EuroNPUD is inviting artists to take part in the Poetry and Art Competition 2021.

The competition is centred on the 1920s poem Cocaine Lil and Morphine Sue and consists of two parts.

Cocaine Lil, Morphine Sue, Dopey Slim, and the Poppy Faced Kid are some of the drug using characters in the classic poem about the cocaine scene in the 1920s. Artists are asked to re-imagine any character from the poem as they might appear in a 2020s drug scene.

Poets should reimagine the Cocaine Lil and Morphine Sue poem about drug scenes in Europe in the 2020s describing modern drugs and characters from our drug scenes.

All entries should be sent to euronpud.competition@gmail.com by 24th October 2021 (midnight).

More information on the competition is available here.

Poetry and art competition

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill to permanently end the sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and powder, a policy that has led to the disproportionate incarceration of African Americans.

In a bipartisan vote of 361-66, the House approved the EQUAL Act, short for Eliminating a Quantifiably Unjust Application of the Law.

The bill will now head to the Senate, where criminal justice advocates believe it has a chance of passing. The Justice Department also previously endorsed the bill.

The disparities between crack and powder cocaine date back to war-on-drugs policies in the 1980s.

In 1986, Congress passed a law to establish mandatory minimum sentences for drug trafficking offenses, which treated crack and cocaine powder offenses using a 100 to 1 ratio. Under that formula, a person convicted for selling 5 grams of crack cocaine was treated the same as someone who sold 500 grams of powder cocaine.

The 100 to 1 ratio was later reduced in 2010 under the Fair Sentencing Act, down to 18 to 1.

In 2018 during President Donald Trump's administration, Congress passed the First Step Act, which sought to help more lower-level crack cocaine offenders take advantage of the less stringent ratio and apply retroactively for sentence reductions. Earlier this year, however, the Supreme Court ruled that low-level crack cocaine offenders could not retroactively apply to have their sentences reduced. read more U.S. Sentencing Commission data has showed that 87.5 percent of the people serving federal prison time for drug trafficking offenses primarily involving crack cocaine were Black. An investigation by Ashbury Park Press and USA Today found that Black users and dealers were arrested more frequently and handed stricter prison sentences than whites accused of drug crimes.

If the EQUAL Act becomes law, it would permanently and entirely eliminating the crack-cocaine disparity, and it would retroactively apply to those who were previously sentenced, allowing people to take advantage of the new law.

U.S. House passes bill to end disparities in crack cocaine sentences

Women are disproportionately affected by the prison industrial complex and repressive drug laws. Gender inequality, poverty, marginalization and weak governance/criminal justice systems compound this situation.

This video aims to bolster collective power to advocate for prison/drug policy reform and women-centered harm reduction services from a feminist and intersectional perspective.

It features formerly incarcerated women who will promote inspiring and forward-looking options for reform, support for women still incarcerated, and mobilization.

It also introduces key data and other information as well as materials on the Bangkok Rules.

Inside out from women's prisons: Resisting punitive drug policies

International Drug Policy Consortium Statement - Pre-review of Kratom, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine at the 44th WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence, 11 – 15 October 2021

This written submission is by the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC): a global network of more than 190 NGOs that promotes drug policies grounded in the principles of health, human rights, development, and civil society engagement. As the ECDD is planning to conduct pre-reviews on Kratom and its active ingredients mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, we offer some insights and recommendations on the impacts of criminalisation that have resulted from national policies.

Despite the UNODC categorising kratom as a new psychoactive substance (NPS), it has been used for centuries as a traditional medicine in Southeast Asia, particularly amongst rural communities in Thailand, Malaysia and Myanmar. Kratom is often consumed by chewing the fresh leaves and boiling fresh or dried leaves to drink as a decoction or herbal tea. Consumption of kratom is culturally accepted in ways similar to drinking coffee and tea. It is commonly consumed amongst agricultural workers to relieve the physical pains of hard labour.

In Thailand, the kratom plant was classified as illegal in 1943. However, it was not until 2004 that the laws became widely enforced in practice, due partly to the practice of mixing kratom with beverages containing caffeine and codeine-based medications that emerged in 2003 but also to the war on drugs launched by then-Prime Minister Thaksin. By 2019, the government reported that kratom cases constituted one sixth (47,809 of 304,784) of all drug-related court cases during the January to October 2019 period.

