Bangkok is about to get hit with a heavy dose of sensibility.

This week, 26 youth leaders from 21 different countries will be meeting in Bangkok, Thailand for the first ever International Youth Drug Strategies Convening. The goal of the convening is to bring together some of the sharpest young minds in drug policy reform & human rights advocacy from around the world for a week of networking, skills-building, and capacity building workshops. Organizations represented in the training include SSDP, CSSDP, SSDP UK, YODA, Youth Rise, INPUD, ReverdeSer, ACEID, Help Not Harm, NZ Drug Foundation, and others. The event is being sponsored by the Open Society Foundation.

The participants of the convening are all young people under the age of 30 who are community leaders and passionate advocates for drug policies based on harm reduction and human rights. Half of the participants are from countries in the global south most affected by the global drug war, giving them a chance to return home and teach the lessons they learn this week to other members of their communities. The broad array of cultures and experiences present at the convening will foster an environment where participants can learn from each other while simultaneously brainstorming objectives to work on together over the next several years as a global youth coalition. This will be especially important as civil society organizations start preparing for the next big UN meeting on drugs in 2019, where the goals of the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action will be evaluated.

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

International youth convening commences in Bangkok

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on crime and his concern for the welfare of overseas Filipino workers are policy priorities of his administration and these concerns look set to creep into the Association of South-east Asian Nations’ (Asean) agenda this year when Manila chairs the grouping.

These issues are not new to the Asean agenda, especially since the draft Asean instrument on the protection and promotion of migrant workers’ rights is expected to be finalised by April, after years on negotiations.

While the Philippines has pledged to uphold Asean’s unity, and initiate and enhance cooperation with global partners, analysts believe the mercurial head of state will take the opportunity to highlight his pet topics during its one-year chairmanship.

With Manila as ASEAN chair, Duterte’s concerns at home could creep into regional agenda

We wish to thank you for the great commitment you have shown to revisit the punitive approach to drug policy, particularly with regards to the pardon of low-level drug offenders.

These individuals have committed no violent act, yet they have been judged as criminals under strict drug sentencing laws and handed lengthy prison terms. What purpose does this serve except to create huge obstacles for them to ever lead productive lives?

Even people who use drugs or possess them for personal consumption risk tough sentences, when they should be protected by the principle of individual rights. The State should interfere in a private decision only if it puts society, public safety and public health at risk.

Those whose consumption has caused physical or mental distress require support and access to health services. In no event should their consumption be criminalized.

As our Global Commission on Drug Policy colleague Kofi Annan has said:

Drugs have destroyed many lives, but wrong government policies have destroyed many more. A criminal record for a young person for a minor drug offence can be a far greater threat to their wellbeing than occasional drug use.

We therefore hail the fact that you have commuted the sentences of more than 1,000 inmates during your presidency. However, there are still thousands more incarcerated in federal correctional facilities, serving long sentences for drug offenses that were non-violent in nature. We hope, therefore, that in these final days of your presidency, you will use the power of your office to commute even more prison sentences of low-level drug offenders, and restore dignity and hope to their lives. May your example inspire not only your successor, but also governors across the country.

We further acknowledge your respect for the laws passed by referendum in many states regarding the regulation of marijuana, and hope that the will of the people to reform drug policies will continue to be heard.

An open letter to President Obama

A safe consumption site has opened in Victoria, one day after B.C.’s chief coroner confirmed the number of fatal overdoses has risen sharply.

“We were able to move really quickly and get this set up in a matter of days,” Our Place Society director of communications Grant McKenzie said.

On Vancouver Island, there was a 153 per cent increase in the rate of illicit drug overdose deaths between January and November of this year, the highest of all health authorities in the province. That’s a rate of nearly 20 deaths per 100,000 people.

Safe consumption site opens in Victoria to help combat growing overdose crisis

To Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President, Republic of Liberia

As you will know, the United Nations General Assembly held its 30th Special Session (UNGASS) in New York in April 2016, with a focus on the world drug problem.1 At this important meeting, UN member states – including the Republic of Liberia – agreed and committed to the Resolution S-30/1: “Our joint commitment to effectively addressing and countering the world drug problem” (referred to hereafter as the UNGASS Outcome Document).

With this letter, we – the Foundation Against Illicit Drug and Child Abuse (FADCA) and the West African Drug Policy Network, Liberia Chapter – are calling upon the Government to urgently review its own drug control policies and practices and ensure that they align with the commitments contained in the UNGASS Outcome Document.

Below we highlight some of the most pertinent sections of the UNGASS Outcome Document, and outline our serious concerns with regards to the Government’s continuing actions targeted at suspected drug users – in which ghettos and streets are being raided, several women, children and other peaceful citizens have been tortured, maimed and some are held in prisons and detention centers without due process.

An open letter to the Government of Liberia to adhere to the outcome of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs

Catalina was in prison for a drug conviction in Guaviare, Colombia. She had been detained for possessing some coca paste­ – an amount barely sufficient to economically support herself and her two young children for a few weeks. She didn’t know where her children were, or if they were being cared for, and had no idea when she would be released.

In Tajikistan, Anya recently learned that she was HIV positive. She said she had been an injecting drug user for three years, and often used with her partner, who was physically and emotionally abusive. Her partner would often inject himself first and then pass on the equipment to her. Anya suspects this is how she contracted HIV.

Many people see drug use and participation in drug-related trade as a global problem meriting punishment. Unfortunately, poorly designed drug policies can worsen violence rather than diminish it, contribute to epidemics of HIV and HCV (Hepatitis C), and violate human rights. The most common consequences of drug policies, whether focusing on the supply or the demand side, bring disproportionate harm to women and girls.

