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IDPC Drug Policy Guide

Welcome to the second edition of the IDPC Drug Policy Guide. The Guide brings together global evidence and examples of best practice to provide guidance on the review, design and implementation of national drug policies.

Publications March 15, 2012

America’s plague of incarceration

The world is overly familiar with the US “war on terror” prisons like Abu Ghraib and its off-shore Guantanamo prison. Less well known or cared about is the vast complex of more mundane prisons, much of whose population is collateral damage from the equally misnamed “war on…

Publications February 8, 2012

How well do international drug conventions protect public health?

The adoption of national policies that are more aligned with the risks of different drugs and the effectiveness of controls will require the amendment of existing treaties, the formulation of new treaties, or withdrawal of states from existing treaties and re-accession with reservations.

Publications January 9, 2012

The rehab archipelago: Forced labor and other abuses in drug detention centers in Southern Vietnam

This report documents the experiences of people confined to 14 detention centers under the authority of the Ho Chi Minh City government. Refusing to work, or violating center rules, results in punishment that in some cases is torture.

Publications December 8, 2011

“Atmospheric pressure” - Russian drug policy as a driver for violations of the UN Convention against Torture

Russian State authorities are intentionally causing a large group of people (about 1.7 million) severe physical pain, suffering and humiliation with the purpose of punishing them for using drugs, and to intimidate and coerce them into withdrawal.

Publications November 21, 2011

Count the Costs briefing - The human rights costs of the war on drugs

This new Count the Costs briefing covers the wide range of human rights issues impacted by the war on drugs.

Publications September 9, 2011

Afghan heroin traffickers targeting Tanzania, East Africa

Drug traffickers, faced with tough restrictions to transit through Asia and Middle East, have turned Africa into their preferred station for heroin shipment to Europe and elsewhere.

Publications September 7, 2011

Opioid substitution treatment in prison and post-release : effects on criminal recidivism and mortality

More than eight in ten prisoners who use heroin in New South Wales, Australia, will be back in prison within two years of being released. But this rate can be cut by 20 per cent if they leave prison on methadone treatment and stay on it in the community.

Publications August 30, 2011

2nd “White Book” on effects of 2006 Italian drug law on penal and prisons system (“Fini-Giovanardi law”)

This "White Book" shows that the number of drug offenders among the overall prison population is increasing and the drug legislation may be considered as the main reason for the present overcrowding of Italian prisons; law enforcement is focused on cannabis; therapeutic alternatives to…

Publications July 19, 2011

Al Jazeera documentary - Filipino drug mules

The Philippines is well-known for exporting domestic workers across the world, but as low-income jobs disappear in the global recession, increasing numbers of desperate Filipinos are resorting to something much more dangerous – smuggling drugs as mules.

Publications June 30, 2011

IDPC Briefing Paper - Policy responses to drug issues in Malaysia

This paper provides an insight into Malaysian drug policies and the environment in which the national response to drugs has been developing in terms of harm reduction, prisons, drug treatment, law enforcement responses and civil society participation. An analysis of the situation concludes…

Publications June 22, 2011

Medicine and the epidemic of incarceration in the United States

Over the past 40 years, the number of people in US prisons has increased by more than 600%. On 1 January 2008, one of every 100 adults were behind bars. The medical profession has the chance both to advocate for changes in the criminal justice system to reduce the number of people behind bars …

Publications June 15, 2011

IDPC/TNI Series on legislative reform of drug policies No 14 - Conviction by numbers: Threshold quantities for drug policy

This briefing provides an overview of the current discussion around threshold quantities and explores the mechanism of threshold quantities including their benefits and drawbacks as a policy and legal tool.

Publications May 19, 2011

The Vienna Declaration - Public education and outreach toolkit

This toolkit was created to educate the public about evidence-based drug policy, increase media interest in drug policy reform and build political support by getting local and national governments to endorse the Vienna Declaration and join the call for evidence-based drug policy.

Publications April 27, 2011

IDPC Report - First IDPC seminar on drug policy in the Middle East and North Africa

Last January, IDPC organised its first drug policy seminar in the Middle East and North Africa region, in collaboration with its local partner, the National Rehabilitation Centre, in order to generate constructive discussions and sgare experience on drug policy, and to discuss the possibility to…

Publications March 30, 2011

Drug war anniversary - A time for reflection and action

Some anniversaries provide an occasion for celebration, others a time for reflection, still others a time for action. This June will mark forty years since President Nixon declared a "war on drugs," identifying drug abuse as "public enemy No. 1." Ethan Nadelmann reflects on the consequences of the…

Publications February 24, 2011

Drug policy, criminal justice and mass imprisonment

This paper briefly reviews this issue and identifies some of the costs of over-reliance on incarceration and outlines new strategies.

Publications February 23, 2011

The Global Commission on Drug Policy - Background papers

The Global Commission on Drug Policies has issued a series of background documents on drug policy, in an effort to bring to the international level an informed, science-based discussion about humane and effective ways to reduce the harm caused by drugs to people and society.