In August 2021, after almost two decades of advocacy for ending the criminalisation of kratom to allow its use for medical, research, personal and traditional purposes, legal reforms in Thailand to decriminalise the use and cultivation of the kratom plant came into effect. Over 12,000 people convicted for kratom-related offences were granted an amnesty. Elsewhere in Asia, including in Malaysia, Myanmar and Singapore, the use, possession and supply of kratom remains punishable; the UNODC reported in 2011 that 14,556 people (accounting for 8% of all drug-related arrests) were arrested for kratom in the region in 2010.

It is crucial to acknowledge that there are harms and benefits associated with drug policy. How a substance or plant is scheduled can have profound outcomes for consumers. A punitive legal framework that criminalises kratom use has caused enormous harm. We call on the ECDD to consider the profound impacts of legal and policy choices that may be triggered by international scheduling and to take the lessons from past national controls duly into account before taking any further steps towards bringing kratom under international control.

IDPC statement at the occasion of the 44th meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence

Oral Statement by the International Drug Policy Consortium and Harm Reduction International

This statement is delivered on behalf of the International Drug Policy Consortium and Harm Reduction International.

We welcome the High Commissioner’s oral update on the Philippines, as well as her Office’s efforts to advance the human rights situation in the country.

In spite of this work, the human rights situation in the Philippines continues to deteriorate. In 2021, the number of documented extrajudicial killings associated with the war on drugs continued to increase, still with the vocal support of President Duterte. The Inter-Agency Review Panel that was meant to review these killings has not led to a single legal action against law enforcement. Systematic violations of the rights to liberty, health, and privacy of people who use drugs remain widespread.

To ensure that the UN Joint Programme on the Philippines is a credible and legitimate effort to address this situation, we urge the High Commissioner to adopt the following measures:

First, guarantee the meaningful and safe involvement of civil society and communities, including people who use drugs, in the design, implementation and evaluation of the Programme.

Second, ensure that the alignment of drug policies with international human rights standards remains a key focus of the Programme, including through direct involvement of OHCHR and NGOs with relevant technical expertise.

Ultimately, it remains the responsibility of the Human Rights Council to closely monitor the performance of the Joint Programme and, if it does not achieve its intended impact, to seek alternative measures to ensure accountability for the human rights violations associated with the war on drugs, and to secure redress and relief for its survivors.

Statement on the human rights situation in the Philippines - Human Rights Council 48th Session

Under proposed cannabis legalisation, non-profit associations can grow cannabis to distribute among their members, Equality Minister Owen Bonnici said.

The minister also said that people would be allowed to grow up to four cannabis plants at one residence.

Bonnici made the announcement on Wednesday morning during a press conference. He insisted that the reforms were not to "incentivise cannabis culture or cannabis consumption" but to reduce the harm of drug rings.

"We want to reduce the suffering, humiliation and deprivation of other rights that many cannabis users have experienced when they have been subjected to arrest and judicial proceedings on possession of small amounts," Bonnici said.

The regulation of cannabis clubs plugs a gap in the original proposal floated by the government earlier this year.

Cannabis legalisation in Malta will allow regulated associations and home growing of plants

By Ann Fordham (IDPC) and Somchai Homlaor (Cross Cultural Foundation) / Bangkok Post

The footage that went viral early last month showing local policemen at Muang Nakhon Sawan police station torturing Jirapong Thanaphiphat to death by covering his head with multiple layers of plastic bags was deeply shocking.

Not that police abuse is unheard of in the country, but perhaps because such atrocities are consistently denied and covered up. However, in this case there was nowhere to hide as the video was shared widely on social media and through news reports.

The viral nature of the post removed all possibility of denying that police are capable of acting outside their authority to not only commit extreme violence and murder, but also cover it up afterwards.

Jirapong was being held for a suspected drug offence and when he died, police instructed the hospital to report his cause of death as a drug overdose. However, the autopsy report released by the hospital verified that the cause of death was suffocation.

It is highly likely that the police assumed their attempted cover-up would work because the stigma related to drugs is so deeply entrenched in society that the deaths of people associated with the narcotics trade often go unquestioned. It brings to mind the death of Chaiyaphum Pasae, who after being arrested for an alleged drug offence was shot by military officers in a notorious incident in Chiang Mai province in 2017.

Thailand: Drugs policy enables police abuse

People caught with Class A drugs in Scotland could be given a police warning instead of facing prosecution.

Officers can already issue a formal warning for possession of lower category drugs.

Lord Advocate Dorothy Bain told MSPs this would now include Class A drugs in a bid to address the underlying causes of Scotland's drugs death crisis.

