The Government of Canada has committed to legalizing, strictly regulating, and restricting access to cannabis. In April 2017, the government introduced Bill C-45, the proposed Cannabis Act. Subject to the approval of Parliament, the Government of Canada intends to bring the proposed Cannabis Act into force no later than July 2018.

We are now seeking feedback on Health Canada's proposed approach to the regulation of cannabis.

Health Canada is seeking your feedback on the Consultation Paper: Proposed Approach to the Regulation of Cannabis. This approach builds on the extensive consultations already conducted by the Task Force on Cannabis Legalization and Regulation and Canada’s existing system of regulated production of cannabis for medical purposes and industrial hemp.

The proposed Cannabis Act would create a strict national framework for controlling the production, distribution, sale and possession of cannabis in Canada. As part of this framework, Health Canada would be responsible for regulating production and setting standards for health and safety. The provinces and territories would oversee the distribution and sale of cannabis, subject to minimum federal conditions.

This consultation relates to Health Canada's proposed approach to the regulation of cannabis

Consultation on the Proposed Approach to the Regulation of Cannabis

As U.S. and Afghan forces pound Taliban drug factories this week, farmers in the country’s largest opium producing-province and narcotics experts say the strategy just repeats previous failed efforts to stamp out the trade.

U.S. Army General John Nicholson, who heads NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, announced on Monday a new strategy of attacking opium factories, saying he wanted to hit the Taliban “where it hurts, in their narcotics financing”.

Critics say the policy risks further civilian casualties and turning large swathes of the population dependent on poppy cultivation against the Afghan government.

U.S. strikes on Taliban opium labs won't work, say Afghan farmers

An erosion of human rights enables the brutal approach to drug policy taken in some Asian countries, says Mangai Balasegaram, but recent teen deaths in the Philippines have sparked massive public outrage, and she asks if this could mark a turning point in President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody War on Drugs.

At 8.45pm on 16 August, Kian delos Santos was gunned down in a dark, dead-end corner in the Manila suburb of Caloocan. He was yet another statistic in a bloody drug war in the Philippines that has left about 7,000 dead. In the preceding week, 90 people had been killed.

This death of delos Santos was different. He was just 17, and CCTV footage conflicted with the account from Police, that this was “nanlaban”, a common justification for killing, meaning he resisted arrest and tried to fire back.

Witnesses told local media that a defenceless delos Santos was beaten and dragged from near his home to where he was found dead, curled in the foetal position, with bullet wounds in his ear and back. The last words of the high school student went viral: “Please stop! Please stop! I have a test tomorrow!”

Stories of a responsible, caring teenager who got up at 5.30am to help run the family store cast further doubt on Police claims.

Public mood swing: Have Asia’s brutal drug wars hit a nerve?

Within the frame of the project "Strengthening NGO capacity and promoting public health and human rights oriented drug policy in South Eastern Europe", funded by EU and OSF, a visit to Slovenia took place on 26 - 28 of September. On behalf of the project partners (and members of DPNSEE), Mr. Sasa Mijovic (NVO4Life), Mr. Erlind Plaku (AksionPlus) and Mr. Nikos Stergiou (Diogenis Drug Policy Dialogue), were the delegates who participated in this activity. The meetings were concluded in an excellent climate and there was great exchange of experiences and good practices on drug policy in Slovenia and in the area of SE Europe.

11th issue of the Drug Policy Network of South East Europe Newsletter

In September, we had the honour of bringing an ICEERS delegation to the United Nations, joined by UMIYAC (Union de Medicos Indigenas Yageceros de la Amazonia Colombiana) and Maloca International. We traveled to Geneva to attend the 36th session of the Human Rights Council and the 62nd session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights that took place at the United Nations offices. Because it was also the 10th anniversary of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples there were also several other events taking place. It was in this context that our delegation had the opportunity to speak about ancestral medicine and medicinal plants with the different UN bodies that monitor the implementation of the core international human rights treaties. UMIYAC is an organization made up of representatives from five Amazonian indigenous communities: the Cofán, Siona, Coreguaje, Inga, and Kamentsá. As traditional healers and 

knowledge holders), their role is to steward ancestral knowledge, to protect their territories, and to offer physical and spiritual healing, such as the trauma left behind by the Colombian armed conflict. Maloca Internationale is an organization based in Geneva that works to promote the inclusion of traditional knowledge in the international legal system. Thanks to this initiative, and in name of all the spiritual authorities of the communities of the UMIYAC, we were able influence the international community through our written and oral declarations through the UN mechanisms.

Yagé and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the United Nations

The amount of street heroin testing positive for the deadly opiate fentanyl has skyrocketed over the past five years, according to tests of thousands of samples conducted by Canada’s health regulator. In 2017, 4,568 samples of street drugs seized by law enforcement tested positive for fentanyl, mostly in British Columbia, followed by Ontario, according to Health Canada’s Drug Analysis Service data provided to VICE News. In 2012, just 217 samples tested positive across the country, meaning the amount of drugs cut with fentanyl has increased more than 20-fold. Heroin has seen the biggest jump, with 60 percent of samples in 2017 testing positive for fentanyl or similar chemicals, compared to less than one percent five years ago. Fentanyl was also found in 1.8 percent of cocaine samples and 1.7 percent of meth samples tested this year.

