Bluetooth nyaope, dagga, dealers and associated rhetoric often dominate the headlines on the issue of drug use. The supply and consumption of drugs — legal or illegal — is blamed for all manner of social ills, including crime, unemployment, corruption and the “moral decay” of communities. Meanwhile, political campaigns promise the unreachable dream of a “drug-free” community.

In this context, human rights violations against people who use drugs and militarised approaches to policing, such as police carrying automated weapons when they raid drug dens and cordoning off whole communities to “search for drugs”, are often considered justified. Certain members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and politicians with a “moral” agenda continue to oppose health services, such as needle exchange programmes, for people who use drugs despite official health department support for these initiatives.

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

It's time to end South Africa's war on drugs

For the first time, Canadian authorities are permitting people to consume drugs orally and nasally in drug consumption rooms, as the country’s overdose crisis escalates.

On June 27, Health Canada – the federal department that oversees public health – granted permission to two drug consumption rooms (DCRs) to allow people to use drugs orally and nasally. The facilities - SafePoint and Quibble Creek Sobering and Assessment Centre – are in Surrey, British Columbia (BC). This marks the first instance of a state approving the oral and nasal consumption - such as swallowing or snorting - of drugs in a DCR outside of Europe.

In these DCRs, people are provided with sterile equipment and individual spaces to use drugs under the supervision of medical professionals equipped with naloxone - the medication used to reverse opioid overdoses. Some Canadian DCRs also provide additional services such as counselling, or places where people may stay after consuming drugs. With the formal approval from Health Canada, people may use these facilities without facing legal consequences for possessing or trafficking of illegal substances.

The two Surrey facilities both opened in June 2017, however their application to allow nasal and oral use of drugs was not granted immediately. Thus, they began exclusively as injection sites.

“About 1,000 people have used SafePoint since it opened on June 8, and 19 of them have overdosed, requiring staff to use the overdose-reversing drug naloxone,” according to Dr. Victoria Lee who serves as the chief medical health officer for the regional healthcare authority funding these sites.

Canada drug consumption rooms to allow oral and nasal use, as overdose crisis escalates

The Parliament of Catalonia has approved the creation of a legal framework for regulating the cultivation, distribution, and consumption of cannabis.

On June 28, members of the Catalonia Parliament voted to approve the creation of a regulated framework for cannabis social clubs (CSCs) across the autonomous Spanish region, with 118 legislators supporting the measure, and only eight opposing it. CSCs are collectives in which cannabis is cultivated and distributed – not sold – among members who pay for the costs of running and maintaining the club. Selling cannabis remains illegal.

The new law - which originated as a citizens' legislative initiative that gained the requisite 50,000 signatures to be debated in parliament – aims to reduce potential risks of the trade and consumption of cannabis by introducing regulations on its production and distribution.

Catalonia is the third regional government in Spain to approve such a law, following similar reforms in the Navarra and Basque Country regions in the north of the country. Amber Marks, a barrister and academic who recently published a paper on Spanish cannabis law and human rights law on cannabis around the world, told TalkingDrugs that the vote in Catalonia was markedly different to cannabis reforms elsewhere in Spain.

Catalonia legalises cannabis cultivation and distribution

Over 3000 people suspected of using or selling drugs have been killed in direct police operations. In thousands of other ‘deaths under investigation’, some police officers have worked with paid killers to kill suspected drug offenders. The victims have overwhelmingly been from poor families who were often made even poorer by the death.

The government has also been trying to pass a bill to bring back the death penalty, even though the Philippines is signed up to an international treaty which says the death penalty must be abolished. There is still a risk the punishment could be re-introduced, if it’s approved by the Senate.

The President has threatened to kill and behead human rights defenders who criticise his policies, making the Philippines an even more dangerous place for human rights activists.

The government has even declared martial law in the province of Mindanao, which includes passing over police work to the military. But they still have a responsibility to protect people from violence and unlawful killing, and to respect human rights.

 End the attack on human rights in the Philippines

United Nations (UN) agencies, over 45 UN member states, the European Union, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and over 370 community and civil society organizations globally have condemned the war on drugs in the Philippines. Two cases have been filed in the ICC for his crimes against humanity. However, such efforts and concerns were either mocked or openly challenged by Duterte.

During the plenary session on drug policy reform in the 25th International Harm Reduction Conference in Montreal, Canada, Senator Risa Hontiveros, a leading health advocate in the Philippines presented how the new administration has proposed the whole gamut of drug policy reforms that aims to strengthen Duterte’s crime and punishment approaches. As an alternative to his reforms, Senator Hontiveros has filed the “Public Health Intervention for Drug Use Act of 2017”, that would institutionalize life saving harm reduction policies. Watch the full video below:

#StopDuterteNow – Global campaign

Are you passionate about global drug policy? IDPC is looking for a dynamic and motivated new volunteer to support our communications work!

The selected candidate will help us enhance IDPC’s visibility by helping our communications work, and providing some research and administrative support to our small team of advocates. Ideally, the volunteer would commit to work at IDPC for a minimum period of three months (either part- or full-time, depending on the person's availability). For more information about the position, have a look at the full description below.

If you are interested in volunteering for us, please 

 to Marie Nougier at mnougier@idpc.net. Please note that we can only welcome volunteers who have the right to live and work in the UK.

IDPC does not have the capacity to pay its volunteers. However, we will reimburse travel costs and lunch expenses incurred during the volunteer’s working days.

Please see this video for a brief introduction to the work of IDPC:

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

IDPC recruits new communications volunteer

As the world again marks the United Nation’s “International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking,” too many UN member states are still missing the point — namely, that drugs are primarily a health issue and not a matter for the criminal justice system.