The Conservatives said the move amounts to "de facto decriminalisation" of deadly substances.

Ms Bain insisted this was not the case, adding that there is "no one size fits all" response to drug addiction and that every case should be judged individually.

She stressed that the scheme would not extend to drug dealing and that officers would still have the ability to report certain cases to prosecutors.

Scotland: Warnings instead of prosecution for Class A drug users

The Providence Crosstown Clinic in Vancouver is pioneering a new step in harm reduction by enabling some of its patients to take home medical-grade heroin.

The program is the first of its kind in North America.

Dr. Scott MacDonald, the physician lead at the Providence Crosstown Clinic, said the change came about partly because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some of the patients at the clinic that had COVID-19 were forced to isolate at home or in a hotel. Staff at the clinic, supported by the health authority, were able to deliver diacetylmorphine syringes (medical-grade heroin) to the patients so they could successfully isolate for 10 to 14 days.

"Having done that and done that successfully without any problems, we were able to show and demonstrate the strict requirement of the medication to only be [administered] at the clinic was not necessary," MacDonald told guest host Bal Brach on CBC's On The Coast.

Canada: Vancouver clinic first in North America to offer take-home medical-grade heroin

Following the arrest of a young couple for possession of cannabis cookies and the news that they will be investigated under Section 39(b) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which is punishable with death by hanging, lawmakers are questioning when much-discussed changes to drug laws will materialise.

“The All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia (APPGM) on reforms of prison and detention centres is still awaiting further details and the actual wording of the new Drug and Substance Abuse Act 2020 - which has been touted by Home Minister Hamzah Zainudin - to replace the Drug Dependents (Treatment & Rehab) Act 1983.

“This gives us cause to hope for easing recourse and access to drug treatment and rehabilitation instead of extreme punitive measures, which has only harmed and worsened drug abuse in this country,” Permatang Pauh MP Nurul Izzah Anwar (

Calls for reform to drug laws and punishment have long been voiced by many quarters, including politicians and NGOs, urging the government to take action.

Malaysia: What's happening to drug law changes, ask Nurul Izzah and ex-health minister

The regulatory framework related to the eradication of illicit drug crops in Mexico is a complex one. On the one hand, there are the international conventions on the control of substances; on the other, the national legal framework that shapes the prohibitionist drug system. Additionally, there is the by-law that regulates government actors that are participants in the eradication campaigns. The issue becomes more complex if it is considered that the main institution in charge of these tasks is the Department of National Defense (Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional – SEDENA in Spanish), which for a long time has lacked norms that define its participation in activities to combat drug trafficking.

For these reasons, the analysis of the evolution of the regulatory framework on the matter is just a necessary element, but insufficient, to understand the role of civil authorities and the Armed Forces in eradication tasks; its reading must be accompanied by additional documents included in this text.

However, observing the evolution of regulations – that is, what laws have been created, what reforms have undergone, and which institutions have been conferred powers – also offers a clue about government priorities. Indeed, in compliance with the international treaties signed, and under pressure from the US government but also obeying its own internal logic, Mexico has been progressively modifying and adapting its legal framework to reinforce the prohibitionist system of drugs. Also, it has been determining the functions of the public corporations that would participate in the campaigns to eradicate illicit crops, where it is possible to see a clear interest in legalizing the actions of the Armed Forces in this area.

This article, first refers to the international drug control conventions signed by Mexico, as well as the internal laws that gave content to the prohibitive drug system, focusing on poppy cultivation. Second, it exposes the evolution of the regulatory framework of the Mexican authorities participating in the eradication of illicit crops. Third, it presents the two instruments that currently regulate the actions of said authorities: the MEXK54 Project “System for the Monitoring of Illicit Crops in Mexican Territory”, and the National Protocol for the Destruction of Illicit Crops. Finally, some conclusions are presented on the development of the regulations and the role played by the institutions that today are in charge of eradicating poppies in Mexico.

The regulatory framework for the eradication of illicit crops in Mexico

Previously a stark example of the harms of synthetic opioids, Estonia successfully implemented a range of harm-reduction programmes that reversed its bleak opioid public health crisis.

A recent European study taking stock of the Estonian response to the rise drug-related deaths since the turn of the century demonstrates how harm reduction is an essential part of any public health programme.

Synthetic Opioids prevalence, use and overdose in Europe

 (SO-PREP) European project, which aims to produce evidence-based recommendations to prepare for a potential synthetic opioid crisis, their Estonian report described how synthetic opioids entered the country, and how the national Health Institute responded.

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