Thousands of people die unnecessarily from opioid overdose every year. From this survey IDHDP hopes to understand more about where the life saving drug naloxone is and isn’t available as well as its level of accessibility.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Global naloxone accessibility survey

Restrictive policies that can sometimes prevent people from keeping their jobs could be compromising the effectiveness of Global Fund-supported opioid substitution therapy programs across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, civil society representatives from around the region told Aidspan.

Without improvements to the quality and effectiveness of these programs, they risk driving away the very people who are most in need of the services - and could undermine the sustainability of these programs once ownership transitions to national governments.

"We want to start talking about OST program challenges, which are not only coverage and finances that are mainly discussed by the donors and NGOs, but also the effectiveness and quality of these programs,” said Andrey Yarovoi, board member for Association of Substitution Treatment Advocates of Ukraine (ASTAU). They consider the fact that OST programs are still pilot, vertical programs that have yet to be integrated into the national health service one of the biggest impediments to their success.

Most doctors who work with people who inject drugs consider OST to be the same drug with different packaging, whereas drug users see it as medical treatment. This disconnect means that program participants are not often treated as patients, and are discriminated against by medical professionals.

Regionally, similar problems with OST therapy have been identified: those enrolled are restricted in their movements due to the need to check in daily to receive their dosage. This means they have a hard time getting or staying in jobs, due to the rigors of being part of the program.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Harm reduction programmes need more flexibility to work properly in Eastern Europe

There is no appetite in India for a serious conversation on drugs in India. The prime minister’s recent radio talk on the subject confirms that. Yet, drugs and laws to deal with them engage civil liberties, health and justice in a fundamental way that cannot be ignored. The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) is one of the harshest laws in the country. The minimum sentence for drug dealing is rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. Contrast this with punishment for rape and human trafficking that, even after the recent enhancement, stands at seven years imprisonment. Bail is rejected at the mere mention that the case involves narcotic or psychotropic substances. The law bars suspension, remission or commutation of any sentence passed, foreclosing all relief. In prison, drug convicts are labelled a “dangerous breed” and treated more harshly than rapists and murderers.

The NDPS Act prescribes capital punishment for a repeat offence of drug trafficking, even though it does not involve violence or killing and, consequently, cannot be categorised as a “most serious crime”, for which the death penalty may be used. There is no persuasive evidence that the death penalty is a greater deterrent than other punishments in reducing drug crimes. When a second conviction for murder does not automatically qualify as a “rarest of rare” case deserving capital punishment, how could a subsequent drug crime justify a death sentence?

The government has defended capital punishment by saying that the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is aware of India’s anti-narcotics programme and has never objected to penalties under the NDPS Act.

The Indian drugs legislation is too harsh to work

The rights of women in Argentinian prisons, where gender inequality, violence and exclusion can flourish, are systematically violated. Gender violence behind bars can often result in attacks on a woman's body.

A study done by Procuración Penitenciaria de la Nacion in Argentina found institutional violence is an increasing problem in jail, given that the number of woman in jail has increased. Several studies examining the situation in which they live have shown that not much is being done to protect women's rights there.

Comunicar igualdad is an Argentine civil organization which focuses on expanding gender issues in the media as an strategy to obtain an equitable society. In a post titled “Woman in Jail“, it analyzed different cases of violence against woman deprived on freedom.

According to the blog Women and prison, prison affects women in a different way than men – since the number of woman in prison is much lower than men, prison facilities for them lack amenities such as sports and leisure activities. Women also endure the lack of contact with their families, the abandonment of their partners, and poor health care. At the same time, if they are foreign they face irregularities such as peculium payment due to the fact of taxing situation.

The lack of interpreters is another problem facing foreign women imprisoned in Argentina. Reyna Maraz, a Bolivian citizen living in the country who doesn't speak Spanish, only Quechua, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her husband, after three years in jail without being allowed to appear before a judge or having access to an interpreter.

Behind prison walls, violence against women is often ignored in Argentina 

The US hasn't provided any specific details about what a historic new deal with Cuba means in terms of security and counternarcotics policy -- an area where limited collaboration between the two countries already exists -- but the restored relationship is nonetheless promising on many fronts.

