Whether it was transporting silk, spices, tobacco, or opium, for centuries, the Silk Road from the Far East towards European countries passed through Serbia. Read how heroin permeated the country and made the region a transport hub for illicit substances.

During the 1970s, injecting drug users in Belgrade and Serbia used opium originating in the former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia. Macedonia and Serbia were at the time part of the same country, Yugoslavia, so opium was transported without much trouble, satisfying 90 percent of the opiate drug market. The remaining 10 percent consisted of heroin reaching Belgrade in small quantities. Belgrade's heroin market grew slowly, since at that time there was no organised supply. Dealers were themselves users, and in many cases they were buying heroin in the Middle East and Asian countries. A smaller part of the market was covered by heroin coming from Kosovo. Albanians from Kosovo, with family connections in the Middle and Far East, were trying to organise their (at that time, rather poorly-developed) network of heroin distribution towards Western Europe. Heroin was transported to Yugoslavia from the Middle and Far East via Turkey and Bulgaria. It was then repackaged in Kosovo, to continue its journey towards Western Europe.

At that time, according to drug users, it was harder to arrange contacts with suppliers in Kosovo, due to ethnic and religious distrust, than with suppliers in the Middle East. Students from countries in the Middle East brought heroin to Belgrade for the first time. The street price at that time was 65 – 80 euro per gram.

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The role of heroin in Serbian history

For the first time ever, a key human rights body in the Americas has begun studying the impact of drug policies on human rights.

In a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, 17 organizations from across the Americas, including Open Society grantees Conectas, DeJusticia, and the Washington Office on Latin America, among others, argued that the war on drugs has worsened violence, strained criminal justice systems, and reinforced hardline security policies.

The commission’s effort is another step forward in the drug policy reform debate in Latin America. In some countries, this debate is well underway. In others, it is just beginning.

The problems with current drug policies are well established and common across the region. The militarization of efforts to counter drug trafficking in countries such as Colombia and Mexico has fueled violence and resulted in serious human rights violations by armed forces and law enforcement. The eradication of illicit crops has provoked clashes between armed forces and farmers, environmental damage due to aerial fumigation, and abuses against rural populations in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru, among others.

The Inter-American Commission hearing creates a path to focus on the impact of drug policy on human rights through dialogue among government and civil society representatives.

In Latin America, drug policy is a human rights issue

On Monday, March 31, 2014, a press conference "Drugs decriminalization becomes a reality around the world" took place in the Polish Parliament. During the conference, the report "A quiet revolution: drug decriminalization policies in practice across the globe" was presented for the first time in Poland. This report, prepared and published by a British organization Release, accurately describes changes in drug policy that have occurred in recent years, including issues on legalization of drugs and departing from punishment for their possession (the report is available 

The conference was attended by Ryszard Kalisz, member of the Polish Parliament, Tomasz Lipiński, musician, Piotr Kładoczny, lawyer of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Paweł Siłakowski, addiction therapist, and Maja Ruszpel from The Polish Drug Policy Network.

The conference participants mainly discussed the existing drug law provisions in our country.

“The current drug law in Poland, even though the amendment was adopted in 2011, is one of the most restrictive in the world,” Ryszard Kalisz said. “The countries that conduct rational drug policy, drugs, both soft and hard, should be decriminalized,” he emphasized.

Kalisz mentioned that decriminalization had been introduced in the Czech Republic in 2010, Estonia in 2002 and Portugal in 2001. He also discussed the changes in Uruguay and in the State of Colorado in the U.S.A., where the sale and consumption of marijuana had been legalized.

In Poland, however, any person who has a small amount of illegal substance for personal use is punishable by imprisonment up to 3 years. This problem was not solved by the amendment of 2011 which allowed the prosecutor to withdraw from the prosecution in case of possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use.

“It turned out that today, we have a crisis of prosecution, as prosecutors are afraid,” Ryszard Kalisz said. “If for a whole province, there is only a dozen of decisions of discontinuation, it means that the prosecutor prefers to prepare an indictment to ensure easy conviction as a success, rather than terminate the case,” he stressed.

The reason for such a situation is in fact the lack of drug amount reference tables to define precisely what is an "insignificant" amount of drugs possessed for personal use. These tables are successfully used in many European countries. Based on the drug amount, they specify whether the drug possession is a crime or only a misdemeanor (sample reference tables can be found in the report). However in Poland, such a tool, although needed, does not exist.

“We visited a number of prosecutors' offices, and all prosecutors would tell us: please prepare specific standards, rules that identify what is an insignificant amount, for every substance,” Dr. Piotr Kładoczny said.

A special guest of the conference, musician and artist previously associated with bands TILT and Brygada Kryzys, Tomasz Lipiński stressed that the current drug laws in Poland had been created based on the myths and uperstitions.

