 published an article that focused on the global non-medical use of prescription drugs, particularly psychoactive substances such as opioids.

Unfortunately, the two authors -- Dr. Silvia Martins and Dr. Lilian Ghandour -- ignored the distinction between prescription and prescribed opioids, adding unnecessary confusion to the already complex debate about access to pain treatment. Further, Dr. Martins said in the 

 that the non-medical use of psychoactive substances could turn into a pandemic if we are not careful.

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

Better analysis needed on non-medical use of opioids

Early March, 2017: The United States government and the United Nations announce large increases in the amount of coca being cultivated in Colombia.

The head of the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs flies to Colombia and meets the President. The increase is due to the end of aerial fumigation operations, he says, but he also assures the press that he would not be asking the government to restart that policy.

Speaking at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, the Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs blames the growth on the machinations of drug trafficking gangs and greedy peasants who, she claims, are planting more coca so they can take advantage of the new substitution initiatives under the peace accords.

Why is coca production on the rise in Colombia?

An international rights group on Tuesday urged the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to investigate President Duterte’s bloody war on drugs and reconsider the Philippines’ membership in the council should killings without accountability continue.

In a statement, Human Rights Watch Geneva director John Fisher said more than 30 countries—including the United States, Japan and Australia—expressed grave concern during Monday’s Universal Periodic Review of the council of the more than 7,000 drug-related killings in the Philippines under Mr. Duterte.

“Countries from every UN region expressed concern over the deaths in connection with the drug war, with many calling for probes into the killings, and accountability for perpetrators,” Fisher said.

International probe of Duterte drug war urged

Senators have approved legislation to set up supervised injecting centres – the latest in a polarising debate on how addiction should be handled in Ireland.

Today, the Seanad passed the Misuse of Drugs (Supervised Injecting Facilities) Bill 2017 after it received Dáil approval in March.

The bill will permit the preparation or possession of controlled substances in supervised premises and exempt certain users from the possession of controlled drugs under certain conditions.

'A great day for drug policy in Ireland': Supervised injecting centres get go-ahead

Globally, drug policy reform is happening. More and more countries have stopped criminalising people who use drugs, and are looking to bring drug production and supply under legal government control. From Portugal decriminalising drug possession in 2001, to Canada aiming to become the first G7 country to legalise and regulate the production and supply of cannabis in 2018.

Reform is an inevitable response to the failings of the punitive prohibitionist model of drug control which empowers organised crime, fuels disease, death and violence, endangers young people and families, and shatters communities. In the UK this is most graphically demonstrated by record levels of drug-related deaths three years in a row - now leaving around fifty families bereaved each week.

A manifesto for drug policy reform: Protecting families, reducing crime

We all wish for our loved ones to be safe and kept within a circle of protection, but what if we’re actively placing more harm than good on our nearest and dearest? What if our drug laws can be summarised with one simple voice – the voice of Anyone’s Child?

Global drug laws are a tricky thing to contemplate. Our emotive selves can often override facts and evidence. It’s easy to think in conceptual terms, to ponder on hypotheticals and disengage from reality, but when faced with a steely authenticity from an up-close perspective, it forces us to think in immediate and non-theoretical terms.

Following recent international trends, the UK has more drug related deaths and hospital admissions than ever before with 3,674 people having died from drug misuse in 2015 alone. Drug use has a history of being higher within youthful circles than the population as a whole. These are not mere numbers, these are not cold facts; this is a family’s fateful reality. For every drug death that we have on record, that’s a visit from the police to notify you that a treasured family member has passed away.

The voice of Anyone’s Child

A measure legalizing marijuana use in Vermont cleared the state's legislature on Wednesday.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott (R) has said the legislation is not "a priority for Vermont" and has not made a final decision as to whether he will sign it. The measure makes Vermont the ninth state to legalize recreational marijuana use among adults and the first to legalize through a legislative process. Other states have approved recreational marijuana use through ballot initiatives.

"Vermont lawmakers made history today," said Matt Simon, the New England political director for the Marijuana Policy Project, a marijuana policy group. "The legislature has taken a crucial step toward ending the failed policy of marijuana prohibition."

USA: Vermont legislature approves recreational cannabis use

Canada’s government has made it easier to open supervised drug injection sites across the country, offering communities a lifeline as they battle an opioid crisis that has claimed thousands of lives in recent years.

New legislation passed this week streamlines the more than two dozen requirements previously needed to launch these facilities, which offer a medically supervised space and sterile equipment for people who use drugs intravenously.

“Solid evidence shows that, when properly set up and maintained, supervised consumption sites save lives, and they do it without increasing drug use or crime in the neighbourhood,” Jane Philpott, Canada’s health minister, told parliament this week.

Canada eases steps to open supervised drug injection sites amid opioid crisis

The roadside billboards in some American towns do not advertise fast-food chains or home insurance. Instead, they tell people what to do in case of a drug overdose. Deaths in America from opioids, pain-relieving drugs that include both prescription painkillers such as OxyContin and illegal ones such as heroin, have almost quadrupled over the past two decades. In some states the share of babies who are born with withdrawal symptoms has increased by 300% since 1999; at least 8,000 were born suffering from them in 2013. Each day 91 Americans die from an opioid overdose.

Fentanyl is the next wave of America’s opioid crisis

After a long wait, two supervised injection sites will open in Montreal in a matter of weeks, Quebec's public health minister announced Friday.

Lucie Charlebois says she received word that two sites were given the necessary federal exemptions under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act — the final step to allow them to open their doors.

The long-awaited announcement comes as two international events on addiction are being held in the city.

Canada: Montreal gets federal approval for two supervised injection sites

Indonesia has rejected the possibility of abolishing the death penalty at a United Nations hearing reviewing the country's human rights situation.

Abolishing the death penalty was one of the recommendations put to Indonesia by member states at the 27th session of the U.N. Universal Period Review in Geneva, Switzerland.

Indonesia dismisses calls to abolish death penalty

Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state, Myanmar's most northern region, doesn't have it easy. For years, this Southeast Asian nation bordering India, China, Laos, and Thailand has been plagued by civil war between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Burmese Military, as well as poverty and an international trade in opium and heroin. Due to poor employment opportunities and the low price of the drug, many in Kachin have become addicted to heroin, with an estimated one in every household regularly using the drug.

In response to this growing problem, "Pat Jasan"—a coalition of local Baptist, Catholic, and Protestant churches—launched a community-based organization with the goal to "eradicate all drugs from the Kachin population." Through a network of camps, Pat Jasan forces drug users through a faith-based rehabilitation program. Its "clients" spend three to six months partaking in daily exercise, prayer, and educational activities in an attempt to replace their drug addiction with religion. The organization is fully funded by donations from local churches and is manned by volunteers.

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