.00 CEST (Central European Summer Time).

Participation in the information meeting is by registration only.

There will be no opportunity for questions and answers during the Information Session. If you wish to make an oral presentation, you need to express your interest in making an intervention in advance using the steps outlined below. One request must be completed for each individual wishing to attend or present.

How to request to make an intervention at the Public Information Meeting

Once WHO has processed your registration, you will receive a form to complete where you can request:

To submit a written statement relating to items on the agenda of the upcoming meeting (until

To request a slot to make an oral presentation* (live or pre-recorded) relating to items on the agenda of the upcoming meeting (until

* There are a limited number of time slots available for presentations, therefore the ECDD Secretariat may not be able to accommodate all requests to be on the open session agenda. All requests for interventions will be considered, and further instructions will be sent to successful candidates after all submissions are received. Successful requests for presentations will be allocated approx. 3-5 minutes (tbc) at the meeting.

48th meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD)

Get ready for another unmissable HIT Hot Topics Conference! This year, we’re back on 

, bringing together the leading voices in harm reduction—because at HIT, harm reduction has ALWAYS been our focus. Expect cutting-edge discussions, inspiring speakers, and a space where passion meets action.

As always, we’ll have events planned for the night before, plus our legendary Cavern Club charity event on the evening of the conference. Stay tuned for more details and mark your calendar—Hot Topics 2025 is not to be missed!

 If you are buying tickets for more than one person and/or for someone other than yourself please remember to give us the attendee names and email addresses in the ‘Order Note’ section of the checkout page.

Full Priced Latecomer: £180 Plus VAT (£216)

HIT Hot Topics conference 2025

Reform Drug Policy. Join us in Detroit. #Reform2025

The Reform Conference is the premier gathering of the growing and dynamic drug policy reform movement. Every other year, the 

 hosts this event, bringing together people working on the full range of drug policy issues from across the United States and around the world to listen, learn, and strategize. In 2025, the conference will take place in Detroit, Michigan from November 12-15.

We offer two scholarship programs to support the attendance of people directly impacted by the drug war and to ensure that the diversity of our movement is reflected in our Reform Conference attendees.

The scholarship funds are meant for people who are:

in need of financial assistance to attend the conference,

in a position to clearly benefit from going to the conference,

directly impacted by the drug war, and/or

already affiliated with a complimentary or allied movement, with a solid potential to take home new knowledge, skills and contacts that will benefit their local work in any and all issue areas of the drug policy reform movement.

The International Scholarships application 

 If you are based outside of the U.S. and need financial assistance to attend the Reform Conference, 

The National Scholarships applications will open after May 15th. If you are based in the U.S. and need financial assistance to attend the Reform Conference, we will have two applications available – one for individuals and one for groups planning to bring 4 or more people to the conference.

We strategized, built community, and organized around:

Decriminalizing Drugs and Building Health-Based Alternatives

Ensuring Our Systems Help, Not Hurt by Uprooting the Drug War from Our Daily Lives

Reinvesting Resources into Communities and Divesting from Punitive Police Responses

Rethinking and Reducing Punishment of People in the Drug Trade

Legalizing and Regulating Drugs the Right Way

 to see programs and videos from previous years.

International Drug Policy Reform Conference 2025

 Accra International Conference Centre(AICC)

 Catalysing Integrated Sustainable Responses to end AIDS, TB & Malaria.

Catalysing Africa’s progress towards triple elimination and sustainable resilient health systems through innovation and digital technologies.

Promote cooperation among governments, communities, the private sector, and international organizations to enhance health security and improve pandemic preparedness and response.

Strengthen capacity and facilitate knowledge exchange for healthcare professionals, researchers, and policymakers.

Empower communities and promote human rights and gender equality in the context of HIV/AIDS and emerging and reemerging diseases.

Mobilize domestic resources and political commitment to sustain Africa's progress towards achieving the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets and global health security goals.

23rd International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa (ICASA)

 Vienna International Centre (C-Building, Boardroom D).

This year, the reconvened sessions of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) will take place jointly. 

The Reconvened 68th CND and the 34th CCPCJ Reconvened Session will be held on 4–5 December 2025, at the Vienna International Centre (C-Building, Boardroom D).

Reconvened CND 68th Session

The 69th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs is expected to take place on 9-13 March 2026 in Vienna, Austria.

69th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND)

“Accelerating crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: protecting people and planet and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the digital age.”

The Fifteenth Crime Congress will be held from 25 to 30 April 2026 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates under the overall theme “Accelerating crime prevention, criminal justice and the rule of law: protecting people and planet and achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the digital age”, in line with the General Assembly resolution 

High-level segment (Heads of State, Ministers, etc.)

Single declaration, later reviewed by the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

Regional preparatory meetings starting in 2025

Emphasis on participation of least developed countries, civil society, academia, and NGOs

Encourages early preparation by Member States and creation of national preparatory committees

15th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice

The reconvened 69th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs is expected to take place on 3-4 December 2026 in Vienna, Austria.

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