Access to controlled medicines

Publications7 September 2026

Essential medicines, unequal access — Joint submission to the OHCHR

HRI, IDPC and EHRA highlight the barriers faced by people who use drugs in accessing essential medicines and harm reduction services, calling on states to reform drug policies and invest in the harm reduction response.

Publications27 August 2026

Accelerating the introduction of long-acting depot buprenorphine and low dead space syringes and needles for harm reduction service delivery - Technical briefing note

The Global Fund highlights these interventions' potential to expand treatment choice, reduce HIV and HCV transmission risks, and strengthen accessible, community-informed harm reduction services.

Events

Accelerating access to opioid agonist maintenance therapy (OAMT): An essential public health intervention

Geneva, Switzerland / Online

20 May 2026

Held alongside the 79th World Health Assembly, this inter-ministerial dialogue will focus on accelerating access to opioid agonist maintenance therapy as an essential public health intervention.

News13 May 2026

Access under fire: OST in wartime Lebanon

Lebanon’s emergency extension of vital prescriptions shows how flexible, rights-based health responses can protect people who use drugs subjected to war and displacement.

Publications16 February 2026

'With this you’re not chained down to something': contrasting experiences of opioid agonist treatment and safer supply program participation among people receiving prescribed safer supply

Michaud et al. find that participants in the programme report greater autonomy, improved quality of life and stronger therapeutic relationships compared to prior experiences with opioid agonist treatment.

News12 February 2026

Access without excess: how to ensure safe, balanced access to controlled medicines around the world - Call for contributions

This collection aims to bring together articles and research addressing the global challenge of opioid access and the development of evidence-informed policies to achieve equitable, safe, and sustainable pain management.

News11 December 2025

INCB statement for Human Rights Day 2025

The INCB warns against extrajudicial responses to drug offences and calls for rights-based, proportionate, and health-focused drug control.

News15 October 2025

Spain: Government approves the use of medical cannabis, limited to hospitals and prescribed by specialists

The regulation will allow hospital specialists to prescribe medical cannabis when other treatments are ineffective.

News30 September 2025

‘Who wouldn’t want pure cocaine?’: the radical plan to prevent overdoses with better drugs

As overdose deaths soar, Vancouver’s Drug User Liberation Front challenges prohibition itself, arguing the real crisis isn’t drug use but unsafe supply and systemic inequality

News1 September 2025

Ukrainian Government adopts National Drug Policy Strategy until 2030 and approves its implementation plan

Ukraine has approved a new National Drug Policy strategy, which aims to improve access to controlled medicines, expand harm reduction programmes, and provide support to marginalized populations.

News10 July 2025

Czech Republic bill to legalize marijuana home cultivation and allow psilocybin for medical use heads to President’s desk

Voted by both houses of the Czech parliament, the bill would decriminalise cannabis home cultivation (up to 3 plants) and possession (up to 100g in private), and enable medical access to psilocybin.

News9 July 2025

Thailand’s cannabis U-turn: Operators have weeks to adapt as recreational use faces ban

The Thai government's abrupt end to cannabis decriminalisation threatens to shut down 90% of retail outlets, pushing people back into an unregulated market, without mechanisms of oversight and accountability.

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