
Explores how prohibition disrupts ecosystems, traditional knowledge, and community economies across South America.

Border Control, Routes of Violence and Deforestation


Describes the impact of drug trafficking and militarised borders on land grabbing, deforestation, and violent conflict in the Amazon.


Argues that drug war policies threaten Indigenous youth and are a tool to seize ancestral lands.

Megaprojects and Drug Policies in the Pará Amazon


Examines how infrastructure megaprojects and drug repression deepen exclusion and violence in Amazonian communities.

We Want the Marajoara Population Alive and Kicking


Explores how policing and poverty criminalise local youth and erode the well-being of Marajó’s population.

Violence and Surveillance on the Amazon Route


Critiques the use of high-tech surveillance and police militarisation under the pretext of drug control.

Aerial Spraying of Pesticides in the Eastern Amazon


Denounces chemical fumigation campaigns as forms of toxic warfare against traditional communities.

Territorial Conflicts and their Impact on Biodiversity


Links drug-related land disputes and agricultural expansion to jaguar habitat loss and ecosystem breakdown.


Connects drug trafficking, inequality, and weak governance to Brazil’s climate vulnerabilities and rising emissions.

Helena Fonseca Rodrigues & Paula Callegario de Souza


Highlights how drug criminalisation harms health, autonomy, and cultural rights in traditional communities.


Explains how drug war policies reinforce racial hierarchies and dispossession in climate-impacted territories.

Mothers in the Fight – From Grief to Resistance


Gives voice to mothers resisting the disappearance and murder of their kids under state violence and mass incarceration.


Challenges the criminalisation of favelas and defends Afro-Brazilian urban cultures as rooted and vital.


Uses Beatriz’s story to explore trauma, crack use, and harm reduction as care in marginalised spaces.


Traces the roots of Brazil’s punitive system to colonial slavery, showing its ongoing racial violence.

The War on Drugs as a Threat to Democracy

Dudu Ribeiro, Juliana Borges & Nathália Oliveira


Argues that drug prohibition strengthens authoritarianism and erodes civil liberties across Brazil’s rural and urban areas.

There Will Be No Climate Justice If There is a War on Plant-Based Drugs

International Coalition for Drug Policy Reform and Environmental Justice


Calls for the inclusion of regulatory alternatives in environmental justice and climate agendas.

Land use, drug policy and climate justice - Plató magazine special edition

Thailand set to U-turn on recreational cannabis use

Thailand decriminalized cannabis in 2022. However, it did so without a comprehensive law regulating its sale, production or use.

Since then, tens of thousands of licensed dispensaries and retailers selling cannabis and cannabis extracts have opened across the country, particularly in tourist hot spots.

Three years later, Thailand is now planning to tighten the control of marijuana use, ensuring that cannabis is only used for medicinal purposes and not recreationally.

Under a new medical bill expected to be announced in the next few weeks, dispensaries will be allowed to sell cannabis only to other licensed shops or to customers with a prescription from a medical professional.

Chokwan "Kitty" Chopaka, a well-known cannabis activist in Thailand, said the new medical bill could see a 90% drop in licensed cannabis shops in Thailand.

“I lost two children. They were shot dead. My family has never been the same.”

The story of Sarah Celiz, who lost her sons in extrajudicial killings (EJKs), resurfaced on the day the former president Rodrigo Duterte was arrested and detained at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague where he now awaits trial for crimes against humanity over his bloody anti-drug campaign.

Recalling how her sons, Almon and Dicklie, were gunned down six months apart in deadly crackdowns in their neighborhood in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City over seven years ago, Celiz broke down during a news conference.

When she tried to file a complaint, the police asked her for evidence.

“My evidence were the bodies of my sons. They were killed without due process,” Celiz declared.

“I want (Duterte’s) family to feel what we felt. I want them to feel the same way I feel about what happened to my sons,” she cried out.

