Western Europe

News13 November 2024

Coca leaf review: a reckoning for global drug control — IDPC statement at the 2024 CND thematic discussions

IDPC calls on the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) to right a historical wrong by supporting the critical review of the coca leaf and ultimately approve its descheduling.

Publications11 November 2024

Ireland: Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drugs Use - Interim Report

The interim report makes recommendations in favour of decriminalisation, enhancing treatment options, expanded harm reduction options, and addressing social inequity.

News11 November 2024

Racial profiling and drugs: the United Nations reprimand Italy

The UN Human Rights Council denounced the country's racialised drug policing and recommended the decriminalisation of simple possession and the de-prioritisation of people involved in retail.

News10 November 2024

Could the Netherlands become the first country to legalise MDMA?

In the Netherlands, rising drug-related violence and dangerous fluctuations in the contents of ecstasy pills spark recent calls for a legally regulated MDMA supply, with profits reinvested into harm reduction programmes.

Events

BOOST’s peer-to-peer capacity-building webinar series

Online

6 November 2024 - 27 November 2024

The webinars aim to enhance the knowledge and skills of community-based and community-led organisations, helping them apply good practice models, tools, and methods to scale up integrated screening, testing, treatment and care for communicable diseases across Europe.

Publications22 October 2024

“It should be hard to be a drug abuser”: An evaluation of the criminalization of drug use in Sweden

Stenström et al. evaluate the criminalization of drugs in Sweden—showing that it has not reduced problematic drug use or drug-related deaths and is, instead, expensive, ineffective and harmful.

Events

Geneva course on drug policy, public health, and diplomacy

Geneva, Switzerland / Online

27 January 2024 - 30 January 2024

A new course hosted online and in person at the University of Geneva will explore current events and evolving perspectives around international drug policy and controlled substances.

News2 October 2024

Ireland: GPs and pharmacists support removal of criminal sanctions for drug users

The Irish College of General Practitioners and the Irish Pharmacy Union said that drug use should be decriminalised and paired with health-based interventions to combat rising rates of drug-related death.

Publications18 September 2024

4th Brandenburg Forum in Geneva: Towards transformative change in human rights-based drug policy - Meeting report

The Forum addressed environmental, human rights and public health issues related to drug policy, as well as related international progress and opportunities for cooperation.

Publications15 September 2024

Reframing Dutch drug policies: a new era for harm reduction

Busz et al. offer an account of the evolution of Dutch harm reduction and the ongoing need for reinvestment in harm reduction infrastructure and rights-based solutions.

Publications27 August 2024

Concluding observations on the 24th and 26th periodic reports of the UK - Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

CERD calls attention to the disproportionate impact of the criminal legal system on racialised people and groups, urging the UK to consistently apply anti-discrimination laws and engage in relevant policy reform.

News22 August 2024

UK's first drugs consumption room to open in October

As Glasgow opens the UK's first safe drug consumption facility, the city takes bold and life-saving steps to address the escalating overdose crisis.

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