An expert panel of doctors will tomorrow begin to draw up guidelines on how medicinal cannabis can be prescribed in Ireland.

Describing it as “a pivotal step”, Health Minister Simon Harris said the expert reference group, chaired by Dr Mairín Ryan of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), would start drafting guidelines on how the drug can be dispensed.

Patients and clinicians will also have a say on the guidelines which are to become the main building blocks of the Cannabis Access Programme (CAP) which Harris announced at the start of the year.

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

Ireland moves one step closer to allowing doctors prescribe medicinal cannabis

In the United States, where an epidemic of overdoses from heroin and other opioids is front-page news, it is becoming more widely accepted that people who use drugs and their communities should have access to naloxone, an overdose antidote, in case of an emergency.

Indeed, by 2014, U.S. harm reduction programs—which focus on offering drug users choices that can help them protect their health—had given more than 152,000 laypeople naloxone kits, resulting in more than 26,000 overdose reversals. However, this simple harm reduction intervention has been slow to gain traction in many other countries. Obstacles include laws that prohibit ordinary people from providing injections, as well as a reluctance to put these tools directly in the hands of drug users—often over fears this will lead to riskier behavior.

Learning from Italy’s lead on naloxone

Other than a wall at the border with Mexico, Donald Trump promised little to address drug trafficking in the Americas during last year’s U.S. presidential campaign. Two months into his presidency, it is clear that the Trump administration’s disengaged and military-first approach to the drug trade could bring more volatility to the region.

On March 13, the White House released “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again,” which raises more questions and concerns than solutions on many issues, including the drug trade. It notably recommends a $54 billion increase in military spending, proposes reduced funding to the “UN and affiliated agencies,” and requests a $10.1 billion budget cut for the Department of State and USAID—a 28 percent decrease from current levels. In his introductory message to Congress, Trump declared that, “It is time to prioritize the security and well-being of Americans, and to ask the rest of the world to step up and pay its fair share.”

What does the Trump era mean for drug policy in Latin America?

Argentina gave final legislative approval on Wednesday to a bill legalizing cannabis oil for medicinal use and permitting the federal government to grow marijuana for research and therapeutic purposes.

The measure will become law once it is signed by President Mauricio Macri, whose Cambiemos party sponsored the bill.

"Thirty percent of epileptics do not respond to traditional medicine," medical doctor Ana María García Nicora, who heads the Medical Cannabis Argentina group, told local television after the Senate's final vote on the measure.

"My daughter has had epilepsy for 24 years and this is an option for her," she said.

Chile and Colombia have adopted similar laws and neighboring Uruguay has gone as far as to legalize smoking marijuana, seeking to wrest the business from criminals in the small South American nation.

A bill approving the use of cannabis oil is pending in Peru's Congress. In January, healthcare regulators in Brazil issued the country's first license for sale of an oral spray derived from marijuana used to treat multiple sclerosis.

Argentina lawmakers approve cannabis oil for medicinal use

Lawmakers in the Philippines are being urged by the UN Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial executions and torture* to reject a proposed Death Penalty Bill which is under consideration in Manila.

The proposed “Death Penalty Bill” which would reintroduce capital punishment for drug-related offences, defined in the text as “heinous crimes”, would replace the Republic Act which prohibits the imposition of capital punishment in the Philippines.

The measure was approved by the House of Representatives on 7 March and has now moved to the Senate for approval. Discussions there have been suspended at sub-Committee level to allow for consideration of the Philippines’ international legal obligations.

UN experts urge Filipino legislators to reject death penalty bill

Indonesia’s National Narcotics Board (BNN) together with the Health Ministry recently made a swift move to criminalize synthetic cannabinoids called “super tobacco”, also known as “Gorilla tobacco”, as part of their anti-narcotics efforts. However, synthetic cannabinoids will continue to spread as long as cannabis remains illegal. A better approach would be to develop a regulatory framework for the use and production of natural cannabis

Synthetic cannabinoids have gained popularity in Indonesia shortly after President Joko Widodo pledged to intensify the war on drugs in the archipelago. Since then, cannabis seizures and eradication programs have increased. Amid shrinking supply, many users have turned to online markets for synthetic cannabinoids, sold as tobacco products with psychoactive effects similar to cannabis.

