Tuesday, 18 February / 14:00 - 15:30 (Indonesia)

What next for drug decriminalisation in Asia?


Join community and civil society advocates as they discuss recent developments, advances, and setbacks in drug decriminalisation efforts across Canada, Portugal, and Australia. The webinar will explore key advocacy strategies and implications for humane drug policies in Asia.

 – Policy Director, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (

 – Executive Team Member, European Network of People who Use Drugs

 – Executive Director, Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation & Advocacy (CAHMA); President, Australian Injecting and Illicit Drug Users League (AIVL)

 – Human Rights Lawyer, Lawyers Collective, India

 – Asia Programme Officer, International Drug Policy Consortium

Interpretation available in Thai and Indonesian

Drugs and decriminalisation in Asia: Global updates on drug decriminalisation

The Robert Carr Fund (RCF) is excited to share a major advocacy success from one of our grantees, the Harm Reduction Consortium – led by the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC).

In this interview, Jamie Bridge, Deputy Director of IDPC, explains how the coordinated efforts of numerous civil society partners led to the historic inclusion of harm reduction in a United Nations resolution. This achievement, made possible through years of dedicated advocacy and long-term support from RCF, shows the vital role civil society plays in shaping global drug policies. By sharing this story, we want to show how sustained funding can fuel community-led advocacy, driving real change in global health and human rights.

Which problem did the Harm Reduction Consortium and partners want to address?

Jamie Bridge: The main issue we aimed to address was the lack of recognition for harm reduction in the United Nations (UN) drug policy discussions in Vienna, where the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) convenes. Despite harm reduction being acknowledged in other UN spaces, such as the General Assembly in New York and the Human Rights Council in Geneva, it was noticeably absent in Vienna. This discrepancy created a significant barrier. Countries would often justify their inaction on harm reduction by pointing to the lack of support in the CND and related international drug control conventions, which were drafted decades before harm reduction even existed as a concept. We needed to close this gap to enable consistent, supportive international language and policy on harm reduction across all UN bodies.

At the March 2024 CND meeting, a historic resolution was passed that explicitly included harm reduction—a first for this UN body. The United States submitted the resolution, marking a significant shift, as the country had historically opposed harm reduction. This change was largely driven by the opioid overdose crisis in North America. The passage of the resolution was not straightforward, as it broke with the CND’s traditional practice of consensus decision-making. Instead, the resolution went to a vote, with overwhelming support from member states and only two countries—Russia and China—voting against it. This vote set a new precedent, demonstrating that progress could be made despite opposition and lack of traditional consensus approach to decision-making in this UN institution.

This breakthrough is monumental for future advocacy efforts. It not only aligns Vienna with other UN bodies but also opens the door for more ambitious resolutions on many critical issues. For us, harm reduction advocates, this development represents a powerful tool to challenge resistance at the national and regional levels, as governments can no longer claim that the CND does not support harm reduction. The long-term core funding from the Robert Carr Fund was pivotal in enabling the Harm Reduction Consortium to sustain our advocacy efforts over the years, ensuring that relationships, expertise, and readiness were in place for this specific moment in time.

Jamie Bridge: Our strategy has always been about persistence and collaboration. Since IDPC received its first grant from the Robert Carr Fund in 2012, engaging at the CND has been our core activity. Over the years, we focused on developing trust and constructive relationships with government delegations through regular meetings, briefings, and constant engagement. Alongside this, we coordinated civil society’s presence at the CND by organizing training sessions to prepare community representatives and NGOs for advocacy in this space. The result has been an exponential rise in the levels of civil society participation at CND (Figure 1).

Turning the tide: Growth, visibility and impact of the civil society drug policy reform movement at the UN - International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC)

Additionally, we consistently kept harm reduction and human rights at the center of discussions, advocating for countries that practice harm reduction to openly support it in UN statements.

