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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Drug decriminalisation: A matter of justice and equity, not just health

This report describes how viewing drug use as a health issue does not recognise the racism embedded within drug policy and the stigma associated with use.

Publications January 7, 2020

Report on drug use in the Americas

The OAS provides statistics concerning the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs in the Western Hemisphere.

Publications January 6, 2020

Rethinking the “drug dealer”

DPA argues the resources dedicated to punitive responses targeting suppliers mostly compound, rather than resolve, drug-related challenges.

Publications January 6, 2020

Decriminalisation is not a radical solution to the opioid crisis. And it would work.

The former Health Minister of Canada urges for reform in light of overdose crisis devastation.

News Alerts January 3, 2020

1,000 people sent me their addiction treatment stories in the United States. Here’s what I learned

Responses from 1000 Vox readers illuminate the four reasons why America's addiction treatment system is broken: Poor insurance coverage, lack of research, the lack of treatment methods which are proven to work and, finally, stigma.

News Alerts January 3, 2020

Genaro García Luna: US arrests Mexico ex-minister on drugs charges

Genaro García Luna, Mexico's secretary of public security, has been arrested in grounds of taking bribes from a drugs cartel.

News Alerts January 2, 2020

Mexico rejects US intervention after Trump outlines drug cartel plan

Mexico rejects US intervention against drug cartels, stating that it will not allow any violation of its sovereignty.

News Alerts January 1, 2020

Safe supply fact sheet

The Canadian Association for Safe Supply outlines the key points of "safe supply" and provides a list of injectable opioid access points.

Publications December 6, 2019

2021 International Drug Policy Reform Conference

10 - 12 November 2021

Seattle, United States

Reform attendees have the opportunity to spend three days interacting with people committed to finding alternatives to the war on drugs while participating in sessions given by leading experts from around the world.

Events 4 December 2019

23rd International AIDS Conference

6 - 10 July 2020

San Francisco and Oakland, United States

Featuring a broad range of exciting sessions developed by an international committee of HIV scientists, leaders, policy makers, researchers and advocates, AIDS 2020 covers the latest and most pressing topics in HIV.

Events 4 December 2019

Cannabis legalisation in Canada: Year one observations

The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse provides a preliminary synthesis of the country’s experience with cannabis legalisation in the first year of retail sales.

Publications December 4, 2019

Supervised injection facility use and all-cause mortality among people who inject drugs in Vancouver, Canada: A cohort study

The study found frequent safer consumption site use was associated with reduced risk of death.

Publications November 29, 2019

Recreational cannabis legalisation in Europe – Countries to watch

A handful of countries in Western and Southern Europe have begun to engage in conversations on legal regulation.

News Alerts November 29, 2019

Cannabis use disorder among people using cannabis daily/almost daily in the United States, 2002–2016

The proportion of cannabis users struggling with their use seems to have decreased significantly in the United States.

Publications November 29, 2019

Association of punitive and reporting state policies related to substance use in pregnancy with rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome

Researchers found punitive drug policies correlate with negative health outcomes for newborns.

Publications November 15, 2019

The Role of Civil Society in Supporting UN System-wide coordination: research, data collection, and analysis in drug policy

12 November 2019

United Nations Headquarters

The interactive panel discussion will explore the important role played by CSOs in supporting effective data collection, research, and analysis with respect to drugs and drug-related matters.

Events 7 November 2019

Cannabis legalisation in Canada: Year one observations

The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse provides a preliminary synthesis of the country’s experience with cannabis legalisation in the first year of retail sales.

News Alerts November 7, 2019

Guards say they want supervised injection sites in Canadian federal prisons

The Correctional Service considers the initiative to be an important element in the effort to limit transmission of hepatitis C and HIV in institutions.

News Alerts November 7, 2019

Canada's 2019 election shows that nobody in any position of power cares how many drug users die

The major Canadian parties have only spent very few words on the issue of overdoses, despite an ongoing health crisis.

News Alerts October 25, 2019

Opioids: A survivor's guide

The British Columbia Centre on Substance Use provides a peer-to-peer resource to facilitate navigating dependence and other support services available to people who use opioids.

Publications October 25, 2019

International Drug Policy Consortium

North America

Drug decriminalisation: A matter of justice and equity, not just health

Report on drug use in the Americas

Rethinking the “drug dealer”

Decriminalisation is not a radical solution to the opioid crisis. And it would work.

1,000 people sent me their addiction treatment stories in the United States. Here’s what I learned

Genaro García Luna: US arrests Mexico ex-minister on drugs charges

Mexico rejects US intervention after Trump outlines drug cartel plan

Safe supply fact sheet

2021 International Drug Policy Reform Conference

23rd International AIDS Conference

Cannabis legalisation in Canada: Year one observations

Supervised injection facility use and all-cause mortality among people who inject drugs in Vancouver, Canada: A cohort study

Recreational cannabis legalisation in Europe – Countries to watch

Cannabis use disorder among people using cannabis daily/almost daily in the United States, 2002–2016

Association of punitive and reporting state policies related to substance use in pregnancy with rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome

The Role of Civil Society in Supporting UN System-wide coordination: research, data collection, and analysis in drug policy

Cannabis legalisation in Canada: Year one observations

Guards say they want supervised injection sites in Canadian federal prisons

Canada's 2019 election shows that nobody in any position of power cares how many drug users die

Opioids: A survivor's guide

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