The Fortieth meeting of the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, 

The meeting will be dedicated to carrying out long-overdue pre-reviews of cannabis and cannabis related substances.

IDPC has submitted the statement below for the consideration of the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence.

Thank you for the opportunity to address the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence.

I am making this statement on behalf of the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) – a global network of more than 170 NGOs coming together to promote drug policies based on evidence, public health, human rights, human security, development and civil society participation.

IDPC welcomes the long-overdue pre-review of cannabis by the ECDD. Historically, cannabis was last reviewed in 1935 under the League of Nations-administered system of the interwar period. The 1935 review was strongly biased by racial and cultural stereotypes and prejudices, and was scientifically questionable. In the more than 80 years since that ‘review’, the science and the standards for conducting a rigorous critical review have evolved significantly. In this context, IDPC re-iterates the important role of the ECDD, which should remain free from political interference.

Decisions as to whether and how to schedule substances in the UN drug control system are not a matter of arcane abstraction. Such decisions impact directly upon national policy and criminal laws – and therefore on people’s lives, on public health, and on human rights. These stakes require that such decisions be based on the best available science and evidence.

It is crucial to acknowledge that, alongside the harms (and sometimes benefits) associated with cannabis use, there are also many harms and benefits associated with drug policy. The harms of a drug – to users and to the wider society – do not exist in isolation. The choice of drug policy, which may be significantly determined by the scheduling of a drug, can itself profoundly impact on the harms to the user and to the wider community. This is a concept that the WHO describes very clearly in its work on alcohol, and nicotine – but has been less prominent in its work on drugs controlled under the 1961 and 1971 conventions, which has tended to focus more narrowly on physical health harms.

Illustrating this distinction between drug use and drug policy harm, cannabis has long been the most widely used illegal drug in the world, and cannabis is also one of the substances most targeted by drug law enforcement efforts. In the United States, for instance, of the 8.2 million cannabis arrests between 2001 and 2010, 88% were for simple cannabis possession. A punitive legal framework that criminalises people who use cannabis has caused enormous harm and suffering, which cannot be ignored. Cannabis supplied via an unregulated illegal market is also intrinsically riskier – being of unknown potency, having an unknown ratio of THC to CBD, and also having no quality control in terms of adulterants, pesticides, or fungal contamination.

In recognition of the harms being generated, or exacerbated, by the punitive approach to cannabis, policies around the world are currently undergoing rapid changes. This has included an accelerating growth in reforms to provide lawful access to cannabis for medical purposes. Today, 17 countries – or 41 jurisdictions if US states are counted individually – have adopted some form of medical cannabis access, reflecting increasing evidence of the benefits of cannabis-based medicines to treat a range of illnesses such as multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, or mitigating the side effects of chemotherapy.

A number of countries have also removed criminal sanctions for cannabis use or possession for personal use. These decisions have acknowledged that the evidence for a deterrent effect from criminalisation was weak, but the evidence of harm from mass criminalisation on the health and well-being of users was significant. It is worth noting that ending the criminalisation of all people who use drugs is advocated across the UN system, including the WHO.

Furthermore, since 2012, subnational and national jurisdictions have begun to legally regulate cannabis markets for non-medical or recreational use. So far, these have been established in nine US states, as well as in Uruguay, and soon in Canada.

Currently, cannabis is placed in Schedule I (highly addictive and liable to abuse) and Schedule IV (that is, certain substances included in Schedule I that are rarely used in medical practice) of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Confusingly, its main psychoactive compound, delta-9-THC or dronabinol, is also placed in Schedule II of the 1971 Convention, and several of its isomers even in Schedule I. This level of classification impedes scientific research on the active components of the plant because of the administrative difficulties scientists must go through to access these components for their research – hence severely limiting the amount of scientific literature on cannabis.

The assigning of cannabis to Schedules I and IV of the 1961 Single Convention was not based on a WHO scientific assessment, and its inclusion in schedule IV is inappropriate at the present time, given the widespread medical use of the substance and its derivatives. The imprecisions in the definitions of cannabis-related substances placed under international control, and the classification of its flowering tops, resin and extracts as “narcotic drugs” but its active compounds as “psychotropic substances”, represent inconsistencies that both the ECDD and the INCB have pointed out before. We hope this 40th ECDD meeting, apart from discussing the critical review and pre-review reports, will also take time to reflect on the anomalies in the history of international cannabis control, and will recommend improvements with regards to the current definitions and division over the 1961 and 1971 conventions.

