More than 3000 people came together at the United Nations in New York for the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS in June to take stock of the progress and challenges of the last 30 years and shape the future AIDS response. In this Political Declaration, countries agreed to advance efforts towards reducing sexual transmission of HIV and halving HIV infection among people who inject drugs by 2015. The Political Declaration is available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian and Chinese.
In this joint statement, GBCHealth and the Global Commission on Drug Policy call for a new approach to drug policy that prioritises public health and human rights, and facilitates the scaling up of effective HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care.
The Irish Press Ombudsman made a historic decision on 12th June, deciding in favour of a coalition of national and international drug services against the Irish Independent for a column by Ian O’Doherty which described drug users as “vermin”, “feral, worthless scumbags” and proclaimed that “if every junkie in this country were to die tomorrow I would cheer”.
The UK Sentencing Council initiated a consultation process in order to produce definitive sentencing guidelines for drugs offences for the UK in the coming year. The IDPC submission to the Sentencing Council focused on three issues: the need to make a clear distinction between different actors in the drug market according to their motivation and related actions; the need to reduce the overall severity of sentencing for supply offences; and the need to give non-custodial sentences for people who cultivate or possess cannabis for medical use.
In the second episode of a two-part series, Josh Rushing and the Fault Lines team find out how campesino communities caught in the narco-economy are resisting repression and dispossession.
To mark the 40 years of US President Nixon's war ond rugs, IDPC and 74 Latin American groups call for a new focus in drug policies that encompasses social development, education, universal healthcare, and human rights and fundamental freedom.
On 22nd June, the Bolivian House of Representatives approved a bill to denounce the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, in an effort to protect the traditional right of Bolivian people to chew coca leaves. Read more information, in Spanish.
The successful candidate will have highly developed advocacy skills and a strong track record in policy analysis with an ability to operate at a high level of international affairs. The successful candidate will join a small but high-functioning team at the IDPC Secretariat and must be a team player with strong organisational skills.
This campaign consists of short videos of people who have been saved by naloxone, or who have used naloxone to save someone's life. These videos will be used to raise awareness about naloxone and to send to the United Nations to urge the acceptance of global naloxone distribution.
This statement by the International Doctors for Healthy Drug Policies (IDHDP) was published in support of the Report of the Global Commission on Drug Policy. IDHDP's mission to bring to the international level an informed, science-based discussion about humane and effective ways to reduce the harm caused by drugs to people and societies.