“Superstition is the understanding that drugs is something that concerns the social margins or very young people who aspire towards the margin. This is not true. Today, in the second decade of the 21st century, the drug is something that every young person comes in contact with everywhere in Poland. If this is true, the young people who grow up must be ready for it. Does the current law prepare them? No, it doesn't. It is to frighten them, and it fails to frighten, because you cannot educate anyone by fear,” Lipinski said.

Paweł Siłakowski, addiction therapist, added: "The situation of punishment for psychoactive substances caused something that was to be expected. Namely, a number of substances, which in themselves are legal, appeared on the market. And - worst of all - these are substances that can be also bought legally," he referred in this way to the phenomenon of designer drugs and other similar substances.

"Let us make drug law that is based on the lessons learned so far," Tomasz Lipiński said. "Dear MPs, please stop acting based on myths when you create the law, start working lead by knowledge and wisdom".

In the concluding part of the conference, Maja Ruszpel of the Polish Drug Policy Network provided statistical data that showed the effect of the current drug law: "In Poland, every three minutes someone is being detained on suspicion of possessing illicit psychoactive substances. Annually, there are 30,000 of them, and the majority are not criminals but young people experimenting with drugs or addicts. Such ineffective law generates costs amounting to 80 million Polish zlotys every year.

This press conference aimed at raising awareness of the different models of decriminalisation developed around the world and how these could be adapted in Poland.

"Drugs decriminalisation becomes a reality around the world"- Press conference in Polish Parliament

Like many addicts, Ammario Reza became hooked on opiates as a result of a doctor’s prescription. Four years ago the Carleton student, now 26, was prescribed oxycontin for a kidney stone and a crushed molar.

“I wouldn't say I got addicted to it right away, it was more of a gradual thing, I thought it was a miracle drug at the time because it was great and it took the pain away, but then after a time I started to realize that I couldn’t really function or start my day without having it in my system,” said Reza.

Reza said that in time, fear of experiencing the painful symptoms of opiate withdrawal came to dominate his life. It took him four years to seek treatment, and when he did, he was prescribed Suboxone.

Suboxone is a relatively new drug that is taken in pill form, unlike methadone. It works by blocking opiate receptors in the brain, preventing withdrawal.

For three weeks, Reza said things went well and he was receiving his Suboxone at a pharmacy in Hintonburg.

Addiction specialists worry that stigma will discourage people dependent on drugs from getting treatment.

Recovering addicts feel like 2nd-class citizens in some pharmacies

Some 800 patients in the region are currently receiving opioid substitution therapy (OST). This treatment is prohibited in Russia and current stocks of methadone and buprenorphine on the Crimean peninsula will only last for another few weeks at most. With the blocking of highways that connect Crimea to the mainland, getting medical supplies through is challenging and there are concerns that a major public health crisis will arise as a result.

According to Andriy Klepikov, Executive Director of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Ukraine (pictured above): “When the supply of these medicines is interrupted or stopped, a medical emergency will ensue as hundreds of OST patients go into withdrawal, which will inevitably lead to a drastic increase in both acute illness as well as increases in injecting as people seek to self medicate.

“The Russian Federation has extremely repressive drug laws,” he said, “and its punitive approach to people who use drugs means that it now experiences one of the highest rates of new HIV infections in the world. Injecting drug users represent nearly 80 percent of all HIV cases in the country. ”

The Alliance expressed alarm at the future of people who inject drugs in Crema following its annexation by Russia.

Annexation of Crimea will cut off 14.000 drug users from critical HIV prevention services

The Organization of American States (OAS) today hosted a Policy Roundtable on the topic “Women, Drug Policy and Incarceration in the Americas,” at the headquarters of the hemispheric institution in Washington DC, in which the report of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM) titled “Women and drugs in the Americas: a policy working paper” was presented.

The Executive Secretary of the CIM of the OAS, Carmen Moreno, highlighted in her presentation, among other aspects, that the female prison population has grown at a greater rate than the male population in Latin America, that the majority are imprisoned for drug related crimes, and that 80 percent are in preventative prison. “This is a critical indicator of the overload our justice systems are facing, caused in large part by the hemispheric drug problem,” said Ambassador Moreno.

“The tendency to penalize in a special and often disproportionate way crimes related to drugs has contributed to the significant increase in the number of women imprisoned in the region,” said the Executive Secretary of the CIM, and expressed her hope that, with mechanisms like the Roundtable, “we can move forward in addressing this issue, from a focus on human rights, gender equality, and sustainable development, particularly heading toward the Special OAS General Assembly which will be held this September in Guatemala to continue the debate over drugs and their impact in the Americas.”

The keynote presentation of the Roundtable was delivered by Gabriela Olivera, from the National Secretariat for Drugs of Uruguay, who spoke of the experiences of her country on the issue, the importance of alliances with civil society, and the study on the relationship between Uruguayan women and microtrafficking networks carried out by her office. Olivera explained that in her country “there is in the National Secretariat for Drugs a Secretariat for Gender that has as its aim the transversalization of the aspects and foci of gender in drug policies, above all in the practice in programs of prevention, treatment and reintegration.”

