In 2016, the UN General Assembly will hold a Special Session (or ‘UNGASS’) on the issue of illicit drugs. The UNGASS will review member states’ progress on reducing drug supply and demand, and will shape the future direction of drug policy at the UN level.

Drug policy is a development issue: it has severe consequences for the health, livelihoods, and security of poor and marginalised people. The current international approach – dominated by a repressive “War on Drugs” approach that focuses on outlawing drug production and consumption – has exacted enormous financial and human cost.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Engaging the development sector in the 2016 UNGASS

The High-level Meeting on HIV and Drug use in Thailand was co-organised by the Thailand Ministry of Public Health, International Drug Policy Consortium, PSI Thailand Foundation, and the International AIDS Society. It was held as a half-day meeting during the week of the International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific on 18-22 November 2013. The objectives of the meeting were to:

raise awareness amongst Thailand’s policymakers about international standards and best practice on the implementation of harm reduction services and enabling policies, and

cultivate a national debate on enabling policies and practises that would facilitate an increase the coverage of harm reduction services in Thailand.

It was closed to media and the public, with no record of comments and statements attributed to specific individuals, to facilitate frank discussion on issues relating to harm reduction services and policy barriers in Thailand, including:

State of coverage of harm reduction services

Barriers to the increase in coverage of harm reduction services, and

This report summarises the presentations delivered, and key discussion points and outcomes at the meeting, which was divided into two sessions.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Report on high-level meeting on HIV and drug use in Thailand

In November 2012, voters in Colorado and Washington State took the historic step of rejecting the decades-long failed policy of marijuana prohibition by deciding to permit the legal regulation of marijuana sales, cultivation and distribution for adults. This document explains why states can chart a different course without violating federal law, and summarizes the similarities and differences between Colorado and Washington State’s new laws.

Voters in Colorado and Washington State made history in 2012 by rejecting the decades-long failed policy of marijuana prohibition and deciding to legally regulate marijuana sales, cultivation and distribution for adults.

Marijuana legalisation in Washington State and Colorado

On 20 September 2013 a seminar on policy and practice of cannabis in Albania has been organized by the Association Diogenis, Drug Policy Dialogue in Southeast Europe, and the Albanian NGO Aksion Plus. The aim of the meeting was to bring together policy makers, experts and representatives of relevant institutions and non-governmental organizations in order to exchange information and experiences on the current situation, national legislation in Albania, law enforcement and its impact on production marketing and distribution of cannabis, prevention programmes and related issues in the everyday practice.

The presentations and the discussion resulted in several recommendations to improve the situation, promote opportunities for cooperation between authorities, civil society and international organizations. The seminar was a successful collaboration between the Association Diogenis and NGO Aksion Plus in Albania. The UNODC Regional Office in Tirana, supported the organization of the seminar and participated actively in the discussions. The report refers to the presentations and the discussion of the following topics: cannabis trafficking routes in Southeast Europe, the Albanian legislation on cannabis, the illicit production and trafficking and the sanctions for possession and use, cannabis / toxicological aspects , health disorders, abuse of substances and emergency treatment, education, awareness and demand reduction of drugs and other dangerous substances and recent developments in international policy on cannabis.

Cannabis policy, Albania September 2013

Psychosocial Support Programme that is designed for patients on Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) in Hasan Sadikin hospital has been implemented as a pilot project for two years. In mid 2013, Rumah Cemara (RC) evaluated the programme since its initiation. As a part of operational research design, the evaluation specifically aimed to look at barriers in relation to human resources, implementation and programme management. It also identified how far can the materials and methods of the programme improve patients’ life quality. The assessment also enables improvements for the programme to reach its highest quality.

The evaluation was done through qualitative approach with RE-AIM (Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance) focus to reach the set goals. Data was collected through in-depth interview and focus group discussion involving 45 participants including clients of MMT receiving psychosocial support, clients of MMT not receiving psychosocial support, closest relatives of clients, MMT clinic officers, and programme implementers.
Findings from this evaluation have revealed that the programme has the potential to support clients for better quality of life, particularly in considering several improvements needed to increase the scope of the programme.

Successes have been found in improvements in communication and relationship with family, as well as clients are motivated to be financially independent. However, these successes have not been the programme’s maximum and further supports are still required such as, clients’ motivation; participants recruitment procedure; programme implementation guidelines; standardised curriculum; success measurement tool; availability and management of human resources from RC; and programme integration with MMT clinic have been important elements for programme improvement.

