Health Poverty Action is an international development which aims to strengthen poor and marginalised people in their struggle for health.

Health Poverty Action es una organización internacional cuyo objetivo es fortalecer apoyar a la poblacióones pobres y marginadas en su lucha por la salud.

Health Poverty Action est une organisation internationale qui vise à soutenir les communautés pauvres et marginalisées afin de protéger leur santé.

Health Poverty Action

As the co-ordinator for the International Coalition on Drug Policy Reform & Environmental Justice it is a pleasure to share with you our collective statement in response to this week’s newly published 

The UN released a ‘special booklet’ on Drugs & Crime in the Amazon Basin.

Finally, the link between current drug policy and its impact on the environment is being considered very seriously. However, we believe the UNs position fails to address and redress the far-reaching consequences of prohibition, which will directly impact our ability to protect the Amazon as well as deliver climate justice, sustainable development and peace in the region.

As our colleague Daniella Dias from SOS Amazonia in Brazil explains, “Prohibition has established a powerful unregulated shadow infrastructure. How can we, as Environmental defenders contend with this?”

Our global coalition is composed of advocates, activists, artists and academics from both the drug policy reform movement and the environmental and climate movement.

Our aim is to connect the dots between these two areas and raise awareness on how current drug policies undermines environmental justice and efforts to prepare for and mitigate the climate emergency. We seek reforms to drug policy that centre ecological harm reduction and the responsible legal regulation of the drugs trade.

Joint statement to the UN's World Drug Report - International Coalition on Drug Policy Reform & Environmental Justice

Accra, Ghana, was recently host to a visionary conference on the future of cannabis in the country. The event, organised by 

the International Drug Policy Consortium,

, brought together over 50 participants from the drug policy reform and economic justice sectors, policymakers and cannabis farmers across Ghana.

The two-day conference on 25 - 26 April titled “

An Equitable Roadmap for the Legal Regulation of Cannabis in Ghana that Protects Livelihoods and Supports Sustainable Development

” sought to explore drug policy reform beyond the Narcotics Act 1019 (2020) and look towards establishing a shared, equitable vision for the legal regulation of medical and adult-use cannabis.

Three key areas were addressed: the historical and current harms caused by prohibition; the significant risks of international corporate capture of future legal trade; and, the opportunities of legal regulation to prioritise social and economic justice and achieve a sustainable transition for those working in the trade.

Through participatory and cross-sector workshops, participants were invited to envision models of legal regulation for industrial hemp, medical and adult-use cannabis using 

Health Poverty Action’s Social Justice Lens

. The models of regulation developed sought to address the harms of prohibition and strengthen a wide range of social justice areas, such as governance, public health, environmental protection and human rights.

The models of regulation developed sought to address the harms of prohibition and strengthen a wide range of social justice areas, such as governance, public health, environmental protection and human rights.

This process culminated in a draft vision presented to policymakers on day two. The vision highlighted some clear shared goals, notably in relation to gender equality, avoiding corporate capture and progressive taxation. Participants strongly highlighted the gender dimension, with farmers proposing that the market regulations adopt a gender-sensitive approach to address the issues of disproportionate harm and exclusion experienced by women under prohibition, as well as the lack of comprehensive childcare for agricultural workers. Many suggested that the revenues raised from taxes from the new cannabis market should support the provision of childcare, removing barriers in women's access to stable livelihoods in farming.

They also called for the legal market to be equitably taxed, and for measures to be implemented to impede the diversion of fiscal revenue into tax havens. In the same vein, participants called for the reinvestment of taxation into serving national and community needs, particularly public health and harm reduction programmes.

Participants learnt about a range of legal regulatory models being used around the world, all with particular priorities and unique results. Dasheeda Dawson

Founding Director of Cannabis NYC, delivered a special report on day two, inspiring stakeholders with the community-led campaign for social and restorative justice at the heart of New York's cannabis reforms.

The meeting was the first of its kind in West Africa to bring together the expertise and knowledge of Ghanaian trade unionists and economic justice experts with the drug policy community. Participants learnt about other trades in Ghana, such as cashew, biofuel and cocoa, that have all been captured by oppressive and harmful tactics of exploitation from international foreign corporations. A key question voiced loud and clear was whether Ghana would continue its colonial mandate and legacy of producing raw materials for the metropole or could cannabis rewrite the textbook?

