The West Africa Drug Policy Network (WADPN) is a coalition of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) from 16 West African countries that promote evidence-based advocacy for public health and human rights-oriented drug policy reform in West Africa. WADPN supports its members by providing capacity building and resources to lead evidence-based advocacy for drug policy reform. The Network’s Secretariat is located in Accra, Ghana with National Chapters all 16 countries coordinated by a national focal person.

The WADPN is a re-granter of small grants from Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and Open Society Foundations (OSF) to WADPN members. Grants are managed by WADPN and benefits from the strategic guidance and expertise of a five-member Board of Directors.

The Call for Proposals seeks to re-grant funds to support:

· CSOs, who are registered WADPN members and that are registered under the relevant Laws of the country in West Africa where it operates and, in the country, where it will be implementing the proposed project; (To register as a WADPN member fill this form)

· CSOs working in the area of Drug Policy Reform, Criminal Justice Systems Reform, Harm Reduction and HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support among people who inject drugs are encouraged to apply;

· CSOs that are directly responsible for the preparation and management of the project, i.e. not acting as an intermediary;

· CSOs that take the appropriate measures to prevent discrimination and stigmatization of people who use drugs as well as sexual exploitation and abuse of project staff and beneficiaries.

Call for proposals to promote drug policy reform in West Africa

By King-oua Laohong, Onnucha Hutasingh, and Kornchanok Raksaseri / Bangkok Post

With only half a square metre of space to accommodate each inmate crammed in a cell, many end up sleeping sitting up.

Overcrowding has become a new "punishment" for thousands of convicts in 143 prisons countrywide, as they outnumber the limited sleeping areas available to them.

Although the Department of Corrections stipulates that each male should have a 1.2m² area and each female a 1.1m² space, in practice these standards exist only on paper.

Thailand has roughly 360,000 inmates nationwide but a prison capacity of technically only 250,000. While some prisons have been able to expand and build new facilities, albeit under budget constraints, many have simply had to make do and reduce the amount of space each inmate has.

Even Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin, when told about the problem at Ubon Ratchathani prison, found it hard to believe each inmate is given such little space to sleep in. He has since told all prison chiefs to check whether this is true.

Thailand: Prisons buckle under overcrowding

By Aubrey Whelan and Anna Orso / The Philadelphia Inquirer

After intense opposition, the backers of a supervised injection site in South Philadelphia have placed their plans on hold, a decision announced a short while before the medical center set to rent them space said it would no longer allow the site to open in its building.

Officials at Safehouse, the nonprofit formed to open the site, said that a federal judge’s ruling grants them the legal authority to open but that they wanted to hold more community meetings before doing so. The nonprofit’s landlords at Constitution Health Plaza also cited community concerns in their decision to cancel Safehouse’s tenancy.

Supervised injection site in South Philadelphia will not open — at least for now

The drugs trade has “never caused greater harm to society” than it does today, a landmark review has found, with police efforts not only failing to stem supply but often fuelling increased violence in a market which now involves an “unprecedented” number of children.

Government cuts to services and a failure to contain the growing flow of higher purity drugs has allowed a “perfect storm” to develop, which can only be tackled by urgent government intervention, Dame Carol Black’s independent review indicated.

But reacting to the review commissioned by her predecessor, home secretary Priti Patel announced an additional £5m for law enforcement to tackle county lines, failing to provide any additional funding for “disappearing” drug treatment services.

While the illicit drugs market now costs the UK some £19bn a year – more than double its profits – only £600m is spent on treatment and prevention.

“The amount of un-met need is growing, some treatment services are disappearing, and the treatment workforce is declining in number and quality,” Dame Carol wrote.

Drugs trade in the UK causing unprecedented harm with policing often fuelling violence, landmark review finds

A group of organizations including Treatment Action Group issued this statement/declaration today, while attending INHSU 2020 Africa: the 1st Regional Conference on Hepatitis Care in Substance Users.

