North America

US President Nixon launched the "war on drugs" in the 1970s. Today, incarceration, social marginalisation and drug-related deaths have led North America to rethink this strategy. However, although positive developments are happening locally in the fields of harm reduction, alternatives to incarceration, new drug law enforcement approaches and cannabis regulation, the US and Canadian federal governments remain resistant to drug policy reform.

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Results 1 to 20 of 1198.

Teen use of marijuana does not increase with legalization, US top drug researcher admits

Head of NIDA concedes pessimistic forecasts on the legal regulation of cannabis have failed to materialise.

News Alerts September 9, 2021

Canada: Not on the same team: Police presence in health-care settings is at odds with professional obligations and trauma-informed care

The involvement of police in clinical settings may compromise the doctor-patient relationship, patient confidentiality, and the quality and safety of care that all patients deserve.

News Alerts September 7, 2021

Expert Task Force on Substance Use in Canada: Reports

The Canadian Task Force’s recommendation include alternatives to criminal penalties for the simple possession of controlled substances.

Publications August 23, 2021

9th Symposium report - Hitting the mark: Ending the HIV pandemic by realizing rights for people who use drugs

By HIV Legal Network

On June 17, 2021, the HIV Legal Network held its 9th Symposium on HIV, Law, and Human Rights. This biannual symposium serves as one of Canada’s seminal events regarding HIV and human rights and offers an opportunity for education and networking among advocates, frontline…

Publications August 19, 2021

Bridging the Gap: a practitioner’s guide to harm reduction in drug courts

The Center for Court Innovation argues that the most effective way for drug courts to evolve is by integrating the practices and principles of harm reduction, which aims to reduce the harms related to drug use, racialised drug law enforcement, and social health disparities.

Publications August 16, 2021

Toxic drug crisis, pandemic have left front-line workers struggling to cope in Canada

The relentless loss caused by the overdose crisis, magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic, is taking a high toll on those at the heart of the response.

News Alerts August 13, 2021

Civil society statement to the 69th session of CICAD: Drug policy reform must be back on the agenda

Civil society organisations call on CICAD to reclaim leadership in fostering hemispheric debates on the effectiveness and direction of drug policy.

News Alerts August 7, 2021

What International Drug Users Remembrance Day means to me

The memories of our loved ones, as well as the grief from their untimely departures, strengthens our commitment to rid the world from the violence and neglect that forces harm against people who use drugs.

News Alerts August 4, 2021

Coming out about illicit drug use: ‘The hush-hush attitude has to end’

A campaign in Australia is aiming to fight anti-drug-user stigma through visibility.

News Alerts July 26, 2021

Exploring the use of cannabis as a substitute for prescription drugs in a convenience sample

Kvamme et al. suggest that a significant proportion of Danish users of cannabis as medicine are motivated by a desire to alleviate their ailments whilst minimising the negative side effects that they associate with legal prescription drugs.

Publications July 20, 2021

‘Staggering loss’: Overdose deaths spike in US during pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the harms associated with decades of neglectful drug policies.

News Alerts July 18, 2021

Rhode Island makes history by legalizing safe consumption sites

The move strengthens the state's response to the overdose crisis and sets an auspicious precedent by expanding the harm reduction toolbox.

News Alerts July 9, 2021

The time to end the war on drugs is long overdue

Biden's new administration brings with it a recognition of the war on drugs' failure and the need for a progressive change in drug control policy.

News Alerts July 7, 2021

How the United States fuelled a global drug war, and why it must end

June 2021 marks 50 years since Richard Nixon declared “drug abuse” the United States’ “public enemy number one.” It is a grim anniversary that resonates not only in the United States but all over the world. The global drug war is an unmitigated human rights disaster, well-documented in painstaking…

News Alerts July 5, 2021

U.S. Justice Department backs bill to end disparities in crack cocaine sentences

By Sarah N. Lynch / Reuters

President Joe Biden's Justice Department is urging Congress to pass legislation to permanently end the sentencing disparities between crack cocaine and powder, a policy that has led to the disproportionate incarceration of African Americans across the United States.

…

News Alerts July 5, 2021

Helping drug users survive, not abstain: ‘Harm reduction’ gains federal US support

Congress has appropriated funds specifically for programs that distribute sterile syringes and other supplies meant to protect people who use drugs.

News Alerts July 5, 2021

69th Regular session of CICAD

30 July 2021 14:00-18:00

Online

The objective is to consider and approve CICAD’s resolution for the upcoming regular session of the OAS General Assembly together with CICAD’s Annual Report for the previous year.

Events 1 July 2021

Release and Harm Reduction International's submission to the OHCHR on human rights and the policing of African people and people of African descent

Release and HRI critique the systemic racism inherent to drug policing.

Publications July 1, 2021

Nixon's war on drugs has failed for half a century. It’s time to end it: Alexander Soros

The ‘war on drugs’ was constructed as a solution to concerns related to public health, violence and organised crime; all of which have been worsened by this approach.

News Alerts June 21, 2021

United States: On 50th anniversary of “war on drugs,” new poll shows majority of voters support ending criminal penalties for drug possession, think drug war is a failure

ACLU and Drug Policy Alliance urge the Biden administration to radically shift the country's history of violence in drug policy.

News Alerts June 12, 2021

International Drug Policy Consortium

North America

Teen use of marijuana does not increase with legalization, US top drug researcher admits

Canada: Not on the same team: Police presence in health-care settings is at odds with professional obligations and trauma-informed care

Expert Task Force on Substance Use in Canada: Reports

9th Symposium report - Hitting the mark: Ending the HIV pandemic by realizing rights for people who use drugs

Bridging the Gap: a practitioner’s guide to harm reduction in drug courts

Toxic drug crisis, pandemic have left front-line workers struggling to cope in Canada

Civil society statement to the 69th session of CICAD: Drug policy reform must be back on the agenda

What International Drug Users Remembrance Day means to me

Coming out about illicit drug use: ‘The hush-hush attitude has to end’

Exploring the use of cannabis as a substitute for prescription drugs in a convenience sample

‘Staggering loss’: Overdose deaths spike in US during pandemic

Rhode Island makes history by legalizing safe consumption sites

The time to end the war on drugs is long overdue

How the United States fuelled a global drug war, and why it must end

U.S. Justice Department backs bill to end disparities in crack cocaine sentences

Helping drug users survive, not abstain: ‘Harm reduction’ gains federal US support

69th Regular session of CICAD

Release and Harm Reduction International's submission to the OHCHR on human rights and the policing of African people and people of African descent

Nixon's war on drugs has failed for half a century. It’s time to end it: Alexander Soros

United States: On 50th anniversary of “war on drugs,” new poll shows majority of voters support ending criminal penalties for drug possession, think drug war is a failure

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