Under legislation promoted by the ruling United Russia party and now being reviewed in parliament, dependent drug users will be forced into treatment or jailed, and dealers will be handed heftier custodial sentences. "The barons of narco-business must be put on a par with serial killers with the appropriate punishment in the form of a life sentence," said Gryzlov, chairman of the party. This decision was largely criticised by a number of Russian civil society organisations.
The Italian government has announced last month that it would submit a proposal to the UNGASS meeting on HIV/AIDS to cancel te term "harm reduction", with the purpose to substitute it with a watered down "risk reduction". This proposal was met with much criticism among Italian civil society organisations working in the drug policy field.
The head of the 2011 United Nations High Level Meeting on AIDS, the Reference Group to the United Nations on HIV and Injecting Drug Use has issued a statement calling for Member States to focus on HIV transmission among people who inject drugs. The statement details eight key priorities for Member States as they negotiate the outcome document for June’s General Assembly meeting.
The newly amended law, approved on Wednesday, May 25, is a small step forward in liberalizing Poland's drug policy. Overall, it aims to draw a greater distinction between drug user and drug dealer.
The Global Commission on Drug Policy, composed of a number of high level policy officials including Kofi Annan, Michel Kazatchkine, Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Javier Solana, will present its conclusions to the UN Secretary General in New York, on 2 June. The event will be accompanied by a major international campaign led by Avaaz, which aims to gather 500,000 signatures for its new petition 'End the war on drugs!'. IDPC has been actively involved in the work of the Commission since its inception in 2010.
In its concluding observations on Russia, the UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights noted its concerns about the Russian government's lack of support for opioid substitution therapy and needle and syringe programmes.
During a visit to Geneva this month, the UNODC Executive Director sought to draw attention to the importance of the fight against drugs and organised crime given that those phenomena impede development.
The Count the Costs campaign calls upon world leaders and UN agencies to quantify the unintended negative consequences of the current approach to drugs, and assess the potential costs and benefits of alternative approaches to drug policy.
This specialist call for submissions aims to reach out to a range of actors to ensure that the Global Commission reaches out broadly and seeks views from as diverse a range of stakeholders as possible. The deadline for submissions is 8 July 2011.
This bi-weekly electronic newsletter is the best way to keep up-to-date on OSF's current harm reduction efforts and work on a variety of other public health issues.