According to the statement, “In the African region and globally, we recognize that morbidity and mortality due to hepatitis C infection continue to rise. We acknowledge that people who use or inject drugs represent a priority population, given the high prevalence and incidence of hepatitis C infection. This is a failure of a commitment to harm reduction.”

African declaration to eliminate hepatitis C and improve the health of people who use drugs

Minister of State for Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Floyd Green, says the Government, through its Alternative Development Programme (ADP), is committed to assisting traditional cannabis growers to transition to the emerging legal medicinal industry.

“The ADP was specifically created to offer farmers the technical and financial support they need to enter the legal industry. It is designed to guide the transition of small traditional Jamaican ganja farmers into the regulated and licensed cannabis industry,” he noted.

“The ultimate goal is to create an environment where farmers can operate legally and where Jamaica can be positioned as a world leader in the global cannabis sector,” he added at a community meeting in Slipe, St Elizabeth, on February 21.

He also spoke to growers and other stakeholders in Mountainside in the parish on the day.

The ADP, being implemented by the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA), aims to prevent and eliminate the illicit cultivation of cannabis and channel planting through legal streams.

The agency has been carrying out a series of sensitisation sessions across the island, targeting persons who want to be involved in the industry.

Green said the CLA is now on a mission “to look for community groups of traditional growers that we will engage and provide the technical support for them to transition”.

He noted that the programme will improve the legitimate earning potential of small, marginalised communities that currently operate within the black market, while providing access to quality-controlled cannabis for medicinal purposes.

Jamaican gov’t assisting transition of traditional ganja growers to legal industry

1. INCB supports a health-centred approach to global drug policy and the international drug control framework that is fully inclusive of civil society and non-governmental organizations. They are essential partners in the design and implementation of drug abuse treatment and prevention programmes, in line with the requirements on States parties in Article 38 of the 1961 Convention, as amended. Effective, evidence-based drug policies need the knowledge and expertise of civil society organizations, as well as their dedication to providing community-level support to the social programmes and primary prevention strategies that help reduce drug demand and identify people most in need of treatment, assistance and social reintegration

2. In May 2019, the INCB held its second meeting with the Vienna Non-Governmental Organization Committee on Drugs (VNGOC), where representatives of civil society and the members of the Board exchanged views on the need to help governments and civil society work together - stepping up efforts to prevent and treat drug abuse among young people. In 2018, the INCB held a meeting with civil society representatives to discuss the “use of cannabis for medical and non-medical cannabis.” The Board also surveyed 30 civil society organizations on major impediments to the availability of controlled substances for medical and scientific purposes for a supplement to the 2018 annual report

3. Evident from these exchanges with the Board is that civil society organizations have diverse perspectives on the means and modalities for the implementation of the drug control conventions in their local communities. Nonetheless, without the assistance of dedicated organizations, the aims of the conventions to prevent substance abuse and provide treatment and rehabilitation will be hard to achieve.

4. The Board therefore wishes to reaffirm in this Alert the important role of civil society, as outlined in the outcome document of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) in 2016 and the 2019 Ministerial Declaration. The INCB clarified at the time of UNGASS that the principle of a balanced approach to elaborating drug policy means facilitating greater participation and cooperation between all relevant stakeholders, including civil society groups. Through renewing a sense of shared responsibility and inclusiveness, drug-related prevention, treatment and social reintegration can be sustainably developed and implemented. Civil society involvement allows States to apply specific and innovative approaches that can comprehensively address the needs of special population groups.

5. The involvement of non-governmental organizations, especially women civil society leaders, can therefore improve access to more inclusive, better-designed, and efficient social, health, and educational programmes to make progress in the context of drug control policy. The Board believes that the participation of civil society requires enhancing, as appropriate within country legal contexts, the resources and training available to community organizations on drug-related health and social treatment services. Without the consistent and dedicated work of civil society, much of the illicit drug activity worldwide and its devastating consequences would remain in the dark, left unabated, and given inadequate attention by the international community.

