In the Kokang and Wa regions in northern Burma opium bans have ended over a century of poppy cultivation. The bans have had dramatic consequences for local communities.
Transform's submission highlights that numerous reports have shown that the criminalisation of drugs including cocaine largely creates the ‘drug problem’.
In their submission, Release, argues that celebrity culture of using drugs does not affect the use of drugs by young people as implied by UNODC. They also advise that looking at absolute numbers of users is not an adequate way to address the harms caused and also that a increase in price and fall in purity of cocaine in the UK cannot be considered an indicator of successful policy.
TNI's submission to the Home Affairs Select Committee on the cocaine trade addresses the myths surrounding the use of the coca left and calls for an evidence-based judgement on its legal status.
IDPC produced this briefing note for the ECOSOC high level meeting in July 2009. The political declaration of the CND, adopted by consensus, masks deep divisions between member states and contains elements that bring UN drug control policy into conflict with the work of UNAIDS, the development agencies, and the human rights apparatus.
The findings of this study suggest that Thai police are violating the human rights of people who inject drugs by planting drugs on them. Immediate action should be taken to address this form of abuse of power and other punitive tactics used by Thai police.
In August 2008, researchers at British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, undertook a community-based research project involving people who inject drugs in Bangkok, Thailand. Following the project, there has been an increase in the number of people coming to the MSHRC, which shows that community-based research projects can promote community empowerment and access to services while obtaining valuable research data.
The study revealed high rates of syringe sharing among Thai people who inject drugs. Immediate action should be taken to ensure widespread access to sterile syringes throughout Thailand.
This study suggests that Thai people who inject drugs suffer from high rates of overdose. There is a need to expand harm reduction strategies in Thailand and to further emphasize the need to balance the current emphasis on enforcement-based responses to drug use with health-focused policies.
The MSHRC is expanding harm reduction programming in Thailand by reaching people who inject drugs, including those who report difficulty accessing sterile syringes, and by providing various forms of harm reduction education.