A key question voiced loud and clear was whether Ghana would continue its colonial mandate and legacy of producing raw materials for the metropole or could cannabis rewrite the textbook?

To ensure that economic justice is at the heart of any new legal framework for cannabis, measures must be put in place to prevent commercialisation and corporate monopolisation. Our economic justice colleagues urged farmers and civil society to organise themselves into associations and trade unions. Whether these unions should be specific to cannabis or join existing agricultural unions was a critical question to be given further attention. There was strong support for stakeholders to be better equipped with knowledge on how corporations behave and a commitment to continue working on a shared vision of future markets through more intersectoral meetings. After a comprehensive presentation on 

 from Steve Rolles, Senior Policy Analyst from 

 participants explored what cannabis corporation ‘takeovers’ might look like and what to anticipate and avoid.

Working on a shared vision helped farmers and civil society to identify risks that regulation might bring about. These were mainly the possibility of new markets facilitating land grabbing and eroding food security for the poorest communities. With an incoming climate crisis farmers agreed that Ghana must not find itself in a situation of planting more cannabis than food, and that sustainable farming methods and environmental safeguards must be prioritised in regulation.

Farmers felt that to ensure local farmers' participation, there is a need for transparency and accountability from the start by considering the inclusion of local content and standardisation in the certification process as it develops, not after. Most farmers believed it is critical to prevent the emergence of foreign or domestic corporate monopolies and use licensing to ensure the market prioritises small and medium-sized businesses.

Feedback from policymakers indicated that the workshop was timely and valuable, Many noted it was a relief to discuss the impacts of cannabis regulation from so many viewpoints and intersections in a non-judgemental space. This allowed everyone to approach the subject through common sense and logical perspective rather than from their specific area of expertise.

Almost all participants concluded that drug policy reform in Ghana must be addressed through multi-sector meetings like these, which allow for a diverse conversation. There was a strong consensus that prohibition was harming communities and an emphasis on seeking ways to avoid repeating the mistakes of other trades that have prioritised big business over people.

There was a strong consensus that prohibition was harming communities and an emphasis on seeking ways to avoid repeating the mistakes of other trades that have prioritised big business over people.

 in Ghana and paved the way for a multi-stakeholder journey towards legal regulation that protects livelihoods and supports sustainable development.

The meeting was made possible with financial support from Health Poverty Action.

Envisioning equitable cannabis reform in Ghana 

Global drug policy is denying climate justice

The so called ‘war on drugs’ is not only destroying our planet through harmful attempts to eradicate illicit drugs – it is a barrier to climate mitigation and adaptation strategies in the very places they are needed most.

To find out more, watch this film we created with partners from around the world.

The majority of the multi-billion dollar profits from the illicit drugs trade are held by organized crime groups. These powerful, entrenched state and non-state actors are corrupting and rendering entire governments dysfunctional.

Many of the countries most weakened by the illicit drugs trade are those who host ecosystems that have the greatest potential for capturing carbon. These forests follow the same equatorial line of the main producing and trafficking routes of the illicit drugs trade.

The ability of these governments to act on climate mitigation strategies, such as protect and restore forests, and deliver climate resilient development are undermined because they do not control these jurisdictions. Drug cartels do. Through violence, bribery and corruption these groups infiltrate and manipulate governments to ensure their profits are protected.

We urgently need to legally regulate the illicit drugs trade, to prevent ecological harms of the trade and to take the power away from organised crime, so that the trade does not continue to intensify the climate crisis.

In the Amazon right now every day counts.

We need to accept that this trade will never go away, and instead regulate it in a way that works for people and the planet – not against.

Health Poverty Action is committed to campaigning on the root causes of poverty and inequality and removing the barriers to the health of people and the planet.

To read more about this see this article

Climate justice & drug policy

To: Ms Ghada Waly, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Subject: Open letter on UNODC statement on International Human Rights Day 2021

We urge you to mark International Human Rights Day 2021 by calling on Member States to change drug policies and practices that violate human rights and perpetuate inequality and discrimination.

We are writing to you ahead of International Human Rights Day 2021, which will take place on the 10th December amidst escalating global demands for the reform of laws and practices that entrench racial discrimination and social inequality, including drug policies. Last year, IDPC – together with dozens of other civil society and community organisations – called on you to issue a statement on International Human Rights Day urging Member States to change drug laws and practices that undermine health and human rights. A year later, we ask you to seize this day as an opportunity to show UNODC´s alignment with other UN entities in calling for an end to drug policies and practices that perpetuate inequality and discrimination, and violate human rights.