Most heroin tested in Canada is contaminated with fentanyl

สงครามยาเสพติดมีผลต่อสตรีอย่างไร? มันแตกต่างจากที่มันมีผลต่อผู้ชายจริงๆหรือ? ความรู้ของเรามีอยู่อย่างจำกัดมากก่อนที่เราจะสัมภาษณ์ผู้เข้าร่วมการประชุมเชิงปฏิบัติการนานาชาติในบูดาเปสต์

โปรดดูรายงานวิดีโอของเราและอ่านบทความของเรา!ผลกระทบต่อมิติทางเพศของการทำสงครามยาเสพติด

คำบรรยาย มันน่าประทับใจมากที่ได้เข้ามาในห้องเต็มไปด้วยผู้หญิง - จริงๆแล้วผู้หญิงเท่านั้นทั้งในหมู่ผู้ชมและบนเวทีของผู้บรรยาย ฉันไม่เคยเข้าร่วมการประชุมเชิงปฏิบัติการเรื่องหญิงเพียงอย่างเดียวก่อนที่ฉันจะมาสัมภาษณ์ผู้เข้าร่วมการประชุมเชิงปฏิบัติการเรื่องผลกระทบทางเพศของสงครามยาเสพติดในบูดาเปสต์ซึ่งจัดโดยโรงเรียนนโยบายสาธารณะของ CEU สำหรับช่วงเวลาที่ฉันสามารถเอาใจใส่กับผู้หญิงที่เข้าร่วมการประชุมเชิงปฏิบัติการเต็มรูปแบบของผู้ชาย แน่นอนว่าสิ่งที่ฉันรู้สึกว่าเป็นความสนุก แต่สิ่งที่พวกเขารู้สึกก็เหมือนการข่มขู่ในโลกที่ผู้ชายครอบงำ

ในโลกนี้ในฐานะนักสตรีนิยมกล่าวว่าเกือบทุกปรากฏการณ์ในชีวิตทางการเมืองสังคมและเศรษฐกิจของเราถูกสร้างขึ้นจากมุมมองของผู้ชาย สงครามกับยาเสพติดไม่ใช่ข้อยกเว้น ความคิดที่ว่าผลกระทบทางเพศจากการทำสงครามกับยาเสพติดน่าจะเป็นเรื่องที่เห็นได้ชัด

เพื่อรับข้อมูลเกี่ยวกับประเด็นที่เกี่ยวข้องกับนโยบายยาเสพติด

กรุณาดูด้านล่างสำหรับข้อมูลเพิ่มเติมเป็นภาษาอังกฤษ

How does the war on drugs affect women? Is it really so different from how it affects men? Our knowledge was very limited before we interviewed the participants of an international workshop in Budapest. Please watch our video report and read our article!

It was impressive to enter a room full of women – actually only women, both in the audience and on the speakers’ podium. I have never been at a female-only workshop before I came to interview the participants of a workshop on the gendered impacts of the war on drugs in Budapest, organised by the CEU School of Public Policy. For a moment I could empathise with those women who join a workshop full of males. Of course what I felt was amusement, whereas what they feel is more like intimidation in a world dominated by men.

In this world, as feminists say, almost every phenomena in our political, social, and economic life is constructed from the male perspective. The war on drugs is not an exception. The notion that there are overlooked gendered impacts of the war on drugs seems obvious.

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

ผลกระทบต่อมิติทางเพศจากการทำสงครามยาเสพติด

The Philippine government says its war on drugs is producing results. But murder rates are rising, with a large number of deaths linked to police operations. The government denies that over 10,000 extrajudicial killings have taken place during Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs and instead points to a decrease in crimes such as kidnapping or theft.

Civilian deaths rise as Philippines war on drugs continues

By European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction

Europe’s ability to rapidly respond to public health and security threats caused by new psychoactive substances (NPS) will be significantly strengthened, thanks to new legislation published today by the European Union (1).

 and a faster risk-assessment process. The developments are in response to the recent growth in the market in NPS and follow a proposal from the 

 regarding information exchange on, and an early-warning system and risk-assessment procedure for, new psychoactive substances (amending the EMCDDA founding regulation); and

 including new psychoactive substances in the definition of ‘drug’.

New legislation published today to bring faster response to new drugs in Europe

Together with the Cannabis News Network, Martin Jelsma travelled to Colombia to report on the newly emerging medical cannabis industry in the country, specifically looking at the impacts of private investment and licensing on farmers and indigenous communities.

 features a wide variety of experts including Martin Jelsma (Transnational Institute), Andrés López (Director National Narcotics Control), Ricardo Vargas (Director de Acción Andina Colombia), Diana Paola Valenzuela (Institute of Studies for Development and Peace), Julian Caicedo (Anandamida Gardens) and more.  

Colombia Gold: 3 part video series on medical cannabis

With regional and international heads of state gathering in Manila, the Philippines, for the 31st Asean Summit, which kicks off on Friday and runs through Tuesday, it seems appropriate to examine whether or not there are more effective drug policies than those currently at play in dealing with the harms caused by the presence of drugs in society.

As former heads of state from Africa, Europe and Latin America, we recognise the fear that many communities feel, and the distress of policymakers in dealing with drugs. Sadly, however, this distress has too often resulted in punitive drug policies based on repression with a view of completely ridding society of drugs.

This aim of creating a “drug-free society” has not always dominated the public and political landscape in Southeast Asia. In several countries, traditional uses of some drugs such as cannabis, opium or kratom were tolerated. Indeed, the current prohibitionist international drug control regime is largely a Western construct, based on the UN conventions and political declarations, advancing a “drug-free society” as an objective.

ASEAN: Drugs might harm individuals, but current policies undermine social cohesion

Former prime minister Helen Clark will join one of world's leading drug policy reform think tanks, along with other former world leaders.

Clark, who last year lost her bid to become the next Secretary-General of the United Nations, ended her second four-year term with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in April.

And on Thursday (New Zealand time) she was announced as one of the new members of the Global Fund, which aims to reform drug policy in order to reduce societal harm. Helen Clark will be working alongside former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan, and prominent business people and cultural leaders such as Sir Richard Branson.