Psychosocial support programme for methadone clients 

This edition of Policy Talk reviews current knowledge of new psychoactive substances, a category of substances that is challenging government controls across the world, and compares how health authorities are responding to the challenges, with special reference to Australia and New Zealand.

New psychoactive drugs: No easy answer

This May, Colombia’s largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), will be 50 years old. Of all armed conflicts in the world that claim 1,000 or more lives a year, the one in Latin America’s third most populous country is the oldest. In 2012, the Colombian government and the FARC began their fourth attempt to negotiate an end to the fighting. This time, the talks are beginning to stick: negotiators in Havana, Cuba have gotten significantly further than ever before. It is not unreasonable to expect an accord by the end of 2014.

The Havana talks have an agenda covering five substantive topics or political reforms, plus a discussion of how to operationalize what has been agreed. As of April 2014, after 21 ten-day rounds of talks, negotiators have reached agreement on two of these five substantive topics, and are nearing accord on a third.

Ending 50 years of conflict : The challenges ahead and the U.S. role in Colombia

This brochure highlights some of the examples of excellent practices in peer involvement in Europe. The collection of personal stories and organisation descriptions show brilliant leadership, in combining courage, perseverance and building partnerships.

25 years ago, the first peer initiatives were started as innovative means of providing HIV prevention education. Since then, the scope and capacity of peer involvement has significantly increased beyond HIV prevention and health promotion interventions. Today peer involvement is becoming a critical component in numerous types of activities that include client advisory boards, peer employment, peer-based overdose prevention initiatives, peer research units, high-profile global advocacy and internet-based networks.

Greater meaningful involvement of people who use drugs in 7 key principles and 13 examples of good practice

The Arab region is comprised of 22 countries with a population of 367 million out of the 7 billion in the world which accounts for about five per cent of world population. According to the medium variant projection, the Arab Region will have 598 million inhabitants by 2050, an increase of two-thirds by 20101 . In addition, Arab countries have received more than 10% of the world’s migrants and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN-ESCWA) estimates that there are more than 25 million migrants in the region. The Gulf region hosts the largest proportion of guest workers to indigenous populations in the world.

Drug-related HIV transmission is driving the epidemic and people who inject drugs (PWID) are one of the population groups most severely affected by HIV infection in many Arab countries. Throughout the region, there is a convergence of high-risk behaviours among PWIDs, where unsafe injecting practices are accompanied by unsafe sexual behaviours, and overall risk of exposure increases.

Available evidence indicates that the Arab countries are far from being on track in achieving the global target for people who inject drugs. Significantly stronger commitment is urgently needed to bring evidence-informed responses to scale programmes targeting PWID. Arab countries with documented epidemics among PWID and which do not currently address the needs of PWID in their national AIDS strategies, should take immediate steps to rectify this10. Governments must urgently commit major new resources to comprehensive, evidence-informed prevention programmes for PWID and intensify efforts to increase the scale of HIV testing, and harm reduction programmes.

This document aims to support Arab States to achieve the goals and targets of the 2011 United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting on HIV and AIDS.

Arab Strategic Framework to Respond to HIV and AIDS (2014-2020)

U.S. aid to Colombia has declined considerably since 2008. Counternarcotics and counterinsurgency activities, in which Washington has been heavily involved since Plan Colombia’s inception in 2000, have been steadily “Colombianized.” Now, Colombia is stepping up efforts to export its “know-how” to countries in Central America, the Caribbean, and beyond the Western Hemisphere affected by drug-related crime and violence, largely via South-South cooperation and triangulated efforts with U.S. support. This report explores what seems to be an emerging international security cooperation model in which both Colombia and the United States play key roles.

Colombia, the United States, and security cooperation by Proxy

Misunderstandings and misreporting of actual and proposed changes to Dutch cannabis policy in 2011 have led some opponents of cannabis reform to suggest the country is retreating from its longstanding and pragmatic policy of tolerating the possession, use and sale of cannabis.

In reality, most of the more regressive measures have either not been implemented, have been subsequently abandoned, or have had only marginal impacts. Additionally, there is growing public support for wider, progressive reform, including a system of legal cannabis regulation similar to that adopted in Uruguay, and efforts are underway by numerous municipalities to establish such models of production and supply.

This report by Transform shows that all signs point to there being broad popular and political support for continuing Netherlands’s historically progressive stance on cannabis.

Cannabis policy in the Netherlands: Moving forwards not backwards

Secondo il rapporto rilasciato oggi dal Transnational Institute e dal Global Drugs Policy Observatory “la domanda per la comunità internazionale oggi non è se vi è la necessità di rivedere il sistema di controllo della droga delle Nazioni Unite, ma piuttosto quando e come farlo”.