For decades, punitive drug policies have driven widespread human rights abuses, as has been amply documented by the UN. These include the death penalty for drug offences; extrajudicial killings; arbitrary detention, often masquerading as ‘rehabilitation’; the denial of access to life-saving harm reduction services; widespread barriers to accessing controlled medicines for pain relief; the criminalisation of people who use drugs, subsistence farmers and others groups in situations of vulnerability; corporal punishment; and mass incarceration. In all of these cases, draconian drug policies have disproportionately affected people marginalised on the basis of their gender, race, ethnicity, and economic status, thus entrenching inequality and discrimination.

Along 2021, a broad range of UN entities called on Member States to reform drug policies with discriminatory outcomes. In June 2021, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released a landmark study on arbitrary detention and drug polices, which found that ´

the war on drugs may be understood to a significant extent as a war on people. Its impact is often greatest on those who are poor, but also frequently overlaps with discrimination in law enforcement directed at vulnerable groups

´. At the same time, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published a new ‘Agenda towards transformative change for racial justice and equality´, highlighting that ´

The discriminatory application of criminal law must be tackled at every stage, including by reforming drug-related policies

´. The High Commissioner´s proposal led to Human Rights Council Resolution 47/21, which contains key commitments to uproot systemic racism in the law enforcement and criminal justice systems. The Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS, adopted in June 2021, also showcased the international community´s commitment to ending inequalities as a step towards ending AIDS. Lastly, the new UN system Common Position on Incarceration, led by UNODC in partnership with other UN entities, notes ‘

the overrepresentation of minority and marginalized groups among prisoners, many of whom are charged with petty and nonviolent offences

support reform efforts aimed at ensuring proportionate and individualized sentencing and alternatives to conviction or punishment in appropriate cases, including for minor drug-related offences

These various commitments emerging across the United Nations are aligned with the 2018 Chief Executives Board’s UN System Common Position on drug-related matters, which makes clear that ‘

should be designed and implemented by States in accordance with their human rights obligations

’, and commits all UN agencies, including UNODC, to support drug policies ‘

that put people, health, and human rights at the centre

Similar human rights concerns have been highlighted in the just-released Global Drug Policy Index, which measures and ranks the national drug policies of 30 countries according to how well they align with the UN system Common Position on Drugs and its Task Team report of March 2019.

The theme of the 2021 International Human Rights Day is ‘Equality: Reducing inequalities, advancing human rights’, and is aimed at ´

addressing and finding solutions for deep-rooted forms of discrimination that have affected the most vulnerable people in societies

´. As such, it presents a crucial opportunity for UNODC to align itself with other UN entities in calling for the end of policies that perpetuate inequality and discrimination, while highlighting its commitment to the promotion of human rights, in line with the UN system Common Positions.

It is in this context that we urge you to issue a strong statement on International Human Rights Day, calling on states to change the drug laws, policies and practices that violate health and human rights, and entrench inequality. To be credible, such a statement should explicitly acknowledge the disproportionate impact of drug laws and drug control on people marginalised on the basis of their gender, race, ethnicity, and economic status, and urge Member States to:

Abolish the death penalty in all circumstances. Imposing capital punishment for drug offences has been found to be contrary to international human rights law by the Human Rights Committee, and the Human Rights Council.

Put an immediate end to extrajudicial killings committed in the name of drug control, as has been repeatedly called for by the Human Rights Council and UN human rights experts.

Permanently close compulsory drug detention centres, including those that masquerade as ‘rehabilitation’, and implement voluntary, evidence-informed, and rights-based health and social services, as recently called for by sixteen UN agencies, including UNODC.

Stress the urgent need to provide accessible, affordable, and adequately funded harm reduction services in community and closed settings, to fulfil the right to health and the right to life of people who use drugs, as demanded by several UN human rights bodies and experts. This is also central to UNODC’s core role as lead UNAIDS co-sponsor regarding prisons and HIV amongst people who use drugs.

Take immediate measures to address prison overcrowding, as already recommended by UNODC and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, by promoting alternatives to incarceration, and ensuring proportionate sentencing for all drug offences, including by taking into account mitigating factors – in line with the basic principle that prisons should only be used as a last resort in all circumstances.