The sustained financial support from RCF allowed us to maintain this comprehensive strategy year after year. These long-term efforts culminated in March 2024 when, for the first time, a resolution explicitly mentioning harm reduction was approved at the CND. This breakthrough required tenacity, strategic relationship-building, and a collective push from our partners. The RCF’s contributions ensured that we could adapt, respond, and act decisively when the opportunity arose.

Who were the network partners, and how were they engaged in the advocacy?

Jamie Bridge: This success was a collective effort, powered by a broad coalition. Key partners included the Harm Reduction Consortium members and others such as the Transnational Institute and the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD).

Our advocacy was thoroughly coordinated. For example, every March before the CND session, we hold a full-day civil society strategy meeting funded by the Robert Carr Fund. Representatives from over 70 NGOs worldwide come together to strategize, assign tasks, and ensure everyone is aligned. This includes deciding which governments to approach, preparing side events, and crafting interventions. Without this coordination, the unified civil society presence that has been critical to our success would not have been possible.

Community representatives played a critical role. In the lead-up to the resolution vote, these activists worked tirelessly, navigating the corridors of the UN building, briefing governments, and ensuring they understood the significance of the vote. Their advocacy directly influenced key decisions. The ability to sustain this high level of coordination and engagement over years is directly tied to the long-term financial support from RCF.

How were RCF’s funds used to achieve this success?

Jamie Bridge: The Robert Carr Fund’s support has been instrumental in both direct and indirect ways. The CND work has always been a priority in the Harm Reduction Consortium’s work plans. However, advocacy at this level requires years of groundwork, training, coordination, and trust-building. These are resource-intensive activities that cannot be accomplished with project-based funding alone. Without RCF’s core support, we wouldn’t have had the capacity or relationships to achieve this milestone. The flexibility of core funding has allowed us to adapt our strategies to changing political landscapes, ensuring that we remain effective advocates for harm reduction.

What are the outcomes of this case and its broader impact on human rights and the global harm reduction movement?

Jamie Bridge: The inclusion of harm reduction in a CND resolution represents a landmark victory. For the first time, we now have a unified acknowledgment of harm reduction across all relevant UN structures, from Vienna to Geneva and New York. This alignment eliminates a significant barrier that governments previously used to avoid implementing harm reduction measures.

For communities, the potential impact can be profound. NGOs and activists can now leverage this CND resolution to advocate for harm reduction services at their national level. For instance, in countries without naloxone programs for overdose prevention, this resolution explicitly calls for their implementation. It’s a powerful tool for challenging resistance and pushing for change.

Moreover, this success has shifted the dynamics at the CND. Historically, decisions were made by consensus, which allowed a few opposing countries, like Russia and China, to veto progress. In March 2024, this tradition was broken when the resolution went to a vote. With overwhelming support, harm reduction became part of UN policy.

This shift opens the door for future resolutions on previously untouchable topics, such as the death penalty for drug-related offenses or broader human rights issues. It’s a game-changer. The momentum is on our side, and we’re already strategizing for the next steps.

However, we’re realistic. Progress at the UN level is rarely linear, and we need to see what role the United States may continue to play as a harm reduction ally. UN resolutions also don’t automatically translate into immediate change on the ground. The real challenge lies in translating this victory into better access to harm reduction services and stronger human rights protections worldwide. This requires continued advocacy, capacity-building, and long-term investment—areas where the Robert Carr Fund’s support remains critical.

‘RCF’s long-term investment into community-led networks fuels harm reduction advocacy’ — Interview with Jamie Bridge

The situation is under control, which wasn’t the case a year ago when the number of crack users was doubling every month, according to Thomas Herquel, director of Première Ligne, the association that runs the Quai 9 injection room. In an interview published on Saturday in the Le Temps paper, he stated that “the number of users is constant and violent acts have decreased”.

Herquel’s estimates are based on the number of crack pipes distributed, which averages about 90 a day. According to him, the peak of users has been reached. He notes that the police and the association have succeeded in better monitoring of the area and combating ‘crack tourism’.

Crack consumption soared in Geneva from 2021 onwards, with the arrival on the market of very small doses of this highly addictive drug at very low prices. The government launched a three-year action plan at the end of 2023, costing CHF6 million a year.

