The recent declaration by Mexican president Felipe Calderón on cannabis legalisation has sparked new discussions on illicit drugs in the country. However, the drugs debate is not a new topic for the Mexican political agenda. This document presents a general overview and analysis of the cannabis debate in Mexico.
On 9 July 2010, the UN Secretary General appointed Russian Ambassador Yuri V. Fedotov as the next Executive Director of UNODC. In welcoming Mr. Fedorov, IDPC outlines in this advocacy note the critical challenges that he will face as he takes up office, and proposes key recommendations.
In 2007, the New Zealand Government entrusted an independent agency, the New Zealand Law Commission, to comprehensively review the country drug laws. The Commission's final report is likely to feature a new approach to personal possession and use, placing less emphasis on conviction and punishment and more on the delivery of effective treatment.
This compilation provides policy makers, programme managers, NGOs and other professionals with a review of existing evidence-based family skills training programmes. It provides details on the contents of such programmes, the groups targeted, the materials used and the training implemented, in order to assist users in selecting the programme best suited to their needs and to offer guidance on available programmes.
The document "The pharmacological rationale for methadone treatment of narcotic addiction", which presents the pharmacological principles applying to narcotics, is now available in Chinese, English, Fahsi, French and Russian.
This report outlines interventions for tackling hepatitis C in drug injecting populations in Europe and the surrounding area. These approaches are detailed in the context of the major common challenges faced across the region in addressing hepatitis C in drug injecting populations.
With some unlikely people now receptive to the idea that it would be good to imprison fewer people, a new book looking at failed experiments in criminal justice over the past decade or so is well timed.
Drawing upon independent evaluations and interviews conducted with 13 key stakeholders in 2007 and 2009, this paper critically analyses the criminal justice and health impacts against trends from neighbouring Spain and Italy. It concludes that contrary to predictions, the Portuguese decriminalisation did not lead to major increases in drug use.
This paper discusses the “substance-oriented approach” Dutch authorities implemented to to scare off potential small-scale cocaine smugglers. The focus was on the drugs, rather than the couriers, and on incapacitating the smuggling route, rather than deterrence by incarceration.
In August 2009, the Argentina Supreme Court declared legislation criminalizing drug possession for personal consumption as unconstitutional. This briefing discusses the background of that decision, the small steps taken since, but argues that there is still much to do before a genuine reform agenda can be implemented.
К сожалению, даже тогда, когда лечение с помощью программ метадоновой или бупре- норфиновой терапии доступно, его не могут получить многие из тех, кому оно принесёт пользу. Одна из причин – это множество требований, включая ограничения на допуск в программы,ограниченные часы работы, списки очередников, громоздкие требования к выписке и хранению препаратов, что затрудняет пациентам доступ к лечению. Данная публикация рассматривает низкопороговые метадоновые и бупренорфиновые программы, то есть программы, стремящи- еся, согласно философии снижения вреда, работать с пациентами на «их территории» и свести бюрократические процедуры к минимуму.