In July 2013, New Zealand’s Parliament enacted a historic new law that will regulate and control, rather than criminalize, so-called “bath salts” and other new synthetic drugs.
The changing rhetoric from UNODC – of flexibility and health-based policies – is very much welcomed, but the debate needs clearer legal analysis and more extensive normative guidance than the document currently provides.
This study analyses the specific Dutch situation as regards a decrease in homelessness among problematic hard-drug users and the increasing focus on physical health in low-threshold addiction care centres.
This UNODC report aims to place policy makers in a better position to evaluate the drug situation and make informed decisions on intervention and prevention strategies.
Long-term compulsory rehabilitation cannot be justified on the grounds of effectiveness or ethics. The practice has also been associated with a number of human rights violations.