On Jan. 9, “Gorilla tobacco” - chemically identified as AB-CHMINACA - was included in the strictest Schedule I of Indonesia’s 2009 anti-narcotics law, along with 27 other substances. By taking this approach, the BNN neglects the possible “balloon effect” of adding this new layer of prohibition. Criminalizing one type of synthetic cannabinoids (or synthetic drugs and NPS in general) will simply encourage producers to adapt and find new or modified substances; allowing other (and possibly more dangerous) varieties to emerge.

Criminalisation of cannabis in Indonesia might be causing more harm than good

It was early evening on January 1, 2017, when Maria heard that a riot was under way at Complexo Penitenciario Anisio Jobim (COMPAJ) - the prison where her two sons Antony, 27, and Antonio, 22, were being held.

Maria - an alias she requested for security reasons - spoke to Al Jazeera from her small red brick home in a poor Manaus neighbourhood.

Her son Antonio had been sent to the prison in September, his third sentence for stealing motorbikes. He entered as a marked man, having supposedly informed on someone when he was arrested.

Brazil's prisons: A battleground in the drug wars

Yesterday, the Trump Administration designated Richard Baum to serve as Acting Director of National Drug Control Policy until a permanent Director is nominated and confirmed by the Senate.

Acting Director Baum has served in a variety roles at the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) for two decades and through four presidential administrations. He has a broad range of experience on domestic and international drug control policy issues, including leading the development of key strategic documents such as the 

. Most recently, as Chief of the International Division at ONDCP, he was a part of the United States Delegation to the meeting of the United Nations’ Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, Austria.

Acting Director Baum is replacing Kemp Chester, who was appointed as Acting Director on Inauguration Day. During his tenure, Acting Director Chester advanced the Administration’s drug policy priorities, which include promoting prevention and treatment for substance abuse while stopping the trafficking of illicit drugs. Mr. Chester, a retired Colonel in the U.S. Army, will return to his previous role as the Associate Director for the National Heroin Coordination Group at ONDCP, which leads the U.S. Government’s response to the threat of illicit opioids.

“I am deeply honored to have been designated by President Trump to serve as Acting Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy,” Mr. Baum said. “In my two decades of service at ONDCP, I’ve seen the heart-breaking suffering caused by illegal drugs, as well as the incredible work of dedicated individuals working to address drug abuse and its consequences. I look forward to continuing that work.”

Trump Administration designates new Acting Director of National Drug Control Policy

Yesterday the unprecedented resolution of a court case for the importation of coca leaf powder (also known as 

) took place at the Provincial Court of Girona. F.T., a Colombian citizen living in Spain, was acquitted of charges of drug trafficking following the presentation of evidence and arguments about the historical, cultural, social and medicinal value of coca leaves.

“The resolution of this case represents a victory for human rights with regards to traditional plants that fall victim to drug policies based on ignorance,” said Dr. Constanza Sánchez, Director of Law, Policy and Human Rights, International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research and Service.

The case began in 2014 when F.T. was arrested for mailing a package containing 2kg of ground coca leaf, which is used in the Andean and Amazonian regions of South America for ceremonial, medicinal and nutritional purposes.

Accused of receiving “cocaine” and “motivated by the purpose of distributing cocaine among third persons,” the Prosecutor’s Office requested 4 years of imprisonment, establishing at the same time that the amount of cocaine intended to be obtained was 6.3 grams (note that, according to the doctrine of the Spanish Supreme Court, the threshold for possession of cocaine for personal consumption is 7.5 grams).

After several years of process, on March 15, 2017, the trial of F.T. took place, ending with the dropping of the charges by the Public Prosecutor and the acquittal of the accused (the official sentence is still due). The F.T. defense team, led by Barcelona lawyer Roberto Castro, and supported by ICEERS and the Transnational Institute (TNI), has reached an unprecedented goal in a coca leaf case in Spain, with potential impact in other European countries.

“Currently, coca leaf use in its unprocessed form is no longer restricted to indigenous territories and populations – these practices are expanding because of coca’s stimulating, nutritional and medicinal properties,” says Pien Metaal of the TNI Drugs and Democracy Programme.