L'attuale processo internazionale verso una regolamentazione legale del mercato della cannabis è diventato irreversibile e richiede un dialogo urgente da parte degli Stati membri delle Nazioni Unite sui migliori modelli per la protezione della salute e della sicurezza delle persone. Lo sostiene il nuovo rapporto "

The Rise and Decline of Cannabis Prohibitio. The History of Cannabis in the UN Drug Control System and Options For Reform

" rilasciato dal Transnational Institute e dal Global Drugs Policy Observatory proprio il giorno prima della riunione a Vienna degli Stati membri dell'ONU nell'ambito della Commissione ONU sulle sostanze stupefacenti (CND). Secondo il rapporto "la domanda per la comunità internazionale oggi non è se vi è la necessità di rivedere il sistema di controllo della droga delle Nazioni Unite, ma piuttosto quando e come farlo".

Il rapporto svela la lunga e poco conosciuta storia della regolamentazione della cannabis dalla fine del 19esimo secolo, quando fu ampiamente utilizzata per scopi medici, cerimoniali e sociali al periodo post seconda guerra mondiale quando sotto la pressione degli Stati Uniti e di un potente mix di retorica moralistica e dati scientifici inaffidabili l'ONU ha classificato nella Convenzione unica sugli stupefacenti del 1961 la cannabis come una sostanza con proprietà 'particolarmente pericolose' alla pari dell'eroina. Sono ricostruiti anche gli sviluppi più recenti come il numero crescente di paesi hanno cercato di barcamenarsi all'interno delle Convenzioni attraverso "defezioni soft": dalla semplice depenalizzazione, alla politica olandese della tolleranza dei coffeeshop sino ai cannabis social club e ai regimi "generosi" di applicazione della marijuana a fini medici come in California.

Tom Blickman ricercatore del Transnational Institute e co-autore del rapporto ha detto: "gli organismi di controllo delle droghe dell'ONU, come l'INCB e UNODC, spesso trattano le tre convenzioni sulle droghe (1961, 1971 e 1988) come le tavole di pietra di Mosè: pilastri immutabili della verità che non possono essere messi in discussione, né riformati. La storia del controllo della cannabis, come indicato nella relazione, rivela tuttavia che le decisioni prese in passato erano spesso basate su negoziati politici, accuse infondate e atteggiamenti di stampo colonialista e razzista. Secondo Blickman: "l'inclusione della cannabis nel sistema di controllo delle droghe delle Nazioni Unite più di 50 anni fa è stato un errore storico e deve essere rivalutato."
Martin Jelsma del Transnational Institute e co-autore aggiunge: "è tempo per le Nazioni Unite e gli Stati membri di aprire gli occhi e riconoscere che, a causa di difetti sistemici e di disposizioni anacronistiche contenute nelle convenzioni, i paesi in cerca di alternative politiche sulla cannabis non hanno altra scelta che violare i trattati al fine di meglio tutelare la salute delle persone, la sicurezza e i diritti umani".

Il rapporto delinea le opzioni per la riforma e la regolamentazione legale e valuta il loro potenziale di successo. Queste opzioni includono la revisione della classificazione della cannabis da parte dell'OMS, la modifica dei trattati anche solo per alcuni stati, o l'uscita dal trattato e il successivo rientro con riserva come recentemente avvenuto per la Bolivia (al fine di difendere i diritti degli indigeni e l'uso della foglia di coca nella sua forma naturale).
Dave Bewley-Taylor, co-autore del rapporto e direttore della Global Drug Policy Observatory ha commentato: "la via da seguire è riunire un gruppo di paesi che la pensano allo stesso modo e lavorare insieme per valutare le diverse opzioni giuridiche e stabilire una tabella di marcia per l'aggiornamento delle politiche e delle convenzioni. Questo potrebbe portare alla sostituzione dei trattati sul controllo della droga esistenti con un nuovo quadro normativo internazionale, più coerente con gli altri trattati delle Nazioni Unite sui diritti dell'uomo e in linea con le più recenti evidenze scientifiche sui modelli migliori per ridurre i danni associati al consumo di droga."

Gli incontri a Vienna di questa e della prossima settimana, che esaminano la dichiarazione politica 2009 e il Piano d'azione sul 'problema mondiale della droga', e cercano di delineare i piani per la sessione speciale dell'Assemblea generale delle Nazioni Unite sulle droghe nel 2016, sono il momento ideale per iniziare questo dialogo.

Tienitiaggiornato congli sviluppi politicidi drogamediante la sottoscrizione diAlertIDPCmensile.

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