Cannabis is hugely popular. 182m people use cannabis across the world and, with this level of exposure, the way cannabis is regulated matters. As does the evidence of risks and benefits to health which underpins regulation.

Sometimes saying nothing is as telling as saying something. Silence can suggest retaining the status quo. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been silent about the international regulatory controls on cannabis since its inception in 1935. The past 80 years have brought dramatic advances in scientific knowledge about cannabis, so it is odd that it has not provided updated advice about its legal status.

Indeed, cannabis continues to be scheduled in the same legal category as morphine – despite opiates such as morphine being more harmful, as recent drug fatality data reveals.

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

Why WHO needs a radical rethink of its draconian approach to cannabis

The 17th Congress is currently deliberating proposed bills to reinstate the death penalty in the Philippines. Most of these bills take off from the government’s ongoing “war on drugs,” which sees people involved with drugs as criminals who should be dealt with the harshest penalty of death. The proponents of the reinstatement of the death penalty characterize drug use as influencing citizens to perpetuate “the most perverse and atrocious crimes in the most repugnant of manners (sic).”[1]

The perspective reflected in the bills manifests an archaic, unscientific, and backward understanding of drug use. A punitive framework has been shown to be ineffective in dealing with drug-related issues. NoBox Philippines joins the call of civil society in strongly opposing the passage of the Death Penalty Law, and advocates for a public health response to drug-related issues in the Philippines.

The criminalization of people who use drugs in Asia and elsewhere around the world has failed to deter people from drug use. There is no evidence that supports the claim that harsher and more severe punishment, which includes the death penalty, results in meaningful reductions in drug use.[2] According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime,[3] the excessive use of imprisonment for drug-related offenses of a minor nature is also ineffective in reducing recidivism and overburdens the criminal justice system, preventing the efficient coping with more serious crimes. On the other hand, the provision of evidence-based health and social services to drug users, as an alternative to incarceration, has been shown to substantially increase recovery and reduce recidivism.

Drug use alone should not be seen as a social evil or moral failing, as a huge majority of people involved with drugs do not have any associated drug use problems.[4] In fact, data would show that alcohol, more than any illegal drug, is found to be more closely associated with violent crimes,[5] and yet our current laws do not treat alcohol consumption with the same ferocity for drug use.

NoBox Philippines believes that drug use occurs in a context where people find personal meaning in it due to various factors, including adapting and coping mechanisms, which do not amount to a social harm that society should persecute. The United Nations, through Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, has called on States to increase focus on public health, prevention, treatment and care, as well as on economic, social and cultural strategies as alternative to criminalizing drug use.[6] Harm reduction, which refers to policies, programmes, and practices that aim to primarily reduce the adverse health, social and economic consequences of the use of legal and illegal psychoactive drugs without solely focusing on drug consumption, must be undertaken by the government to address drug-related issues in the Philippines.

NoBox Philippines joins civil society in believing that the death penalty has absolutely no role in evidence-based, scientific, and humane drug policies. We call on our legislators to oppose the passage of the Death Penalty Law, and support a public health approach to drug use.

[1] Death Penalty Law, H.R. 1, 17th Phil. Cong. 

: http://www.congress.gov.ph/legisdocs/basic_17/HB00001.pdf.

[2] International Drug Policy Consortium, 

A Public Health Approach to Drug Use in Asia: Principles and Practices for Decriminalisation

: http://www.aidsdatahub.org/sites/default/files/publication/IDPC_A_public_health_approach_to_drug_use_in_Asia_2016.pdf.

[3] United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 

[5] National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, 

: https://www.ncadd.org/about-addiction/alcohol-drugs-and-crime.

[6] United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, 

Message on International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 

: http://www.unis.unvienna.org/unis/en/pressrels/2015/unissgsm645.html.

Health, not death: a statement opposing the reinstatement of death penalty in the Philippines

Members of the Philippines Congress must oppose bills aimed at reintroducing the death penalty, Amnesty International said today. The re-introduction of the death penalty would not only represent a major setback for the promotion and protection of human rights in the country but also violate the Philippines’ obligations under international law.

A sub-committee of the House of Representatives is currently considering seven bills that, if adopted, would reintroduce the death penalty for a wide array of crimes. In what appears to be an accelerated procedure, the bills could be considered by the House of Representatives and the Senate before the end of 2016. The Philippines, which fully abolished the death penalty for the second time in 2006, is party to an international treaty that categorically prohibits executions and commits the country to the abolition of this punishment. These obligations cannot be withdrawn at any time.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases and under any circumstances as a violation of the right to life, recognized by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights; and as the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. It is an irrevocable punishment, imposed and administered through justice systems that can be vulnerable to discrimination and error.

At a time when more and more countries are abolishing this punishment and 141 in total are now abolitionist in law or practice, a move to reintroduce the death penalty would set the Philippines starkly against the global trend towards its abolition. It would also undermine the country’s strong track record of advocating for the commutation of the death sentences imposed on Filipino nationals abroad, such as overseas workers. The legal assistance and political pressure the authorities of the Philippines have provided to those facing this punishment in other countries has undoubtedly contributed to the protection of their rights, including the right to a fair trial.