The role of civil society in the development and implementation of drug policies on prevention, treatment and social reintegration

DPA's video series, Matters of Substance, breaks down important drug policy concepts in under 60 seconds. Watch and learn in just a minute.

What are these things called overdose prevention centers, or supervised consumption sites, or drug consumption rooms? What do they provide? Can they really help save lives?

You may have heard about methadone and buprenorphine, but what exactly are they and what do they do? Is medication assisted treatment really helpful for those with opioid dependency? Why can it be hard to access treatment?

There's a new drug education curriculum on the block, called Safety First...but how does it compare to D.A.R.E. and other abstinence-based programs? Why does it talk about harm reduction? And how can it help kids stay healthy?

You may have heard about drug checking...but how does it work, and why does it matter? Can it really detect additives like fentanyl, and prevent overdose deaths? Why is it often hard to access drug checking equipment?

All drug decriminalization: what exactly does it mean? What would it change about how drug offenses are handled? How could it affect drug use, overdose, and treatment rates?

Matters of substance: Video series

FEBRUARY 13 — I attended an Anti-drug campaign during high school.

“Don’t ever do drugs or your life will be ruined!” we were reminded again and again.

There was big screen in the hall. You could hear a pin drop when they first played the video. It was about a man who was flogged 24 times for committing a crime.

For many of us, it was the first time we saw a naked buttocks of a grownup man. Pieces of flesh were ripped from his body. Definitely not for the faint-hearted.

When the video ended, some of my schoolmates were traumatised. But some found it amusing, they cheered and clapped their hands.

Despite the intended effect, our school wasn’t drug free that year.

Drug prevention programme and sudden urine test in school

The National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) often brings different types of drugs to exhibit it in school. The purpose? To show students how harmful drugs could be.

Last year, the Director General of AADK told 

 that two million students were at risk of drug use. Urine testing was done in school as an early step to stop students from using drugs.

I am not saying we should turn a blind eye to children who use drugs. But the main reasons why kids use drugs are curiosity, broken family, trauma from abuse, mental illness, stress, boredom, and peer pressure. Will sudden drug test and harsh punitive action prevent all these?

“When I was in Form 4, nine of my friends smoked “rokok daun” in the school bus. The next day, AADK did urine test in school. All of them were found positive for Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and jailed for weeks. After their release, the head master caned all of them publicly. Some boys were suspended, some expelled. Majority ended up living a problematic life. But the one that did not attend school that fateful day was able to escape and is now a doctor.”

This story reminds me of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton who had admitted drug use in their younger days. Would they have been US Presidents if they had been caught?

The Dangerous Drugs Act which criminalises drug use, was enacted in 1952 when addiction was considered as a security threat and not a medical condition. The law does not differentiate people who use drug experimentally, recreationally, self-medication or chronic use. Instead, it only provides a one size fit it all solutions. The punishment is either a fine, jail sentence or both. In any case, the criminal records will be a hurdle for pursuing higher education and deter future proper employment.

Rethinking drug policy: Why ‘Just Say No Campaign’ is failing?

By Ricky Gunawan and Will Doran / Jakarta Globe

In late January, three members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, or GCDP, traveled to Jakarta to discuss sustainable development and advancing Indonesian drug policy. The visiting commissioners consisted of the former president of Switzerland and chair of the GCDP, Ruth Dreifuss, the former prime minister and president of Timor-Leste, José Ramos-Horta, and the former premier of Western Australia, Geoff Gallop.

The trio, who met with civil servants, NGOs and government officials during their three-day visit, exchanged views on Indonesia's drug laws and policies and shared ideas on how to move forward. The visit culminated with a public forum held at Atma Jaya Catholic University, where the commissioners offered their insights, drawn from their own experiences, on implementing successful drug policy reform, including drug decriminalization.