Want to reduce drug use? Listen to women drug users

ON DECEMBER 31st the world’s oldest coffeeshop, Mellow Yellow, in Amsterdam, was forced to roll down its bright yellow shutters one last time. Over the past half-century, many a foreigner has smoked their first spliff at this cosy cafe, which sat perfectly on the route between two tourist favourites, the Heineken Brewery and Rembrandt Square. Mellow Yellow is the latest in a string of Amsterdam coffeeshop closures, a development that is worrying health workers, law enforcement officials and potheads equally because it may push drugs back onto the street. The number of coffeeshops in the Dutch capital has fallen by half since 1995, from 350 to just 167. Why are so many Amsterdam coffeeshops closing?

To most outsiders, the Netherlands is synonymous with liberal, legalised vice, with Amsterdam the main port of call. Roughly one in four tourists to Amsterdam intends to visit a coffeeshop, according to the city’s tourism bureau (in 2016 Amsterdam received 17m tourists, up from 12m in 2012). Holland’s soft drug policy has always been one of “tolerating” rather than legalising. As Vincent explains in “Pulp Fiction”, “It’s legal to buy it, it’s legal to own it and if you’re the proprietor of a hash bar, it’s legal to sell it.” Central to making this construction work is a system of small, tightly regulated coffeeshops, where people can legally buy and smoke cannabis—and which the authorities can keep an eye on. Few officials in liberal Amsterdam want to get rid of coffeeshops altogether; they are thought to help keep soft drugs out of the criminal circuit. But in more conservative parts of the country, including the political capital, The Hague, resistance to the policy of looking the other way has grown.

Why Amsterdam’s coffeeshops are closing

The United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS) from April 19th to 21st, 2016, was meant to be a monumental event. In fact, it was only the second time in history that the international community had come together to re-evaluate the drug control regime in this way. The first UNGASS was in 1998, when delegates proclaimed that we “should have a drug-free world by 2008”. Over a decade later, the UN openly admitted that “the war on drugs has failed”. Indeed, to have uttered hopes for a “drug-free world” at UNGASS 2016 would have earned you several disapproving looks. To revaluate the way forward, UN member states spent two years organizing under the direction of the UN’s Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) to write an outcome document for UNGASS 2016. The outcome document, which is the new guide for international drug policy, details how countries should continue to enforce the three international drug control convention but with greater on human rights, socio-economic development, health, and the welfare of mankind. The attitudes therein represent a large break from a drug war past.

As a representative of the Youth Alliance for Leadership and Development in Africa, I applied to observe the UNGASS “round-table debates” as an NGO. Upon arrival, I discovered that the atmosphere was relaxed enough that I could sit in the symbolically empty chair of the African Union unnoticed for the week. From the African Union’s seat in the back, it became evident that the giant conference hall with its the alphabetically ordered representatives acted as a mini-ecosystem, reflective of greater patterns in the drug policy world.

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

A complicated future: West African drug policy reform

The 71-year-old former state prosecutor said the aim would be "to preserve the Filipino people and the youth of this land".

About 6,000 people have been killed in six months under Mr Duterte's anti-drugs crackdown.

He says he is acting to prevent the country from becoming a narco-state.

"If I wanted to, and it will deteriorate into something really very virulent, I will declare martial law if I wanted to. No one will be able to stop me," Mr Duterte said in a speech to businesspeople in the southern city of Davao on Saturday.

Philippines' Duterte threatens martial law

After an enthusiastic start to the week, Day 2 began with a 3 part session on Full Spectrum Harm Reduction and what this could entail for our Global Youth Coalition.

The first session included a simple definition of Harm reduction to get us thinking: ‘’Harm Reduction is a set of practical strategies and ideas aimed at reducing negative consequences associated with drug use.’’ (Harm Reduction Coalition). Although this provided a clear starting point for the activities that followed, we soon realised that harm reduction is a broad, complex and fluid concept that we as a Global Youth Coalition can define in many ways.

In the first activity, we divided into regional groups and came up with three lists: the top 5 substances used amongst young people, the negative social issues that stem from these substances, and the harm reduction activities/services available to combat these negative effects. It was challenging working as a region, as some substances and social issues were country-specific, but we managed to eventually come to a consensus amongst groups.

INTL Youth convening day two: Full spectrum harm reduction

Brazilian healthcare regulator Anvisa on Monday said it had issued the country's first license for sale of a cannabis-based drug in the country after years of legal wrangling with patients.

The multiple sclerosis treatment, an oral spray derived from marijuana and developed by Britain's GW Pharmaceuticals PLC, is known as Sativex internationally and will be sold in Brazil under the brand name Mevatyl.

The legal status of cannabis-based drugs has been a thorny issue in Brazil for years, with several patients fighting in the courts to circumvent prohibition. Anvisa has loosened some restrictions in the past two years, allowing patients with medical orders to personally import some drugs derived from marijuana.

Thumbnail: Flickr CC Diego Charlón Sánchez

Brazil issues first license for sale of a cannabis-based drug

Recent protests and violence at mandatory “drug rehabilitation” centres in Vietnam highlight the importance of the government’s decision to transform such facilities into community-based voluntary centres.

In November 2016, detainees at Vietnamese mandatory drug centres "pelted guards with rocks before smashing a brick wall and escaping" from a mandatory centre, VnExpress reports. This was followed four days later by 200 detainees breaking the walls of another such centre.

In recent years, there have been numerous examples of people detained in mandatory centres staging protests and breakouts, which in turn have occasionally led to violent clashes with law enforcement.

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