Anand Grover is the UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, whose mandate is derived from the UN Human Rights Council. Mr Grover’s annual thematic report sets out the range of human rights abuses that have resulted from international drug control efforts.

This report is the clearest statement to date from within the UN system about the harms that drug policies have caused and the need for a fundamental shift in drug policy.

Special Rapporteur on the right to health calls for fundamental shift in drug policy  

The IDPC Monthly Alert is now available in French, English and Spanish. The Alert contains news items, updates on publications and upcoming events related to drug policy.

The previous Alerts can be downloaded from our News Alerts section in both English and Spanish, and will soon be made available in French.

IDPC Monthly Alert now available in French

IDPC is very pleased to announce that you can now follow our activities and access interesting news, publications, pictures and videos on drug policy on the new IDPC Facebook page. We warmly invite you to visit and become fans of our Facebook page.

We also hope that this page will constitute an interesting forum of discussion and collaboration on all aspects of drug policy.

Join IDPC on Facebook!

IDPC is recruiting an enthusiastic and committed intern who has an interest in learning more about the multi-disciplinary issue of international drug policy, to conduct desk-based research around possible fundraising opportunities for our work.

Desk-based research into funding opportunities;

Write up summaries of possible opportunities – flagging key criteria of possible funders and where IDPC fits with the criteria;

Support IDPC in writing concept notes or letters of intent for possible funders.

Download the document below for more information on the position and the person specifications.

The internship position is unpaid, but the intern’s travel and lunch expenses will be reimbursed.

Please send a CV and cover letter to contact@idpc.net before 

IDPC recruits fundraising intern

We warmly invite you to visit the new facebook page of the Centro de Investigación Drogas y Derechos Humanos (CIDDH). Facebook is a very interactive social tool, and CIDDH believes that it will be useful to keep in touch with all of you, and to create a forum for discussion and a virtual platform to communicate news on Peru and the rest of the world.

Become a fan of CIDDH on Facebook!

Afghanistan's opium production halved in 2010 but soaring prices may encourage farmers to go back to opium cultivation, warned UNODC in its 2010 Afghan Opium Survey released on 30th September.

"This is good news but there is no room for false optimism; the market may again become lucrative for poppy-crop growers so we have to monitor the situation closely," said Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of UNODC.

In Afghanistan, the bulk of cultivation continued to take place in the restive southern and western provinces of the country.

"These regions are dominated by insurgency and organized crime networks. This underscores the link between opium poppy cultivation and insecurity in Afghanistan, a trend we have observed since 2007," said Mr. Fedotov.

Although cultivation remained stable at 123,000 hectares (ha), falling output was largely due to a plant disease hitting the major opium poppy growing provinces of Helmand and Kandahar particularly hard. As a result of the damage, yield fell 48 per cent to 29.2 kilograms per hectare, from 56.1 kilograms per hectare compared with the previous year.

Afghanistan, which has long produced about 90 per cent of the world's opium, had an estimated yield of 3,600 tonnes of opium this year. In the short run, the decline in opium production has pushed prices up. Now that opium is again commanding high prices, the gross income for farmers per hectare has increased by 36 per cent to US$ 4,900.

Shrinking supplies have driven the average farmgate price of dry opium to $169 a kilo, a 164 per cent increase over last year when the price was $64 a kilo.

"We will have to monitor price trends for several months to gain a true indication of how the opium market will be affected by the drop in production this year," said Mr. Fedotov.

Compounding the problem was the low price of wheat, an important alternative crop. "We are concerned that in combination with the high price of opium, a low wheat price may also drive farmers back to opium cultivation," said Mr. Fedotov.

The good news was that the 20 provinces that were opium poppy-free in 2009 remained poppy-free this year. And opium cultivation in Helmand province - the source of 53 per cent of Afghanistan's opium - was stable or declined slightly.

Mr. Fedotov called for a comprehensive strategy to rein in the Afghan opium threat, including by strengthening the rule of law and security, and spurring development efforts. "Corruption and drug trafficking feed upon each other and undermine any development effort in Afghanistan. We must continue to encourage the Afghan Government to crack down on corruption."

The first priority was to curb demand. "We must not forget the consumer side of opium's deadly equation. Unless we reduce the demand for opium and heroin, our interventions against supply will not be effective. As long as demand drives this market, there will always be another farmer to replace one we convince to stop cultivating, and another trafficker to replace one we catch."

Afghan opium production halves in 2010, according to UNODC annual survey

Following the meeting held in July 2010 between representatives of the Probation Service Office and three partnership organisations (Aksion Plus, Refraction Association, and Shelter for Abused Women) in the framework of the project "Network of Community Services for Alternative Sentence", a seminar took place in the city of Fier on 21st September 2010.

This project financed by the European Commission aims to support the Albanian Probation Service Office for the implementation of alternative sanctions against drug offenders, including through community-based treatment programme, and to promote and enhance constructive partnerships between the Probation Service Office and the community.

This particular seminar focused on the services provided by the partnership organisations to the project, and aimed to foster cooperative relationships with the Probation Service Office with regards to alternative sentencing.

Please download the report below for more information on the seminar.