The ECDD has a key opportunity to start addressing the confusion around cannabis, by conducting an objective review of the plant and its derivatives – far from political and ideological interference. It is also IDPC’s hope that, by conducting such a review, the ECDD will help to dismantle some of the myths associated with cannabis by collating all available scientific evidence on the effects – both positive and negative – of the plant and its derivatives. Crucially, we hope that the Committee will not ignore the profound impact of the legal and policy environment on cannabis-related harms and benefits to both users and the wider community – and will apply the same scientific rigor to considering policy impacts, as it does to pharmacological health risks.

To conclude, IDPC is pleased that the ECDD is moving forward in its review, and we hope that the process will move forward promptly towards recommendations for redefinitions and rescheduling based on scientific evidence. IDPC is pleased to be able to participate in this historic session, and will continue to follow the issue closely as the review proceeds.

IDPC Statement at the occasion of the 40th meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence

AS THOUSANDS of young people danced in the sun at Britain’s Mutiny Festival on Saturday, two partygoers lay dying. Another dozen or so were sent to hospital. All are thought to have reacted badly to illegal drugs—and they will not be the last such casualties of the year. The death rate in Britain from ecstasy, a popular festival drug, is at its highest-ever level. Meanwhile deaths from opioids are on the rise across the rich world, particularly in America, where overdoses now kill more people than either cars or guns.

Many of these tragedies are avoidable—as another British festival last weekend showed. At a bash in Bristol, festivalgoers queued to have their illegal drugs tested by volunteer chemists, with the consent of the police. The checks revealed ecstasy pills that were four times stronger than average, pentylone masquerading as MDMA powder, unexpected cocktails of cocaine and ketamine, and other potentially deadly surprises. Such tests, growing in popularity around the world, offer a way to introduce basic safety checks to the chaos of the unregulated illegal-drugs market. Governments must encourage them if they are to turn the rising tide of needless deaths.

The prohibition of drugs means that people selling potentially lethal substances face fewer health-and-safety checks than people selling hot dogs. What is more, the secrecy under which the market necessarily operates inhibits the flow of information among consumers. Drug users have little chance of getting information on the quality of the mind-altering substances they are taking. Nowhere is that truer than at summer festivals, where customers buy from unfamiliar dealers who have little incentive to retain their loyalty.

Festival drug-testing shows a way to reduce harm

It is with great pleasure and excitement that the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs (VNGOC) and New York NGO Committee on Drugs (NYNGOC) introduce the relaunched Civil Society Task Force (CSTF). The CSTF — a joint initiative of the NYNGOC and VNGOC— will serve to promote inclusivity of civil society at all proceedings leading up to and at the Ministerial Segment of the 62nd Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in 2019.


The CSTF is co-chaired by the chairs of the VNGOC and NYNGOC and consists of 5 additional Steering Group members, 18 representatives of global regions
and 10 representatives from affected populations and global voices.


The VNGOC and NYNGOC were established in 1983 and 1984, respectively, and serve as representative platforms for discussion and debate on drug policy issues, as well as being interfaces between civil society organisations, the United Nations system and its member states. Emerging in 2015, the CSTF was originally created by the NYNGOC and VNGOC to ensure comprehensive, structured and balanced participation by civil society at the 2016 UNGASS on the world drug problem. In the process leading up to the 2016 UNGASS, the CSTF was an effective vehicle for increasing the inclusion of civil society voices at all
stages of preparation prior to the proceeding. The CSTF successfully delivered a range of actions and consultations. This included the selection of high quality civil society speakers at the 2016 UNGASS itself from around the world. In order to maximize the engagement of civil society in the 2019 Ministerial Segment and its lead-up, the VNGOC and NYNGOC bilaterally signed the Memorandum of Understanding during the 61st CND in March 2018. Following an open call and selection process, the Task Force now comprises 35 individuals from around the world.


