IDPC

Publications

Results 3469 to 3480 of 3863
26 May 2010

NGO Veza Report - Study visit in Slovenia

NGO Veza organised a study visit to Slovenia from 11th to 14th April 2010 for 22 representatives of institutions and civil society organisations working with drug users in Serbia. The main goal of this study visit was to enable participants to learn about the treatment and harm reduction services available for drug users in Slovenia.
20 May 2010

OSI Report - Making harm reduction work for women: the Ukrainian experience

Women who use drugs are at exceptionally high risk of HIV infection. They share injecting equipment and typically use after their partner. They are also more likely to have sexual partners who inject drugs. This report examines six harm reduction programmes in Ukraine that provide gender sensitive services to women.
10 May 2010

Detention as treatment: detention of methamphetamine users in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand

A new report released by the Nossal Institute for Global Health and the Open Society Institute documents the arbitrary detention of thousands of drug users, mostly young people, in controversial detention centers in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. While the detention is supposedly for treatment, children and adults are held in boot camp-like centers where they do not receive adequate medical care and are subjected to routine physical and sexual abuse.
28 April 2010

Do needle-exchange programmes really work?

Reporting in the journal Addiction, researchers say that based on their review of available literature on needle-exchange programmes - an analysis of five previous reviews of needle-exchange programmes - the evidence for the programmes' effectiveness is weaker than generally thought. On the other hand, there was "strong" evidence across the reviews that needle-exchange programmes reduce the sharing or reuse of dirty needles, and no evidence of harmful effects.
28 April 2010

Decriminalization – a former Commissioner for Narcotics of India, Romesh Bhattacharji, looks at Portugal and compares

The report starts with the observation: “Had incarceration reduced addiction, this [criminal justice focus in India] could have been tolerated. But, year after year drug addiction has only increased, and so has drug trafficking.” The same comment applies to India, the US, Russia and most countries of the world. As for the experience in Portugal, where decriminalization was adopted in 2000: “…jails have emptied out, enforcement has more time to follow the main traffickers. … “ HIV infection as a result of needle sharing is said to have been reduced to zero in 2007, and the prevalence of heroin, cocaine and synthetic drug use has decreased. Deaths reportedly were reduced 60% by 2007. Treatment – including treatment with opiate agonists - is promptly available to all who seek it.
27 April 2010

IDPC Briefing Paper - Resources for developing integrated national policies on controlled drugs in Latin America and the Caribbean

This document builds on two national guides to policymakers, the IDPC 'Drug Policy Guide' and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission's 'How to develop a national drug policy: a guide for policy makers, practitioners and stakeholders', to provide detailed recommendations for Latin American government policy makers to adopt more efficient and humane drug policies.