Celiz and other family members of victims of drug war killings had kept vigil in shock and disbelief as they watched on TV and on their phones the arrest as Duterte was hauled off to a chartered plane by police escorts and flown out of the country he once ruled with an iron hand.

“I had tears of sadness because our loved ones are gone, and joy because Duterte is in the place where he belongs”, she said.

In the succeeding weeks, more families came out in the open, with tears of sadness and relief, to demand for accountability and justice for what they suffered during Duterte’s term from June 2016 to June 2022.

“My hope and that of the families of EJK victims is that we find justice so that we can move on with our lives,” Celiz said.

Duterte arrest inspires continuing drive for humane approach to anti-drug campaign

The Network of Asian People who Use Drugs (NAPUD)

IDUCARE (a civil society organization in the Philippines)

 welcome and support the ICC's decision to arrest Duterte for his crime against humanity. The decision is a significant milestone and affirms that no individual, regardless of position or power, is above the law. The ICC's intervention and decision have renewed our faith in the international justice system.

On 11 March 2025, the Philippines' former President Rodrigo Duterte was sent to The Hague hours after his arrest in Manila at the request of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as part of its probe into a "war on drugs" that defined his presidency through 2016 - 2022. Duterte could become the first Asian former head of state to go on trial at the ICC.

We recognize that Duterte is responsible for egregious human rights violations, extrajudicial killings, and abuses of power. His nationwide 'war on drugs' campaign resulted in the loss of over thirty thousand lives and directly affected millions of Filipinos, especially the poorest.

 the Executive Director of IDUCARE said,



"As CSOs and citizens of this great nation, we must ensure accountability for all cases of extrajudicial killings and that justice is served for the victims and their families. The harrowing effects of EJKs during Dutere's war on drugs campaign have left scars on our community which must not be ignored."

"In pursuit of justice, we must revisit and amend the 'Republic Act 9165' and the 'Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, 2002' to prevent the recurrence of such a dark chapter in the history of our country."

"Justice must prevail over impunity and let this be a strong message to all governments who adopt a war on drugs approach. Every war on drugs is a war on people who use drugs, especially those already marginalized and vulnerable socio-economically."

Leila de Lima, a former justice minister who was jailed under Duterte, months after she led a Senate investigation into the killings, said the families of victims were courageous in bringing him to justice. 

"Your voices mattered, your courage mattered,"

We believe that by strengthening laws and institutions, the Philippines can set a new course of human rights- and public health-based approaches to drug use, which protect the rights and dignity of all citizens.

NAPUD and IDUCARE will continue efforts in reforming drug laws and policies in the Philippines and across the Asia region.

Joint Statement – NAPUD and IDUCARE in support of ICC’s decision to arrest Duterte for his crime against humanity

10 April 2025 | 14:00 - 16:30 pm (Bangkok time).


BABSEACLE and the Centre for Law & Transformative Change (CLTC), in collaboration with the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), are excited to invite you to our upcoming 2025 Asia Fair Trial Practices Roundtable titled 

“Trust-Building Strategies When Assisting People Who Use Drugs Facing Criminal Charges.”

This roundtable will bring together leading experts from across Asia to share their experiences, successes, and the barriers they face in advancing fair trial rights for persons dependent on drugs. Through innovative legal strategies, policy reforms, and community-driven holistic approaches, they will provide powerful insights on strengthening legal protections and fostering a more just and compassionate system for this vulnerable population.

Beyond expert insights, this roundtable will feature dynamic discussions inviting attendees to contribute their perspectives, expertise, practical strategies, and top tips to promote a justice system that heals rather than harms.

Trust-building strategies when assisting people who use drugs facing criminal charges

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — Selangor’s Local Government and Tourism Committee chairman Datuk Ng Suee Lim recently proposed urine screening to detect drug use among ravers or concert-goers.

 of four people who attended the New Year's Eve Pinkfish Festival in Sunway here.

Post-mortem reports indicated they died from complications caused by the drugs they consumed, likely to be ecstasy in pill form. Three other attendees were also hospitalised because they were suspected of taking the same pills.