Expert witness testimonies focused on the legal status of coca, international debates on its classification in international drug treaties, its alleged health benefits and its role of social cohesion both in the original contexts and in the Andean diaspora around the world. Furthermore, expert witnesses emphasized how the revival of coca use outside the limits of what would be considered, in purist terms, traditional or indigenous. Finally, they argued that the accusation that the defendant had imported two kilos of ground leaf with the purpose to extract cocaine for later distribution was absurd – an opinion which was corroborated by experts of both the defense and the National Institute of Toxicology during the trial.

“The consumption of coca leaf is not comparable to the consumption of cocaine,” said Dr. José Carlos Bouso, Scientific Director of ICEERS. “There is no scientific evidence that chewing coca leaves is harmful to one’s health. Rather, there is increasing evidence to the contrary, for example, research has shown that it is a stabilizer of blood glucose levels, a benefit that is of paramount importance with numerous medical applications, ”

During this important legal case, not only the was F.T.’s innocence and honor demonstrated, but also the historical error of the prohibition of the coca leaf and of cultural practices that surround it.

Acquittal in Spanish coca leaf legal case

Nominations are invited to fill a vacancy on Board of Directors of Harm Reduction International. 

This vacancy is to fill the seat on the Board reserved for a representative of people who use drugs.

 The appointment will be for a three-year term, with possible renewal.

Harm Reduction International is a UK company registered under Company Law in England and Wales, and also a Charity registered in England and Wales. Therefore, the person elected will be both a Director of the Company and a Trustee of the Charity.

The Board of Directors is responsible for the governance of the organisation and the broad strategy. They have ultimate responsibility for directing the affairs of Harm Reduction International, ensuring that it is well-run and delivering the charitable outcomes for the benefit of the public for which it was set up.

Meeting twice annually, the Board is responsible for ensuring that Harm Reduction International:

Meets its legal and financial obligations

Undertakes actions to achieve those goals

Uses it resources only to further its charitable purposes

Meetings of the Directors, and all documentation and communication, are in English.

Directors must to be available for two two-day face-to-face meetings each year in London (travel and accommodations paid for by HRI). 

The successful applicant must be willing to attend the next HRI Board meeting taking place July 2017.

Good telephone and internet access is essential. Directors are also expected to be available to provide advice and comments between meetings.

Click here to view Harm Reduction International Governance section of the website – including the ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ (our rules and regulations).

Interested candidates are asked to submit:

a short (250 word) profile or statement of interest, and a CV (optional)

a letter of support from a drug user network or organisation

Please submit the above to rick.lines@hri.global. 

The closing date for nominations is 5pm GMT on 30 April 2017

Opening on Board of Directors of Harm Reduction International

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government is reportedly planning to announce legislation that will legalise recreational marijuana use across the country.

Under the proposals, producers would be licensed and the national age limit to buy it would be set at 18, although some provinces would be allowed to set it higher.

Canadians who want to grow their own marijuana would be limited to four plants per household.

Canada to legalise cannabis by 2018

In the vast areas of Colombia’s countryside where evidence of government is scarce, you can see the bright green bushes once again growing up to the roadside. They’re usually knee-high, indicating that they were planted recently. They’re in the same parts of the country as before: farmers don’t seem to be cutting down new forest and growing in new areas. Usually, it is one of several cash crops on a farmer’s land: at least some of the legal crops are more profitable, he or she will tell you, but with prices fixed by armed groups or organized crime, coca offers the steadiest income.

Colombia is in the midst of a coca boom, perhaps its largest ever. The numbers show an explosion in plantings of the bush that produces leaves indigenous people in Peru and Bolivia (and a few in Colombia) have used for centuries, and drug traffickers today use to make cocaine. Using methods that it does not discuss, the U.S. government estimated 159,000 hectares of coca planted in Colombia in 2015 (a hectare is about two and a half acres). When it releases its 2016 estimate—reportedly on March 14—the U.S. number could reach or exceed 180,000 hectares for the first time ever. (The United Nations releases its own estimates, in cooperation with Colombia’s National Police, usually in June. Using a methodology that its reports endeavor to explain, the UN found 96,000 hectares in 2015. Though the U.S. and UN estimates diverge widely, they tend to follow similar trendlines—and both are increasing.)

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