Switzerland: Geneva’s fightback against crack cocaine making inroads

 February 13, 2025 - 10:00 AM GMT / 11:00 AM CET


Join EuroNPUD for an Informational Session on Peer Work and Harm Reduction!

EuroNPUD invites you to an engaging session on the power of peer work, drug user organising, and how to involve people who use drugs in community-based harm reduction service provision.

This webinar will be led by EuroNPUD consultants:

The webinar will showcase examples of peer-led research and best practices developed through the EU4Health BOOST Project.

Insights into peer work and community-driven harm reduction.

Strategies for meaningful involvement of people who use drugs in service provision.

Peer-led research examples and best practice resources.

Register in advance to secure your spot! After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with details on how to join the meeting.

Peer work and drug user organising: Experiences, peer-led research & best practices

Join us for an event dedicated to exploring the best practices for involving individuals with living/lived experience in substance use research. Through networking, interactive stalls, presentations, and table discussions, we will discuss the value of co-design and co-research in creating impactful studies and how we can best achieve this. We’ll explore the role of Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) groups in shaping research from the ground up and address the challenges and opportunities in fostering meaningful engagement.

Meaningful engagement with community stakeholders in research

CORE – COmmunity Response to End Inequalities EU project meeting

, we had the chance to visit two of the several community-based centers of 

GAT, the Portuguese Activist Group on Treatments

. GAT, which was founded in 2001, is a structure of individual membership and cooperation between people from different communities and organizations affected by HIV and AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, viral hepatitis, and tuberculosis.

They started as an advocacy organization, working for legal and policy changes that positively affect the health, rights, and quality of life of people living with HIV or at risk of becoming infected. They soon realized that vulnerable groups that are most affected by HIV, such as men having sex with men (MSM), sex workers, trans people, people who use drugs, and migrants, need tailored HIV services, and they started to build these programs for them. Today, GAT has one of the biggest reaches of key populations in Portugal, with 100 thousand HIV tests conducted annually.

GAT has several testing sites, all adapted more or less for key populations. All the sites are open to everyone but are built and offer services more tailored to key populations

, general director of services and projects at GAT.

Moreover, these services employ peers, people with lived experiences, as their key staff. “

Peers are people who share something in common with the people we support, either because they live with the infection or belong to a vulnerable group we support. It is often the peers who bring people to the interventions and can also be the link between people and different services.

At GAT Portugal peer work makes super services

The City Council of Budapest rejected a proposal from the government party, Fidesz, to abolish the city’s progressive drug strategy and to create a new, repressive strategy. 

The Budapest City Council discussed and rejected a motion submitted by Alexandra Szentkirályi, the head of the ruling Fidesz party’s fraction in the capital, that proposed to cancel the Budapest Drug Strategy. The document, which was prepared by the Budapest Drug Council (BKEF), with the meaningful and broad involvement of civil society, was adopted in December 2023 by the opposition majority. 

The Mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karácsony defended the drug strategy at the meeting by arguing that it is an evidence-based document that was modeled after the EU Drug Strategy (2021-25). He pointed out that the strategy reflects a broad consensus among professionals, who sent a letter in defense of the strategy to all representatives of the Council.

A failed attack against the pro-harm reduction drug strategy of Budapest

The 18th annual ISSDP conference 11-13 June 2025, hosted by the Drugs, Policy, and Social Change (DPSC) research group at Manchester Metropolitan University, envisions a transformative dialogue on drug policy grounded in social justice. Our aim is to foster an inclusive platform where diverse voices from affected communities, practitioners, and policymakers converge to explore and address the complexities of drug policy processes and formation.

Social justice is important in drug policy to ensure that policies are fair, equitable, and inclusive, addressing the needs of all individuals, especially marginalised and vulnerable populations. Drug policy consistently shows that the most marginalised are disproportionately impacted and that many new reforms either exacerbate gaps or fail to reduce these gaps. Novel ways of thinking about how to improve social justice in drug policy is thus a key focus for this conference.