Amnesty International is further concerned by the Philippines authorities’ claims about the death penalty’s ability to deter crime and provide justice to victims, in order to justify this reintroduction. When governments are upholding their obligation to respect and protect the human rights of victims of violent and other serious crime, they also have the responsibility to ensure that all relevant human rights are protected and respected. This includes ensuring fair judicial processes, as well as that punishments are not cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment or amount to torture and have as primary aim the reformation and social rehabilitation of prisoners.

The proposed legislation would make crimes that do not involve intentional killing punishable by death, including drug-related offences or aggravated circumstances of kidnapping, rape and robbery. Under international law, in countries that have not yet abolished the death penalty, the punishment must be restricted to intentional killing. The proposed legislation would also prescribe the death penalty as the mandatory punishment for certain circumstances, breaching another prohibition set out in international instruments.

There is no conclusive evidence that the death penalty has a deterrent effect. Statistics from countries that have abolished the death penalty show that the absence of the death penalty has not resulted in an increase in the crimes previously subject to capital punishment, while evidence shows that punitive policies have little influence on the prevalence of drug use.

Amnesty International urges members of the Sub-Committee on Judicial Reforms of the Committee on Justice, and of the Congress more broadly, to reject in full the proposed legislation.

The Sub-Committee on Judicial Reforms of the Committee on Justice of the House of Representatives is currently considering House Bills Nos. 1, 16, 513, 3237, 3239, 3240 and 3418, on the reintroduction of the death penalty. The Philippines ratified the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty, on 20 November 2007.

As of today, 141 countries—more than two-thirds of the world’s countries—have abolished the death penalty in law or in practice. The number of countries that carry out executions has also been declining, with only 11 countries known to have carried out executions every year in the past five years. In 2015, 169 (88%) of the 193 UN Member States were execution-free.

In the Asia-Pacific region, 19 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes following the abolition of the death penalty in Fiji and Nauru in 2015 and 2016, respectively, and a further eight are abolitionist in practice. In 2015 Mongolia also adopted a new Criminal Code, effective from 2017 that abolishes the death penalty.

Philippines: Lawmakers must urgently oppose attempts to reintroduce death penalty

Video: World Health Organisation - HIV self-testing

The huge toll that substance use and misuse is having on individuals, families, and communities in the USA has culminated in a major public health crisis that shows few signs of abating. Last week, the US Surgeon General released 

Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General's Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health—

the Surgeon General's first-ever statement on this topic. This 426-page report addresses the problem of substance use and the wide range of adverse health effects from alcohol and both legal and illegal drugs. It brings together evidence on prevention; treatment; and recovery interventions, policies, and programmes.

There are some alarming statistics. 20·8 million people in the USA have a substance use disorder, equivalent to the number of Americans with diabetes. In 2014, there were 47 055 drug overdose deaths, 28 647 of which involved prescription opioid drugs and heroin. Of the one in seven Americans (14·6% of the population) expected to develop a substance use disorder during their lives, only one in ten will receive treatment. More than 66·7 million people reported binge drinking in the past month. Alcohol misuse contributes to 88 000 deaths in the USA each year. These numbers do not include the millions of people misusing substances who will later develop a substance disorder.

Addressing addiction in the USA

My sincere thanks to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences for holding this very important workshop to strengthen science-based solutions to a problem of great concern to all of the international community.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank your Majesty, for your dedicated efforts to prevent drug abuse around the world, and for your long-standing support for the work of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, including our launch of the Listen First prevention campaign in New York during the recent UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs (UNGASS).

Today, I would like to focus on the outcomes of the UNGASS and their impact on the international drug control system.

Remarks at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences workshop on narcotics: Problems and solutions of this global issue

Early this year, a disabled former automobile body worker named Greg Vialpando explained to lawmakers in New Mexico how medical marijuana helped his chronic back pain.

State legislators were considering a bill backed by workers’ compensation insurers that would have exempted them from paying for medical marijuana. But Mr. Vialpando and another patient described how smoking the drug let them escape years of stupor caused by powerful prescription narcotic drugs known as opioids.

The lawmakers ended up dropping the bill, and Mr. Vialpando’s expenses for buying marijuana are covered by insurance.

“I would recommend that people use medical marijuana over opioids any day,” Mr. Vialpando, 58, said in a telephone interview.

For businesses and insurers, a string of ballot victories this month for marijuana advocates are adding to an intensifying conundrum about the drug and issues such as insurance coverage, employee drug testing and workplace safety.

USA: where cannabis is the doctor’s orders, will insurers pay?

This series by InSight Crime takes a look at how the metrics used to measure cocaine production across Latin America do not always reflect the facts.

Challenging the Cocaine Figures, Part I: Bolivia

Cocaine seizures in Bolivia have shot up since 2013, reaching record figures this year. Between January and mid-August 2016, the police's antinarcotics unit (Fuerza Especial de Lucha Contra el Narcotráfico - FELCN) registered 16.7 metric tons of cocaine hydrochloride (HCl) seized -- already nearly double the total figure for last year, when 8.6 metric tons were intercepted.