There were mixed reactions to the proposal. Drug policy advocates suggested urine screening may not be effective at all, and could actually do more harm. The National Anti-Drug Agency, meanwhile, said the idea was impractical.

Why is urine screening may not be a good idea?

Palani Narayanan, Director of Drug Policy Program Malaysia, said urine screening is inherently defective as a solution to drug use problems

“Firstly, urine screening can only tell you if someone used a drug in the short past, say three weeks before, so someone who hasn’t taken a drug in six months will likely test negative,” he said.

“Now when they consume a drug at the music festival after having not taken anything in the last six months, just a small dose of drugs can be fatal because their tolerance level is lower than someone who takes drugs regularly,” he added.

“This person has a higher chance of fatal overdose and urine tests are useless to identify this.”

Then there is the cost factor. Urine screening is expensive. In the US, urine drug screening costs billions of dollars annually. Between 2011 and 2014, the cost of urine tests were reported to be around US$8.5 billion.

There is no available data on how much enforcement agencies spent on urine screening, but drug policy advocates believe it could reach hundreds of millions in the past ten years.

Palani said it makes little sense to pour money into a defective system that could be better spent on harm reduction measures like the health care workers who can advise people on the safety of the drugs they take.

Malaysia: Urine screening before concerts? Drug policy advocates explain why that may do more harm than good

Over the holidays, I received so many messages from friends that I should watch 

. I haven’t had a chance to see it but apparently it has moved so many people and opened their eyes to the situation of persons deprived of liberty in our country. I’m glad to hear of this development and happy to hear of a movie that humanizes one of the most stigmatized sectors of our society, reaching a wider audience and enjoy some commercial success. There is much to learn about the situation of our PDLs and I hope watching 

 is just the beginning of getting more Filipinos to advocate for their rights.
(...)

If we really want to decongest our jails, aside from reviewing and amending the Revised Penal Code, we must also review and amend our drug law. This was one of the main recommendations to come out of national sectoral consultations held in preparation for the Philippine Drug Policy and Law Reform Summit held last July 2024. Yes, another summit, I’m sorry, but this was the first time there was a conversation between representatives from different government agencies including law enforcement, local governments, nongovernment organizations, and community organizations about how the drug law has affected our justice system and our communities in such a profoundly harmful way.

Philippines: Will watching ‘Green Bones’ help decongest our jails?

This report details how people accused of using drugs are subject to arbitrary detention in drug “treatment and rehabilitation” centres, in a continuation of the punitive approach to the Philippines’ “war on drugs”. Based on interviews with 56 people, 26 of whom were accused of using and/or selling drugs, this report investigates human rights violations – such as torture and other ill-treatment, forced or otherwise unreliable confessions, and violations of the right to health – that people endure before, during and after their compulsory stay in drug detention centres. The Philippine government must move away from punitive and harmful responses to drugs. Instead, it must adopt evidenced-based approaches that respect the dignity of all people and put health and human rights at the centre.

“Submit and surrender”: the harms of arbitrary drug detention in the Philippines

We the 27 undersigned organisations are gravely concerned with the ongoing executions in Singapore for drug offences.

International law establishes that the death penalty should be reserved for the ‘most serious’ crimes, an interpretation that limits the applicability of the death penalty to intentional killings. Drug offences have consistently been determined by various UN bodies and agencies, including the 

2023 UN resolution on the question of the death penalty

, to fail to meet and fulfil the threshold of ‘most serious’ crime.

The continued use of the death penalty for drug offences in Singapore is counterproductive and ineffectual in tackling the proliferation of illicit substances within ASEAN. There are clear trends that suggest that drug trafficking within the region is not exclusively tied to any one country, with drug couriers frequently arrested after crossing multiple ASEAN countries.