With ISSDP’s primary focus on connecting and facilitating world-leading drug policy research, the conference will also highlight novel methodological approaches to analysing drug policy and a broad range of scholarship across the drug market, incorporating use, supply, cultivation/production and trafficking as well as other sub-themes (see below).

The conference invites contributions from scholars from the Global North and the Global South. By doing so, it aims to promote a comprehensive understanding of drug policy issues worldwide and identifying ways to advance drug policy and practice.

18th Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP)

The Charter draws from the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy which sets out best practice as identified by the UN. It is intended to provide a guide to adopting a human rights-based approach in decision making.

Support people affected by substance use to realise the human rights which belong to them.

Support service providers to understand how to implement the human rights which belong to people affected by substance use.

Shift the power and change the culture from criminalisation and stigma towards public health and human rights… the so-called “undeserving” coming to see themselves as “rights-holders” and the service providers better understanding what their role may be as “duty bearers”.

Charter of Rights for People Affected by Substance Use - Scotland's National Collaborative

At its bi-annual gathering the European harm reduction movement addressed the multiple challenges of our time: rising populism, shrinking space for civil society, changing drug markets and changing needs of people who use drugs. Watch our film we produced at the conference!

The 6th European Harm Reduction Conference took place at the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland, on 2-4 December 2024. As Alex Lakhov, director of the European Network of People Who Use Drugs (EuroNPUD) mentioned in his speech, to have this conference at this venue, built during Stalin’s years to represent totalitarian power, is a message of defiance. It would make Stalin furious to see that people discuss human rights under the roof of his former palace. Unfortunately it is not only the architecture of totalitarianism that survived but the spirit of Stalin is also alive and well. Civil society activists face the new threats of populism and repressive policies across Europe. The Drugreporter team filmed some key moments and interviewed several participants to learn how harm reductionists respond to new challenges in various European countries – please watch and share our conference video!

The conference marked the 20th anniversary of its main organiser, the Correlation European Harm Reduction Network (C-EHRN). On this occasion, the network published a report with the title “

“, highlighting a selection of key people and organisations. It is my honour that as one of the founder of Drugreporter, I am one of them. Happy birthday Correlation!

Opening Session + Polish Drug Policy: Persistence and determination towards drug law reform and putting people who use drugs at the centre.

Global paradigm shift: navigating human rights in drug policy reform

Medication assisted therapies in EECA: status and progress

Legally grey? Discovering loopholes in the national laws for drug checking services

Scaling up HIV and HCV prevention treatment and care in community-based settings

Think Global, Act Local – the important role of cities in innovating drug policy and practice + Wrap-Up Session

Satellite Event: Dealing with drugs II – Cities and the international pursuit of sensible regulation

How to regulate substances: detailed blueprints for local level experiments

Little things mean a lot: 6h European Harm Reduction Conference video highlights

It is with great sadness that we share the news that Dave Bewley-Taylor, the co-founder of IDPC, passed away on 20th November 2024 after a valiant and long battle with cancer.

Dave’s impact and legacy within the drug policy reform sector are immeasurable. As well as co-founding IDPC and supporting the growth of the network since the mid-2000s, he was also the founding Secretary of the 

International Society for the Study of Drug Policy

 (ISSDP) and the founding Director of the 

 – housed within Swansea University where Dave was also Professor of International Relations and Public Policy. He also held advisory, committee and associate roles at a range of key organisations in the sector – including IDPC (where he led on several regular report such as the CND Proceedings), the 

International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy

In 2021, Dave and GDPO worked alongside IDPC and other partners to conceptualise and deliver the world’s first 

. His interdisciplinary research often focused on the United Nations and international drug control policies. In addition to numerous book chapters and journal articles, he has written two major research monographs: The United States and International Drug Control, 1909-1997 (Continuum, 2001) and International Drug Control: Consensus Fractured (Cambridge University Press, 2012), and is co-editor of the Research Handbook on International Drug Control Policy (Edward Elgar 2020). In Autumn 2023, Dave was also conferred to the 

Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences

 in recognition of his important and impactful work.