However, coca base seizures, which have historically been much more substantial than cocaine seizures, have in contrast been decreasing sharply since 2012. (Coca base is a paste that can be further refined into HCl, which is the crystalized form of the drug.) This year, less cocaine base was interdicted than HCl.

Seizure figures can illustrate shifting trends in Bolivian drug production or security strategy. For some critics, rising cocaine seizures have been taken as evidence that Bolivia's drug control situation is deteriorating as a result of President Evo Morales' alternative drug policies. A former coca grower, Morales has adopted a liberal policy that allows for coca to be grown legally and monitored through a "community coca control" system.

Whether or not these concerns are plausible very much depends on which set of statistics is analyzed.

Over the year 2016, Colombia has seized a record 300 metric tons of cocaine, Defense Minister Luis Carlos Villegas told reporters on October 21.

Villegas said the figure was "the highest cocaine seizure statistic in our history."

This total vastly outstrips seizures over the past few years. Authorities intercepted 219 metric tons of cocaine in 2015, 133 metric tons in 2010, and 92 metric tons in 2003, the defense minister stated.

The year's record numbers are likely linked to the recent boom in coca leaf plantations, which doubled in size between 2013 and 2015.

The record figures trumpeted by the Colombian government appear surprising when considering how much cocaine the country is believed to be producing. By US government estimates, Colombia has already seized nearly three-quarters of all the cocaine produced last year -- an estimated 420 metric tons.

By UNODC figures, Colombia has seized nearly half of its estimated pure cocaine production -- which the international body calculated to be far higher at 646 metric tons.

As countries are generally thought to seize about 10 percent of all their illegal drug flow, these figures may seem unrealistic. However, they have some possible explanations.

Challenging the Cocaine Figures, Part III: Peru

At first glance, estimates of Peru's coca cultivation and eradication figures simply don't add up, which has led to claims of statistical manipulation. InSight Crime takes a closer look at the numbers to determine what's behind the discrepancies in the data.

As a drug trafficking expert recently noted, in certain areas of Peru the amount of coca destroyed by the Interior Ministry's eradication program vastly exceeds the estimated number of hectares of coca actually under cultivation. These figures are published yearly by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and are the main source of data for the Peruvian government.

Jaime Antezana, a specialist in drug trafficking in Peru, recently told Diario UNO that this showed that the UNODC and the Peruvian government are publishing false coca crop figures.

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

 Challenging the cocaine figures: Bolivia, Colombia and Peru

The prison population throughout Latin America has been growing steadily for the past few decades. Harsh drug laws and anti-gang policies have led to a massive increase of the number of people incarcerated, leading to overcrowding in underfunded and often neglected penitentiary systems. The majority of prisoners have yet to be tried, and may wait for years for a hearing. In some countries, gangs continue to operate and recruit new members from inside prisons, and gang leaders order extortion and homicides from behind bars.

This phenomenon can be clearly seen in Brazil, which has recently attained the unfortunate distinction of having the world’s fourth highest rate of incarceration. In the last fifteen years, the country’s incarceration rate grew by 7 percent annually, ten times faster than its population growth. Over the past 25 years, Brazil’s prison population rose from 90,000 to almost 600,000. It is projected to rise to 1.9 million by 2030 if current rates persist.

The Brazilian prison system: Challenges and prospects for reform

The meeting with the Minister of Health, Mr. Ksanthos, took place on Monday 14/11/2016, with representatives of the “Greek NGO Platform on Psychoactive Substances”. The meeting took place at the request of partner organizations, which are based on multi and interdisciplinary experience in the implementation of interventions in the field of psychoactive substances and drug policy, presented the priorities and requests to the Minister.

Click here to read the positions and proposals of the platform

NGOs meet with Greek Minister of Health to discuss drug policy reform

Under a flyover of concrete, alongside a road full of afternoon commuters, a group of people flock around a van. One of them, a woman in a colourful summer dress and a golden necklace, looks like she came to see a show at the nearby theatre. However, just like the man in his unwashed jeans in front of her, she is here for her daily dose of methadone. It will get her through the night.

"Drugs started when my father brought me to the south of Portugal, to the Algarve, where I met people who were in the scene," the woman tells Al Jazeera on condition of anonymity.

"Life was glamorous in these days. Everything sparkled. My boyfriend was a dealer, and I started to push drugs for him, too. We made loads of money. Now he is out of my life, but the addiction has always stayed with me."

Portugal: Fifteen years of decriminalised drug policy

People from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are more likely to be jailed for some crimes than those who are white, according to a government-commissioned report.

While black people are known to be almost four times more likely to be in prison than white people, the study, headed by the Labour MP David Lammy, reveals racial disparities at many stages of arrest, charging, prosecution and imprisonment.

Lammy, the MP for Tottenham in north London, said: “These emerging findings raise difficult questions about whether ethnic minority communities are getting a fair deal in our justice system. We need to fully understand why, for example, ethnic minority defendants are more likely to receive prison sentences than white defendants. These are complex issues, and I will dig deeper in the coming months to establish whether bias is a factor.”

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