In order to support civil society participation in the Ministerial Segment, in accordance with CND Resolutions 60/1 and 61/3, the Civil Society Task Force has been replenished and relaunched in 2018. The CSTF’s goal is to secure the comprehensive and meaningful participation of civil society actors in the implementation of the recommendations made in the 2016 UNGASS outcome document. The CSTF will also work towards fostering an environment where evidencebased
approaches to drug issues (including methodologies and ideologies) are comprehensive and where regional and gender diversity is represented through various inputs. In preparation of the 2019 Ministerial Segment, the CSTF will promote the contributions of civil society with expertise in various drug-related areas.

The CSTF is excited to begin working immediately to ensure that civil society is active and present at all preparatory stages of the 62nd CND. In the short time available, the Task Force’s plans include: a post-UNGASS global consultation process, to inform a comprehensive output document to support the debate; civil society hearings in Vienna and New York to bring together civil society speakers and member state representatives; the selection of speakers for all opportunities at the United Nations in Vienna and New York; and the delivery of any further activities that will require CSTF attention.

In particular, the CSTF will identify and facilitate speaker inclusion for all relevant preparatory events and UN meetings, host regional and thematic online consultations, organize civil society hearings on the margins of the third committee negotiations and during the 62nd CND, co-host an Interactive Civil Society Hearing for all stakeholders with the Chair of the CND culminating in a recognized document preserving all conclusions from the event as a part of the preparatory process and ensure drug-related and wider civil society, policy makers and member delegations remain aware of relevant updates regarding CSTF projects and events leading up to the 2019 Ministerial Segment. In the pursuit of encouraging the acknowledgment of civil society contributions, the CSTF looks forward to the participation of many diverse civil society stakeholders and organisations toward the 62nd CND preparatory process.
For all questions and inquiries, the CSTF may be reached by e-mail at info@cstfondrugs.org.

Please visit: https://www.cstfondrugs.org/membership/

Civil Society Task Force on Drugs re-launched

Like many, Mr. Nonso Maduka, a pharmacist, lived with the notion that every drug addict was a criminal, and should be behind bars. To put it to the test, his friend set a trap for one drug user, telling him to get some money from his car. Maduka thought the guy would not resist the temptation to either bolt with the cash or tamper with it. To his surprise, the fellow handed the money to the owner, not touching a kobo.

That changed Maduka’s perspective. He also conducted a survey which revealed that drugs are not necessarily the causative factor for most crimes.

“I was shocked because I believed then that all drug users are criminals and they always take money,” Maduka said.

Most Nigerians also have that mindset. Has that helped in curbing hard drug use? No. In fact recent statistics have shown that drug use and trafficking are on the increase with the prisons getting filled with drug users awaiting trial who become worse even after they are released from prison.

This was what a three-day drug policy academy organised by the YouthRise Nigeria sought to address. During the workshop, participants, mostly youths cutting across civil society organisations, NGOs, health and the media were reorientated on the myths and misconceptions of drug use in the country.

A new way to fight hard drugs

Switzerland's pragmatic HIV prevention policy for intravenous drug users has been extremely successful. Thousands of HIV infections and AIDS cases have been prevented thanks to harm reduction measures, as shown by an analysis by the University of Zurich, the University Hospital Zurich and the Swiss HIV Cohort Study.

Researchers at the University of Zurich, the University Hospital Zurich were able to document and quantify the success of measures taken for the prevention of HIV transmission through intravenous drug use in Switzerland, based on a mathematical model and detailed clinical, viral genetics and epidemiological data from the Swiss HIV Cohort Study. Harm reduction measures such as needle exchanges, methadone programs, supervised heroin programs and contact and consultation services for drug users were all analyzed. Marzel and his colleagues could demonstrate through their work that the measures in Switzerland had prevented a total of over 15,000 HIV infections among drug users. "Previously, the HIV epidemic frequently spilled over from intravenous drug users to the general population through sexual contact, meaning that the prevention measures in drug users also indirectly prevented more than 2,500 cases of HIV infection in people who do not use intravenous drugs," says Prof. Roger Kouyos, head of the study, which was recently published in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases.

Swiss HIV prevention policy for intravenous drug users is a model for success

Doctors in the House of Commons are to lead a campaign to change the law banning the medicinal use of cannabis, as a new all-party parliamentary group (APPG) forms to campaign for the issue.

Dan Poulter, a former health minister who still works part-time as a GP, said he had already signed up fellow Conservative Andrew Murrison, Labour’s Paul Williams, and Philippa Whitford of the Scottish National party – four of the Commons’ nine medical doctors.