For many, Dave was simultaneously a source of immense knowledge and wisdom, a kind mentor, a CND veteran, a fierce advocate, and a much-loved friend who will be greatly missed the world over. His work will continue to guide and inspire many and his legacy lives on. Dave passed away at home, surrounded by family, pain-free and in peace.

A remembrance page has been set-up for colleagues and friends from across the world, and which is also being shared with Dave’s wife and family to ensure they know how much he will be missed and how highly he was regarded. 

Please add your own memories, photos and condolences here

If you would like to send a donation in Dave’s memory to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, please see this 

Just Giving page which has been set-up by his family

In Memoriam: Professor Dave Bewley-Taylor

Statement by the International Drug Policy Consortium at the occasion of the CND thematic discussions on the implementation of all international drug policy commitments following up to the 2019 Ministerial Declaration.

Delivered by Ann Fordham, IDPC Executive Director

Thank you Mr Chair for giving me the floor. I make this statement on behalf of the International Drug Policy Consortium – a global network of over 190 NGOs that come together to promote drug policies grounded in social justice and human rights.

This statement relates to the critical review of the coca leaf.

This critical review comes nearly 75 years after the UN banned the traditional uses of the plant by listing it in Schedule I of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. This is despite the fact that the coca leaf has been used for millennia by Indigenous Peoples in the Andean-Amazonian region for traditional, religious, ancestral and medicinal purposes.

At the time, the decision to place the plant under strict international control was based on deeply problematic colonial and racist prejudice, as is further explained in Bolivia’s dossier annexed to its request for the critical review.

We were able to address the ECDD at their open session last month and called on the ECDD to correct this historical wrong – and to explicitly distance itself from past racist arguments made by WHO officials themselves regarding the plant.

Since 1961, extensive research shows that the coca leaf does not result in health harms, but may, in fact, have possible benefits, including as a medicine, as a food supplement, and for social, cultural and religious purposes. In addition, the basic premise of the 1961 Single Convention is that plants are only scheduled as a narcotic drug when they are considered to produce harmful effects similar to other scheduled substances. This is certainly not the case for the coca leaf when compared to the effects of cocaine use.

Various UN entities have increasingly recognised the need to decolonise drug policy and align the UN drug control regime with human rights – including Indigenous Peoples’ rights. This includes statements from the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights, and resolutions adopted by the UN General Assembly, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Human Rights Council. Furthermore, the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy elaborates the rights of Indigenous Peoples to their traditional and cultural practices.

As with all UN bodies and entities, the World Health Organization is also bound by the obligation to respect, protect and fulfil human rights – which is one of the overarching pillars of the United Nations. As such, any scheduling recommendation by the ECDD should also take due account of human rights considerations.

We therefore welcome the decision made by the ECDD to consider the ‘traditional uses’ of the coca leaf, as one of the key topics of the critical review report. We hope that this will ensure that the traditional knowledge and culture of Andean-Amazonian Indigenous Peoples are duly recognised and seriously considered as the ECDD conducts its critical review and elaborates its recommendations on the plant.

I conclude with some recommendations regarding this process:

There is a need to ensure a transparent and inclusive process that enables the meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples all stages of the critical review including inviting Indigenous experts to participate in specific segments of the 48th session of the ECDD that relate to the coca leaf, and not just the public hearings.

We urge the Member States that had objected to Bolivia’s reservation on the coca leaf, as it re-accessed the Single Convention in 2013, to withdraw such objections, as has now been done by Mexico (in 2018) and the Netherlands (in 2023).

We encourage Member States to initiate a much-needed discussion on the potential benefits of legal global market opportunities for the coca leaf and its derived products, as well as on possible mechanisms needed to avoid the risks of corporate capture and to protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples of the Andean-Amazonian region.

 on this issue which further elaborates on the points I have made today.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Western Europe