This IHRA report provides a concise overview of the global situation in terms of drug-related HIV epidemics worldwide.

In March 2009 – at the 52nd Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs(CND) in Vienna – IHRA launched a short paper examining civil society engagement with the Commission (the main UN body tasked with addressing global drug policy).

With the goal to assess the 10-year progress in Eastern Europe after the 1998 UNGASS on drugs, Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (EHRN) conducted a review in 4 countries of the region: Georgia, Lithuania, Russia and Ukraine, all of which have experienced a major increase in drug related problems.…

These two documents are the versions presented to delegates when they arrived at the high level meeting on 11th March.

These two documents are the versions presented to delegates when they arrived at the high level meeting on 11th March.

A study funded by the European Commission into the scale, nature and trends of global drug markets.

The International AIDS Society letter to the CND calls for the inclusion of evidence-based support for harm reduction, and for essential medicines for OST and palliative care into the global frameworks for control of narcotic drugs.

In this letter, the Special Rapporteurs are deeply critical of the failure of the draft UN political declaration and annex to give any mention of harm reduction.

This proceedings document provides the reader with a summary of what happened at the 52nd session of the CND and its High Level Segment and offers an analysis of some of the key discussions and debates.

Karyn Kaplan has produced a guide to help activists recognise human rights abuses that are systematically conducted against people who use drugs.

Political representatives from over 130 countries gathered at a United Nations high level meeting in Vienna on 11th/12th March 2009 to conclude a 2-year long review of progress achieved within the global drug control system.

The accounts below, drawn from published literature and from those who have passed through treatment in Asia and the former Soviet Union, detail the range of abuses practiced in the name of drug dependence treatment, and suggest the need for reform on grounds of health and human rights.

This analysis demonstrates that a move to legally regulated drug supply would deliver substantial benefits to the Treasury and wider community, even in the highly unlikely event of a substantial increase in use.

The Political Declaration adopted on the 12th March 2009 at the High Level Segment of the 52nd Session of the CND is a framework and a set of priorities for the next 10 years of international drug policy. IDPC and its members have followed with interest the process for reviewing progress against…

Civil society engagement in during the lead up to the UN High Level Segment has been for the first time a properly structured programmed of NGO involvement put in place by the 'Beyond 2008' initiative. Nine regional seminars were held through the first half of 2008, and 300 delegates drawn from…

Antonio Costa, the Executive Director of UNODC gave a speech to the High Level Segment of the 2009 Commission on Narcotic Drugs on the 11th March 2009. The speech drew heavily on a discussion paper published by the UNODC shortly before the meeting - "Organised Crime and Its Threat to Security".

In a statement on the eve of the adoption of the new political declaration, the High Commissioner, Navi Pillay, called for a greater focus on human rights and harm reduction in drug policy.

The seventh of the IDPC's regular "UNGASS News" updates, keeping the network up to speed with developments in the UN drug policy review process is now available, and includes an update on the practical arrangements now in place for the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the High Level Segment,…

A programme of satellite events to be held by IDPC and its partners to supplement the fifty-second Commission on Narcotic Drugs and its high-level segment is to follow shortly...