On Thursday morning he was inviting colleagues to join an APPG on medicinal cannabis. He is to co-chair the group with Mike Penning, a former Tory justice minister who estimated they have the support of around 80 politicians.

The development comes after Alfie Dingley, a six-year-old boy with epilepsy, pushed medical cannabis on to the political agenda by taking a 300,000 signature petition with him to No 10. He had been effectively treated with cannabis oil in the Netherlands, but was denied it at home in the UK.

The Home Office is understood to be on the verge of finding a way for Alfie to continue his treatment. But another boy, Billy Caldwell, 12, has emerged in similar circumstances after his GP was reprimanded by officials for trying to write a cannabis prescription. Campaigners claim there are hundreds of other families facing the same problems.

Doctors in UK House of Commons rally to overturn ban on medicinal cannabis

Petition of the greek «ngo platform for psychoactive substances» To appointed executive authorities for the accredited inclusion of civil society In the national planning and coordinating commission on addressing drugs

On Friday, April the 13th, member-organizations of the «NGO PLATFORM for psychoactive substances» filed a petition that was followed by a related memorandum to the Minister of Health, Mr. A. Xantho. The appeal stressed the importance for a robust, fair, substantial, accredited and legally established participation of the civil society, including members of the community of people who used drugs, in the process of planning, implementing and evaluating the national drug policy. The foregoing practice is not always deemed obvious or essential. Despite the multitude of relevant European and international recommendations and directives advising and promoting the aforementioned participation, this is not laid down under the national law in force (Article 50 of Act 4139/2013). In addition, [the right for] community inclusion is prescribed by international conventions, the Constitution of Greece in its human rights provisions and the Hellenic Charter of rights for people with substance dependence. The last was drafted under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights.

Given our long-standing experience, the high level of our expertise and our comprehensive engagement in the fields of drug policy and psychoactive substances, we the civil society organisations petition the Minister of Health to recommend to the appointed executive authorities an amendment to the provision of the Article 50 § 1 of the Law 4139/2013. Therein lies our wish to participate in the work-process of national drug policy-making within the national planning and coordinating commission with one (1) regular member of the «NGO Platform for psychoactive substances» and one (1) alternate.

The petition and the memorandum were communicated to: the Minister for Transparency and Human Rights, Mr. Stavros Kontonis; the National Drug Coordinator, Ms. Christina Papoutsopoulou-Diamantopoulou; the Secretary General for Public Health, Mr. Ioannis Mpaskozo; the Deputy Secretary General of the Ministry of Health, Mr. Stamatis Vardaros; the General Secretary of Transparency and Human Rights, Ms. Maria Giannakaki; and the Chairman of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs of the Greek Parliament, Mr. Emmanuel-Nikolaos Manio.

The Greek “NGO PLATFORM FOR PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES” consists of the following organizations: “CENTRE FOR LIFE for the support of people living with HIV/AIDS”, “DIOGENIS Drug Policy Dialogue”, “PeNUPS-Peer Network of Users of Psychoactive Substances”, “POSITIVE VOICE-Association of people living with HIV in Greece”, “PRAKSIS”, “PROMETHEUS- Hellenic Liver Patient Association”, and “STEPS”

The Greek NGO Platform for Psychoactive substances calls on public authorities to ensure civil society engagement in drug policy

People in Bristol will now be able to test their drugs before taking them thanks to a groundbreaking initiative.

The Loop’s Multi Agency Safety Testing Service (MAST), which has been rolled out at a number of UK festivals, will now be available in the heart of Bristol - making it the first time a drug safety testing service has been open to the general public in a UK town or city.

On Saturday evening a team of 40 chemists and healthcare professionals from the charity ran a pop-up laboratory in the city centre, testing substances brought in by members of the public to see if they contained what the buyers thought they did.

Bristol becomes first UK city to allow people to test their drugs before taking them

The inmates filed into a room at a New York prison, squeezed into classroom-style desks, and watched a guard demonstrate how a small plastic tube could help them save lives when they return to the streets of a nation gripped by an opioid epidemic.

The weekly class at the Queensboro Correctional Facility in New York City is part of a state program to expand access to naloxone, a drug delivered through a nasal spray that can quickly revive someone who is overdosing on heroin or an opioid-based prescription painkiller.