The death penalty in Singapore has often been applied to drug couriers in situations of vulnerability who perform low-level and high-risk tasks without substantial involvement in the organised crime groups that orchestrate these operations. At the ASEAN level, the policy of allowing the execution of drug couriers effectively deprives Singapore’s neighbours of an opportunity to access witnesses to transnational drug trafficking.

The case of Mary Jane Veloso demonstrates the critical importance of drug couriers’ testimonies in efforts to bring organised crime groups to justice. Their experience of exploitation, including by powerful criminal groups, could also provide significant insights to authorities and serve as a waypoint to guide policies and strategies that would be effective in curbing drug trafficking.

While ASEAN has developed numerous joint initiatives including the ASEAN Treaty for Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, there are limited ASEAN-level initiatives or collaboration between its member states to develop cohesive and effective drug policies that would address the common concerns around the drug trade and substance use.

We advise the government of Singapore to refrain from further executions in line with international law and proactively engage with its neighbours within ASEAN to co-develop principles and policies that would be of greater effectiveness in tackling drug trafficking in Singapore and the broader region without resorting to ineffective policies that rely on or contribute to gross human rights violations.

Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL)

Brussels federation of institutions for drugs and addictions

International Drug Law Advocacy and Resource Center (IDLARC), USA

Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Masyarakat, Indonesia

Organisation for the Prevention of Intense Suffering (OPIS), Switzerland

Students for Sensible Drug Policy Australia

UNIDOS - Rede Nacional de Redução de Danos

Women and Harm Reduction International Network

End executions, embrace regional progress - IDPC joins 26 NGOs urging Singapore to abandon the death penalty

Thailand will regulate cannabis for medicinal use instead of re-listing the plant as a narcotic, the deputy prime minister said on Tuesday, in the government's U-turn on its previous policy.

Prime minister Srettha Thavisin had vowed to make cannabis illegal by the end of 2024, just two years after Thailand became one of the first countries in Asia to decriminalise marijuana.

Thailand decides not to re-criminalise cannabis as it eyes $1bn medicinal industry

As the UN urges states to move from harsh punishments for drug offences towards treatment programmes, Indonesia has adopted a bifurcated penal policy. Most of those convicted are sentenced to imprisonment or death, but some ‘minor’ offenders are diverted to drug treatment centres. We explore the moralities that shape drug policy, justice professionals’ interpretation and application of laws and policies, and judgements about who is deserving of diversion.

 We draw on experiences and perceptions of 136 Indonesian criminal justice professionals, through in-depth qualitative interviewing and focus groups, to reveal the moral landscapes shaping policy and practice.

 Justice narratives blur penal concerns with moral judgments about drug offending, with normative responses shaping punishments in law and practice. While there is some compassion for ‘minor’ drug offenders, driving rationales for diversion, drug traffickers are regarded as morally deserving of prison and capital punishment, with traditionalist perceptions of harm amplified by a purgative rationale.

 This article highlights the analytical potential of moralities such as ‘compassion’ and ‘traditionalism’ in criminal justice research and policy in Southeast Asia. Understanding the formation and navigation of these normative values may assist in challenging harsh penal policy in Indonesia and the wider region.

East and South East Asia

Land use, drug policy and climate justice - Plató magazine special edition

Thailand set to U-turn on recreational cannabis use

Thailand set to U-turn on recreational cannabis use

Duterte arrest inspires continuing drive for humane approach to anti-drug campaign

Joint Statement – NAPUD and IDUCARE in support of ICC’s decision to arrest Duterte for his crime against humanity

Trust-building strategies when assisting people who use drugs facing criminal charges

Malaysia: Urine screening before concerts? Drug policy advocates explain why that may do more harm than good

Philippines: Will watching ‘Green Bones’ help decongest our jails?

“Submit and surrender”: the harms of arbitrary drug detention in the Philippines

End executions, embrace regional progress - IDPC joins 26 NGOs urging Singapore to abandon the death penalty

Thailand decides not to re-criminalise cannabis as it eyes $1bn medicinal industry

Diversion or death? The moral framework shaping bifurcated punishments for drug offences in Indonesia