According to a fact sheet released by the White House, meant to accompany President Barack Obama's announcement that the United States has re-established relations with Cuba, the United States will now "work with Cuba on matters of mutual concern and that advance US national interests, such as migration, counternarcotics, environmental protection, and trafficking in persons, among other issues."

In the short term, this could simply mean that pre-existing cooperation between the US and Cuba intensifies when it comes to counternarcotics efforts. The two countries already share information with each other about maritime drug trafficking on a case-by-case basis, as detailed by the US State Department.

A more dramatic move would be if the US should actually begin providing anti-drug aid to the island -- something that is not currently done. Cuba presented a draft counternarcotics agreement to the US in 2011, which has remained under review since then.

What the new US-Cuba deal means for organised crime and security 

On January 17, 2014 the Foundation received an invitation from United Nations office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to form part of a Technical Coordinating Group” known as the National Coordinating Committees (NCC)”. Institutions that are involved in this National Coordinating Committees are:

United Nations office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), secretary to the committees.

Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA), Chair-person.

Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHWS), Co-hair.

Foundation Against Illicit Drugs and Child Abuse (FADCA), member.

National Aids Commission of Liberia, member.

Research Department, University of Liberia, member.

The Technical Coordinating Group is responsible for the identification of national public policy issues, developing national strategies and initiatives to combat the illicit use of drugs, organized crime and support national efforts, namely the Government on the nature, scope and impact of drugs and substances abuse as well as organized crime in the country. It provides a national forum where the interest and concern of stakeholders can be brought to the attention of people who deal with law, health, and social welfare. In keeping with its mandate, the Group is expected to meet once in every month but has since met three times.

In the spirit of good coordination among national institutions, FADCA presented several copies of the West Africa Commission on Drugs Report to each member of the Group. The report calls on regional governments to develop drug policy reforms.

In furtherance of our drug policy advocacy, FADCA remains in collaborative contact with regional partners, including the West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD) and the West Africa Civil Society on Drugs Policy Reform to which FADCA’s Executive Director is the focal person. The Foundation (FADCA) is also in contact with Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) n which the Foundation Executive Director is currently serving as a focus on Liberia.

FADCA was asked to steer the formation of local civil society coalition that will advocate for reform on drug policy and other drug related issues in Liberia. At a meeting called January 15, 2014 by OSIWA National Project Coordinator, civil society organizations agreed that FADCA was well placed to lead the coalition formation and steer its affairs. The coalition was formed in May 2014 and named Coalition Against Illicit Drugs Trafficking and Abuse In Liberia (CADTAL). FADCA represented the coalition at the regional coordination meeting in Dakar, Senegal under the auspices of WACD. At a local meeting of Coalition members held in UNODC office on the 4th of July the FADCA presented copies of the West African Commission on Drugs report to members of the coalition.

Presenting the report, FADCA Executive Director told member organizations of the coalition and government agencies represented at the meeting that civil society organizations in the West African region are working along with the Commission to advocate for reform through publication of materials from international partners. “We must join forces to reform our drug laws, taking public health and human rights into consideration,” Mr. Alphonso Quenneh said. He further noted “we should use interdiction rather than criminalization”.

The report was embraced by UNODC Acting Country Representative, Mr. Yilaa Woltis Se. However some participants at the meeting particularly from the Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Liberia said that reforming the drug law would lay more emphasis on individual rights and set the pace for more farmers to get involve while youth in particular will practice public smoking of narcotics. For its part the National AIDS Commission accepted the fact that repressive laws help to increase HIV/AIDS, and that reforming drug laws with emphasis on public health is in the interest of Liberia.

At the July 4th meeting, members of the Technical Coordinating Group and the Coalition unanimously agreed to suspend meetings due to the intensity of Ebola outbreak in the country and in observance of government’s ban on public gathering. It was agreed that meetings will resume immediately when Liberia is declared Ebola free.
In July 2014 the Open Society Foundation for Global Drugs Policy initiated a program through the University of Legon Faculty of Law to study capacity building on Drug Policy and Human Rights in which two members of the coalition benefited through certification.

News

Global naloxone accessibility survey

Harm reduction programmes need more flexibility to work properly in Eastern Europe

The Indian drugs legislation is too harsh to work

Behind prison walls, violence against women is often ignored in Argentina

What the new US-Cuba deal means for organised crime and security

FADCA starts advocating for drug policy reform in Liberia