Ensure that people who use drugs are not subject to arbitrary detention, torture, or ill-treatment – whether in state custody or public or private drug services. While under detention, people with a drug dependence or health problems associated with their drug use must be offered evidence-based treatment, harm reduction and other drug services on a strictly voluntary basis.

Promote the end of all punishment for drug use, and drug possession and cultivation for personal use, as permitted within the three drug control conventions. Such policy shifts will help to end the stigma, criminalisation, and exclusion faced by people who use drugs, and to facilitate access to health and social services, as called for by the UN system Common Position, UNAIDS, and UN human rights bodies.

Make sure that drug policies incorporate a gender-sensitive perspective. This should be done by tailoring drug services to the specific needs of women, and by ensuring that criminal laws take into account the circumstances of women involved in drug offences, as most of them come from backgrounds of poverty, marginalisation, and oppression.

Clearly outline the ways in which UNODC will work to achieve these changes, and the measures being taken to ensure that human rights are effectively embedded as a core strand for all of the Office’s work.

As the lead UN agency in drug-related matters, UNODC has the responsibility to promote drug policies that respect, protect, and fulfil human rights, in a way that is consistent with the standards developed by the UN system, and in line with the commitments set in the UN system Common Positions on drugs and on incarceration. A strong statement in the forthcoming International Human Rights Day would be an important and welcome step to signal UNODC’s unequivocal commitment.

We look forward to discussing these concerns and recommendations with you.

NGOs urge UNODC's Executive Director to mark Human Rights Day with a call to reform drug policies that entrench inequality

Since 2013, a number of countries and local jurisdictions around the world have legalised and regulated their cannabis supply chains for non-medical use. Lawmakers, regulators, researchers, and advocates continue to design, enact, implement and revise regulatory frameworks for medical and recreational cannabis. And yet lessons from regulating other psychoactive substances, including tobacco products, are not always fully considered.

The experience of the illicit tobacco trade is particularly relevant for cannabis regulation. There are of course significant differences between the two substances. Cigarettes kill over 7 million people worldwide annually, and between one half and two thirds of their users. Non-combustible cannabis products, in contrast, present very low levels of harm, and some medical benefits. Cannabis and tobacco distribution also differ in nature. The global tobacco market is heavily concentrated. China, Brazil, and India accounted for 63% of all tobacco leaf cultivation in 2019 as part of a global cigarette market dominated by a small number of companies. China National Tobacco Corporation (CNTC) accounted for 43.9% of global cigarette retail volume in 2019 – the large majority of it is destined for domestic consumption, though the company has been developing a global expansion strategy. Beyond CNTC, Philip Morris International (PMI) (13.4% of global retail volume in 2019), British American Tobacco (BAT) (12.7%), Japan Tobacco International (JTI) (9.1%) and Imperial Brands (4.2%) accounted for 70% of the rest of the world’s market share in 2019. In contrast, cannabis can be grown indoors and therefore almost anywhere across the world. The illicit cannabis market has been characterised by a high number of small-scale growers, including for personal consumption and local distribution. Moreover, cigarettes are light, compact, distributed in small packs, and easy to smuggle – in part because they can be disguised as legal products through false invoicing and/or when hidden within a shipment containing other commodities. One 20-foot shipping container alone can hold almost five million cigarettes.

Yet tobacco and cannabis are both plants with psychoactive substances, with some similar characteristics including with regard to production (cultivation and processing) and consumption (tobacco and cannabis products can be smoked, consumed with a vaporiser, or used orally), and to some extent converging industries.

In any jurisdiction that regulates a psychoactive drug like tobacco or cannabis, a portion of it will remain on the illicit market. In Canada for instance, approximately half of the total cannabis market was illicit in the third quarter of 2020, almost two years after cannabis legalisation was introduced, according to expenditure data. Across the 10 Canadian provinces, legal recreational cannabis shares varied from 13% to 70% in September 2019. An estimated 10-12% of cigarettes consumed worldwide are illicit – this includes both illicit production and distribution.

Given those similarities and while the legal cannabis industry is still nascent, now is the time to explore lessons from tobacco control in order to inform cannabis regime design decisions. By tackling these questions early, governments are more likely to be able to prevent the emergence of an industry capable of preventing, deflecting and undermining policies centred on public health, social justice, inclusive and equitable trade, and human rights. The tobacco experience is arguably not a reason to refrain from regulating cannabis at all. Rather it serves as a cautionary tale of the difficulties to restrain private actors once they have become too powerful. The history of the illicit tobacco trade, and the role of the tobacco industry in both driving it and shaping responses to it, is particularly relevant in that regard. It will be the focus of this report.