June 26 has become synonymous with outdated, punitive drug policies adopted in the absurd fantasy that they will bring about a “drug-free world.” After all, this was the implicit goal when this commemorative day debuted three decades ago.

In many countries, governments have “celebrated” June 26 with an orgy of violence, vilification and misinformation. In the past, some made a show of executing people for alleged drug offences, contrary to international human rights law. Many brag about drug busts and the quantities of drugs seized, despite this having no lasting positive effects. Some government leaders seize the day to further demonize drugs and people who use them. In some countries, government authorities spread falsehoods denying the need for, and benefits of, evidence-based drug treatment options and harm reduction services.

But prosecutions and punishments don’t actually put an end to drug use or drug markets. And they certainly do nothing to assist people whose drug use is problematic and who need support of various kinds, from housing to basic health care to addiction treatment that is evidence-based and respects personal dignity and autonomy.

For this reason, in 2013, the International Drug Policy Consortium launched “Support. Don’t Punish.,” a growing global counter-campaign to challenge this harmful June 26 orthodoxy.

UN day against "drug abuse" gets it all wrong

In view of the on-going progress in the field of the medical use of cannabis at international level, as well as the current developments in our country, NGO Diogenis within a network of collaborating civil society organizations – with years of experience, knowledge and activity in this specific area of interest – is undertaking the initiative to set up and coordinate the establishment of the “Greek Observatory for the Medical Use of Cannabis”.

The common goal of our organizations is to ensure the immediate, unhindered and legal access of patients to quality cannabis for medical use based on international evidence based data and best practices.

FUNDAMENTAL CONDITIONS REQUIRED TO ACHIEVE THIS GOAL ARE CONSIDERED TO BE:
> The creation of the appropriate legal framework to support and protect patients in their use and possession of cannabis for medical purposes.
> The guarantee of access for patients to the appropriate form of medicinal cannabis in accordance to the indications of each individual medical condition.

> The development of strategies to strengthen domestic cannabis production for medical use, beyond the introduction of legal medicines and cannabis preparations from abroad, to protect both the domestic economy and patients from the inherent risks of a market which is quickly being dominated by large multinational companies and international investment funds.
> The promotion and defense of patients’ rights in accordance with the EUROPEAN CHARTER OF PATIENTS’ RIGHTS (i.e. the right of access to the health services that health needs require, the right to information, the right of free choice, the right to avoid unnecessary suffering and pain).

Initiative for the establishment and coordination of the “Greek Observatory for the Medical Use of Cannabis”

Since assuming the presidency of the Philippines a year ago, Rodrigo Duterte and his administration have presided over a wide range of human rights of violations, intimidated and imprisoned critics, and created a climate of lawlessness, Amnesty International said today.

Using the highest office in the country, Duterte has explicitly approved violence that has led to thousands of extrajudicial executions, in the government’s anti-drug campaign. This surpasses even the number of people killed during the murderous rule of Ferdinand Marcos from 1972-1981.

Philippines: Duterte’s bloody and lawless year in power

During its 35th session held from June 6 to 23, 2017, the UN body in its resolution 26/12 said that it decided to extend the mandate of Ms. Callamard, a known critic of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s war on drugs that has led to the deaths of more than 6,000 persons.

As special rapporteur, Ms. Callamard is mandated to “continue to examine situations of extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions in all circumstances” and “to submit the findings on an annual basis, together with conclusions and recommendations,” as cited in UNHCR’s report.

Last month, Ms. Callamard visited the country for “academic” purposes. Speaking before a drug policy forum at the University of the Philippines Diliman, Ms. Callamard said that the global problem on narcotics requires effective approaches, scoring Mr. Duterte’s bloody drug war. “Let me be clear. In none of the countries where the perverse consequences of ill thought drug policies were reported, in none of these countries did the drug problem disappear. In fact, the opposite happened,” Ms. Callamard said during the Drug Issues, Different Perspectives: A Policy Forum last May 5.

UN body extends term of drug war critic

United Nations entities recall that a central principle of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is to “ensure that no one is left behind” and to “reach the furthest behind first”. Recognizing that discrimination in health care settings is a major barrier to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), United Nations entities commit to working together to support Member States in taking coordinated multisectoral action to eliminate discrimination in health care settings.

We, the signatory United Nations entities, call upon all stakeholders to join us in committing to taking targeted, coordinated, time-bound, multisectoral actions in the following areas.

Supporting States to put in place guarantees against discrimination in law, policies, and regulations by:

Reviewing and repealing punitive laws that have been proven to have negative health outcomes and that counter established public health evidence. These include laws that criminalize or otherwise prohibit gender expression, same sex conduct, adultery and other sexual behaviours between consenting adults; adult consensual sex work; drug use or possession of drugs for personal use; sexual and reproductive health care services, including information; and overly broad criminalization of HIV non-disclosure, exposure or transmission.

Joint United Nations statement on ending discrimination in health care settings

Monday's annual event in Ayutthaya marks a great setback in a campaign to bring sanity to the 46-year-old "global war on drugs" instigated by ex-US president Richard Nixon. Officials will stage their usual torching of tonnes of drugs seized in raids, highway searches, street corner arrests and home invasions. But for the frist time in years they will be working under orders to step up the suppression. The prime minister "expects to see better resutls", meaning more arrests in the so-called war that was lost years ago.

Last week's order by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is disappoitning on several levels. The order to increase police action is a complete reversal of encouraging movement towards adoption of a more sane and sustainable policy on illicit drugs. As in the past, the ceremony in Ayutthaya will literally blow smoke over the very idea of reforming the failed policies of the past.

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