Dreifuss discussed how she helped administer change during her tenure as both Minister of Home Affairs and President of Switzerland during the 1990s-2000s. Stressing the importance of evidence-based treatment and prevention, instead of criminalization, she highlighted how the original goals of drug policies were to eradicate the production of drugs, extinguish the consumption of drugs and defeat organized crime.

The "war on drugs," however, failed to achieve its intended objective and only resulted in the opposite: larger production of drugs, an increase in consumers of drugs, the global phenomenon of mass incarceration and organized crime holding more power than previously before. The only way to change this course, she said, is to stop treating drugs as a criminal justice issue, and begin treating it as a public health matter. Indonesia would benefit greatly from this approach.

Ramos-Horta said it is written in his country’s Constitution that there would be no death penalty, much less for drug traffickers or users. Similarly, the maximum sentence for any crime is 25 years. With relatively relaxed borders and an inclusive society, Timor- Leste never became a drug paradise like some predicted.

In stark comparison, Indonesia, like many countries in Asia, has draconian punishments for drug offenses, including the death penalty. Out of 369 death row prisoners in Indonesia, 230 are awaiting execution on drug charges. Moreover, of all the people executed during President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's administration, all 18 have been for drug offenses.

Capital punishment for drug offenses is just one of the many regressive and antagonistic policies that currently dominates the rhetoric and perspective toward drugs in Indonesia. It is time for this to change.

The time has come for Indonesia to decriminalize drugs

On February 10, the Colombian government said it planned to eradicate 130,000 hectares of coca this year, using techniques that will possibly include the spraying of herbicides from aircraft.

There is currently a judicial ban against doing so, in place since 2015. However, with the U.S. government placing significant pressure on Colombia to reduce coca plantings, President Iván Duque’s administration is pushing to restart aerial sprayings. Before it can do so, the government has to meet various health and environmental conditions imposed by the Colombian Constitutional Court.

The Ministry of Justice has produced a draft decree, dated December 30, explaining how the government plans to meet those conditions and restart aerial herbicide fumigation.

The decree includes some important protections and procedures to avoid some of the excesses and errors that characterized aerial spray programs from 1994-2015. But even with the protections and mitigations outlined in the draft decree, aerial herbicide spraying is a counter-drug strategy that carries few benefits—none of them long-lasting—and several serious risks and harms.

When assessing the wisdom of restarting aerial spraying, it’s also paramount to consider how this policy will impact Colombia’s obligations under international human rights law. The pursuit of drug control objectives does not relieve governments of their fundamental obligations to protect and promote human rights, including people’s rights to live in dignity, to be free from hunger, and to enjoy an adequate standard of living. 

For hundreds of thousands of farmers in Colombia and in other countries, cultivation of crops declared to be illicit—coca, poppies, and cannabis—represents a fundamental economic survival strategy. Forced crop eradication campaigns undertaken in the absence of viable alternative livelihoods violate growers’ human rights.

In this context, let’s review the potential resumption of aerial spraying according to six criteria: short-term effectiveness, long-term effectiveness, cost, risk of health or environmental damage, risk of social discord, and risk to eradicators or program participants.

The costs of restarting aerial coca spraying in Colombia

In its decision 18/117 adopted on 28 September 2011, the Human Rights Council requested "the Secretary-General to continue to submit to the Human Rights Council, in consultation with Governments, specialized agencies and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, a yearly supplement to his quinquennial report on capital punishment and the implementation of the safeguards guaranteeing protection of the rights of those facing the death penalty, paying special attention to the imposition of the death penalty on persons younger than 18 years of age at the time of the offence, on pregnant women and on person with mental or intellectual disabilities:. Furthermore, in its resolution 22/11, adopted on quinquennial report of the Secretary-General on the question of the death penalty will continue to inform" on the matter of "the human rights of children of parents sentenced to the death penalty or executed".

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