WOLA shines a light on the harms of the US' 'war on drug' efforts in Latin America and domestically, calling instead for a transition toward regulation that protects human rights and promotes health, gender and racial equality, security and environmental sustainability.

The incarceration of women for drug offences is rapidly increasing, resulting in human rights violations for them and their families.

The Biden administration’s drug control strategy; centering on treatment and harm reduction

It is time to acknowledge that certain elements of the global drug control treaties are unfit for purpose, resting on the foundations of the colonial legacy and unjust policy approaches.

The criminalisation of drugs falls most heavily on people and communities in situations of vulnerability, underscoring its destructive impact.

89 CSOs underscore the need to tackle harms of repressive drug policies undermining human rights.

89 CSOs underscore the need to tackle harms of repressive drug policies undermining human rights.

The use of arbitrary detention to uphold punitive drug policies is an example of the wide-ranging damage of the 'war on drugs.'

This parallel event to the 30th intersessional meeting of the UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice explored the gendered impacts of drug control and the carceral system on women’s human rights, and offered some key recommendations for the way forward.

The high percentage of women in prison for drug-related charges (35%) speaks volumes of the need to reform drug policies from a gender perspective.