Welcome to the second edition of the IDPC Drug Policy Guide. The Guide brings together global evidence and examples of best practice to provide guidance on the review, design and implementation of national drug policies.

In 2013, the activities of the Brazilian organisations promoted reforms in the judiciary sphere, the legislative branch, public opinion and the healthcare and social assistance public systems.

This report provides data on the criminal justice system and drug-related crimes in Bahia, Brazil.

This report provides a top-level overview of the long-term drug-related trends and developments at European level, while homing in on emerging problems in specific countries.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy proposes five pathways to improve the global drug policy regime.

More than 20.000 signatures were collected calling the Brazilian Senate to evaluate the current drug policy, particularly cannabis policies.

The UN drug conventions need to be reformed to monitor not just the substances themselves, but also the social contexts in which they are being used.

This year’s annual review reflects on 20 years of monitoring and examines the global influences and local ramifications of Europe’s ever-changing drugs problem.

This IDPC briefing paper analyses some of the consequences of the current Brazilian drug policy, taking into account its impacts on prisoners’ rights and on the criminal justice system as a whole.

Gloria Lai, IDPC Senior Policy Officer, argues that civil society must advocate for, and help facilitate, a more open and rational dialogue with governments to encourage them to engage in an honest assessment of the current drug control approach in Asia.

West Africa’s development as a centre for drug trafficking, production and consumption gives governments the opportunity to embark on more enlightened policy responses.

A recent trip to Brazil prompted the author to question the US’s role in perpetuating drug myths and the “war on drugs” and the impact this is having on the human rights of US citizens and those in other countries whose governments continue to follow the US example.

Human Rights Watch describes how overcrowding in the prisons of the north-eastern state of Pernambuco is among the worst in the country and is a part of a prison system responsible for numerous human rights abuses.

The EMCDDA offers an overview on naloxone access in the European Union and summarises the effectiveness of hand-out naloxone programmes to save the lives of people at risk of overdosing as well as giving recommendations for the future.

This IDPC advocacy note elaborates what a health-based approach looks like in practice in Africa, and explores five specific areas that need to be urgently addressed by governments.

The EU provides a unique insight into the operation of illicit drug markets in the region.

IDPC offers an overview and analysis of the UNGASS, covering the adoption of the UNGASS outcome document, the plenary, roundtables and side events, as well as civil society engagement in and outside the UN building.

The GCDP outline the failures of prohibition, the benefits of well-regulated decriminalisation, alternatives to incarceration and how to introduce regulated drug markets.

IDPC urges African leaders to adopt a balanced response to drugs in order to adhere to their regional and international human rights commitments.

110 NGOs worldwide support the Letter from Manguinhos and the harm reduction approach at a moment when Brazil is reverting to a war on drugs approach.