OAS Holds Debate on “Women, Drug Policy and Incarceration in the Americas”

Despite growing acknowledgement that the war on drugs has failed, global consensus on the way forward remains elusive. Nevertheless, some detect a “paradigm shift” among many players at the forefront of the debate.

At a panel discussion in New York on 25 March, hosted by the Open Society Foundation’s (OSF) Global Drug Policy Program, experts from Switzerland and the Czech Republic offered some pointers by showcasing their countries’ successes in adopting harm-reduction approaches that treat drug abuse as a public health problem rather than a crime.

In 2016 the UN General Assembly Special Session is scheduled to adopt a consensus on drug control. As the deadline draws nearer, NGOs and policy groups are intent on broadening the debate and exploring new options on drug policy.

Harm-reduction approaches of some countries that treat drug abuse as a public health problem rather than a crime can be a start to turn down the failed war on drugs.

Calls for a ceasefire in the war on drugs

The study is expected to provide a sound overview of all Member States' practice in applying alternatives to coercive sanctions as a response to drug law offences and drug-related crimes. Such overview should include the legislation and guidelines (ministerial, prosecutorial, etc.) that steer such practice.

The study should also provide an overview of the known effects of applying such alternatives, in particular as regards reoffending and their cost-effectiveness.

The deadline for applications is 12 May 2014.

Call for tenders: Study on alternatives to coercive sanctions as a response to drug law offences and drug-related crimes

In the past year, civil society organizations worldwide from different fields of work have closely followed United Nations Member States’ deliberations on the post 2015 development agenda. We have welcomed invitations to contribute through online or in-person consultations and have been suggesting development alternatives, analysis, and comprehensive recommendations throughout this process.

Despite our efforts, we are alarmed that within the post 2015 discussions, little seems to be underway to reverse the trend of doing business as usual and that the UN is about to lose the opportunity to transform the current vicious cycle of development focused on economic growth alone that fuels inequalities, inequities, environmental degradation and marginalization into a virtuous cycle where human rights and justice prevail. Despite the statement of the UN Secretary General that “no one will be left behind,” the Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] are not on track to be built on the essential priorities for a sound and effective post 2015 global agenda, namely human rights and dignity for all.

Civil society organisations are calling on Member States and UN Agencies to sustain the leadership and political will to ensure that the post 2015 development agenda is based on realizing the protection of human rights, equality, non-discrimination, and social justice for all.

The actions we need for the future we want – a civil society red flag

In Romania, the first harm reduction programs appeared in the context of an imminent HIV epidemic among heroin users, through injection. So, the first initiatives were developed in order to attract injecting drug users to specialized medical and social services through needle exchange. In 1999, Romanian Association Against AIDS (ARAS) started in Bucharest the first HIV prevention program among sex workers, a program which also contacted drug users and provided them sterile syringes. In parallel, Alliance for the Fight Against Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (ALIAT) opened a fixed needle exchange service, which became the first permanent system specifically created to help these people.

In Romania harm reduction services can't cover all drug users that face many other challenges such as limited access to social and medical services and police violence.

Harm reduction services in Romania

The federal government on Monday approved research into the use of marijuana as a treatment for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Department of Health and Human Services' decision was hailed as a major victory by marijuana researchers, who have struggled for decades to secure approval for research into marijuana's medical uses.

The proposal from the University of Arizona was long ago cleared by the Food and Drug Administration, but its researchers had been unable to purchase marijuana from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The agency's Mississippi research farm is the drug's only federally-sanctioned source.

In a letter last week, HHS cleared the purchase of medical marijuana by the studies' chief financial backer, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, which supports legalization of marijuana and other drugs.

Marijuana study in war veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder wins US backing

Opium poppies will soon be grown commercially in Victoria after a bill decriminalising the narcotic crop passed Victoria’s parliament last week.

Approved farmers will begin growing poppies under strict regulations as early as this year, creating an industry that Victoria’s agriculture minister, Peter Walsh, said could contribute $100m a year to the state’s economy.

“This would be a totally new addition to Victoria’s cropping sector and it is a very exciting opportunity for our farmers,” he said.

Under the Victorian poppy regime, growers and processors will have to register their contracts, keep extensive records and grow and dispose of their crops under tight security, subject to regular inspection by police and government inspectors.

Only a handful of countries, including Australia, Spain, France and India, are permitted by the UN to grow poppies, which are rich in morphine, thebaine and codeine, the primary ingredients of a host of pain-relieving medicines – as well as heroin.

Cultivation in Australia has for half a century been restricted to Tasmania, generating $120m a year for the island state, which produces 49% of the world’s legal supply.

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