By giving naloxone kits to inmates upon their release, New York state officials hope those in need will have a better chance of getting the antidote in time.

Some of the prisoners, dressed in baggy green prison uniforms, were surprised by the simplicity of the naloxone kits as they recalled the painful loss of friends or relatives killed by opioid addiction.

“It makes me think, ‘Jesus, if she had that, she would be saved’,” said Marc Webb, 34, reflecting on the overdose death of a close friend a few years ago. “I wish they had a nasal spray to stop addiction, period.”

Overdose 101: New York inmates trained to use opioid antidote kit

The world is suffering from an invisible epidemic, an epidemic of pain.

As many as 60 million people are reckoned to suffer avoidable agony every year.

It is a situation that a visionary Indian doctor, Dr MR Rajagopal, has been campaigning to change for decades.

It isn't that the patients themselves are silent, he explains. Indeed, it was hearing the screams of agony of a neighbour in the last stages of cancer almost four decades ago that first set him on the path that would earn him his nickname: India's "father of palliative care".

"His family asked if I could help", he says, "and I couldn't, I was just a medical student."

It was his sense of helplessness in the face of that suffering that led him to specialise first as an anaesthetist, then in palliative care - the prevention and treatment of serious health-related suffering.

Why are so many people denied the painkillers they need?

Sweden is accustomed to being praised for its forward-thinking approach, but there's one area where many feel it lies behind the curve. The country's "zero tolerance" policy towards drugs is an increasingly isolated one compared to its neighbours, and has even been subject to criticism from the UN. The Local's Sweden In Focus series looks at why Sweden takes such a hard-line stance on drugs, what the consequences are, and if it will ever change.

Sweden's long-standing zero-tolerance drugs policy is based on the fundamental vision of a "drug-free society", and was shaped by lobbying group The Association for a Drug-Free Society (RNS). The group, founded by psychiatrist and "father of Swedish drugs policy" Nils Bejerot in 1969, pushes for the prevention of drug use through penalties rather than treatment of drug addiction. This has led to tough policing with a focus on small crimes of possession.

As the Swedish government's website explains, the zero-tolerance policy makes no distinction between "hard" and "soft" drugs. Police can detain and give a compulsory urine test to anyone they suspect of being high – followed by a criminal charge if proven to be true.

Is Sweden's zero-tolerance approach to drugs a failing model?

Today, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and Correctional Services Canada (CSC) Interim Commissioner Anne Kelly quietly announced a prison needle exchange program (PNSP) to be implemented in two federal prisons. Many prisoners, public health experts and advocates, including the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, have fought for more than 20 years for prisoners to have access to these types of vital health programs in Canada’s prisons. In fact, in September 2012, Steven Simons, a former prisoner, the Legal Network, Prisoners with HIV/AIDS Support Action Network (PASAN), CATIE and the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN) launched a constitutional challenge against the Government of Canada over its failure to make sterile injection equipment available to federal prisoners and prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) in federal prisons. This litigation is ongoing and continues to be necessary to ensure meaningful protection of the health and wellbeing of all federal prisoners, many of whom are from vulnerable and marginalized populations, including Indigenous populations. Today’s announcement by the Government of Canada reflects a significant concession by the federal government on the importance of PNSPs. As knowledgeable public health experts and advocates have maintained for years and the government now finally accepts, PNSPs are safe, effective and crucial to protect prisoners’ health. Moving forward, litigation is still necessary to ensure that the government completes the task as soon as possible and implements PNSPs in all federal prisons, in accordance with the evidence and public health principles. Every day without access to PNSPs violates prisoners’ fundamental Charter rights. It is clear that the Government of Canada now recognizes the solid and mounting international evidence about the effectiveness of PNSPs in preventing needless HIV and HCV infections behind bars. It is also clear that the federal government understands that PNSPs “are not associated with increased attacks on prison staff or other inmates, contribute to workplace safety, facilitate referral to available drugdependence treatment programs, and can coexist with other drug prevention and drug dependence treatment programs.” These are welcome developments, but will require determined follow-through, including the engagement of prisoners and the applicants in this lawsuit, to ensure that this important program is actually implemented, and that PNSPs are accessible and effective. Further information on our ongoing lawsuit against the Government of Canada can be found at http://www.prisonhealthnow.ca/.

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