Support. Don’t Punish: Advocating for the end of the war on drugs

Just a few days ago, on 26th June, people from around the world took the streets to call for the end of the war on drugs, as part of the second Support.Don’t Punish Global Day of Action. I was among them, in London, to make my voice heard and advocate for more evidenced, humane and health- and development- based drug policies. Alongside London, another 80 cities from all around the world also organised joint actions under the common "Support.Don't Punish" slogan.

I have been working in the field of drug policy advocacy for the past six years, first qt the World Health Organization, where I was first confronted with the horrendous human rights violations related to compulsory detention for people who use drugs in Asia, and then at the International Drug POlicy Consortium, a global mnetwork of NGos promoting humane and evidence-based drug policy. Although drug policy reform continues to be challenging and even "tabo", the past couple of years have seen an unprecedented shift towards more dialogue on alternatives to the war on drugs.

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