Cannabis regulation: Lessons from the illicit tobacco trade

As the legal regulation of cannabis picks up momentum, ensuring that the nascent industry contributes to, rather than undermines, health, social justice and human rights goals should be at the forefront of policy discussions.

Despite clear differences, lessons from tobacco control efforts and responses by key trade actors can and should inform these important debates.

The tobacco experience is not a reason to refrain from regulating cannabis at all. Rather it serves as a ‘cautionary tale’ of the difficulties to restrain private actors once they have become too powerful.

In seeking to future-proof sustainable regulatory efforts, join us for the launch of ‘Cannabis regulation: Lessons from the illicit tobacco trade’, an illuminating briefing paper written by Benoit Gomis and produced as a collaboration between the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), the Global Drug Policy Observatory (GDPO), Health Poverty Action (HPA), Transform, the Transnational Institute (TNI) and the Washington Office on latin America (WOLA).


- Ann Fordham, Executive Director, IDPC.
- Benoît Gomis, Author and consultant on the illicit drug trade.

Cannabis regulation: Lessons from the illicit tobacco trade - Publication launch

We stand at a unique moment in history. We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to create an unprecedented legal framework that reconfigures one of the world’s major illegal trades – to make it work for social justice rather than against it.

We have identified 15 key priorities to be included in legal regulation policy that will directly impact and strengthen sustainable development and global equity.

This paper is an invitation for organisations and advocates to get involved in the process of developing legal regulation and by doing so begin to address the harms caused by years of prohibition.

Legal regulation of drugs through a social justice lens

Both the development sector and the drug policy reform movement advocate for community participation in policy change, yet this is often overstated and under-valued. In this webinar we explore how to ensure impacted communities participate in drug policy reform and that legal regulation protects their livelihoods, espouses social justice and promotes equity

- Wednesday, 16 December 2020 - 15:30 PM

 -Programme Manager: Drug Use & Harm Reduction Alliance India

 - Independent Cannabis Advocate, Thailand

 - Activist, Alliance for Choice, N. Ireland

- Activist-researcher Kalpavriksh & Global Tapestry of Alternatives, India

 - Activist for Womens Rights in Cannabis, Morocco

, International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC)

This webinar will be in English, we are exploring options for live Spanish translation.

This webinar is part of a wider series exploring why the socially just legal regulation of drugs is vital for sustainable development. We will explore how drug policies intersect with some of the most pressing issues facing the development sector, and identify how to make sure legally regulated drug markets work for people along the supply chain.

Find more information on the webinar series here

 Brought to you by a coalition of drug policy reform experts and development organizations; International Drug Policy Consortium, Transform Drug Policy Foundation, Transnational Institute, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, Instituto RIA, and Interdisciplinary Centre for Cannabis Research (ICCR) facilitated by Health Poverty Action.

Community participation and the legal regulation of drugs

Part Six of the webinar series - 'A World with Drugs: Legal Regulation through a Development Lens'.

The concept of ‘alternative development’ has dominated the intersection of drug control and development historically – but has been subject to growing critique. We explore how can it evolve into meaningful promotion of sustainable livelihoods for impacted communities, including possibilities for transitioning into legally regulated drug crop products.

An exciting line-up of speakers will be announced shortly.

This webinar will be in English, we are exploring options for live Spanish translation.

18 November, 16:30-18:00 BST.
London – 15:30-17:00, Bogota – 11:30-12:00, New York, 10:30-12:00, Johannesburg – 17:30-19:00, Delhi – 21:00-22:30.

This webinar is part of a wider series exploring why the socially just legal regulation of drugs is vital for sustainable development. We will explore how drug policies intersect with some of the most pressing issues facing the development sector, and identify how to make sure legally regulated drug markets work for people along the supply chain.

Find more information on the webinar series here - https://www.healthpovertyaction.org/news-events/legal-regulation-of-drugs-a-development-lens/

Brought to you by a coalition of drug policy reform experts and development organizations; International Drug Policy Consortium, Transform Drug Policy Foundation, Transnational Institute, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, Instituto RIA, and Interdisciplinary Centre for Cannabis Research (ICCR) facilitated by Health Poverty Action.

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