Drug related violence

News11 November 2025

Unprovoked lethal strikes by the United States against vessels at sea may amount to international crimes: UN experts

Leading international human rights experts urged an end to the attacks and an independent probe to ensure accountability.

Events

Uncharted waters: U.S. Military action in the Caribbean

Hybrid Event | 1666 Connecticut Avenue NW or online

5 November 2025 - 5 November 2025

WOLA and Amnesty International are hosting a hybrid event on Wednesday, 5 November 2025, to discuss U.S. military action in the Caribbean.

News3 November 2025

Facts to inform the debate about the U.S. government’s anti-drug offensive in the Americas

WOLA unpicks the human cost of militarised drug control, and calls for an evidence-based, humane alternative.

News24 September 2025

America is blowing up boats and asking questions later

Trump’s drug war playbook looks disturbingly like Duterte’s, the Philippine leader now facing trial for crimes against humanity.

News5 March 2025

What you need to know about the criminal groups the US just labeled ‘terrorists’

Criminalised supply networks are harmful, but designating them as terrorist groups is an ill-fitting response that will disproportionately harm vulnerabilised people.

Publications14 November 2024

After the war on drugs: The impacts of cocaine and cannabis regulation in Rio de Janeiro

GI-TOC explores legal regulation's potential to diminish the power held by organised crime groups, mitigate violence and reduce incarceration.

Publications15 September 2024

Drug market risk environment and navigational strategies of street-level dealers in Nigeria

Nelson et al. investigate the many tactics street dealers use to mitigate risks of police harassment, arrest, and violence, and call on the government to focus on systemic rather than law enforcement solutions.

Publications1 April 2024

EU drug markets analysis 2024: key insights for policy and practice

EMCDDA and Europol raise concerns on the threats of highly potent synthetic substances and the need to invest in harm reduction approaches, as one of the policy options to address the drug situation in Europe.

News4 October 2023

US quietly strikes deal to send military to Ecuador amid drug cartel explosion

The agreement is made against the backdrop of soaring violence in Ecuador as well as a long history of US involvement in Latin American drug policy.

News2 October 2023

Australia: Drug-detection dogs are wrong more than right, data reveals

Police drug-detection dogs in NSW exhibit an alarming rate of false-positive detections for drugs among festival-goers, raising concerns about the effectiveness of strip-searches and other violent, degrading and humiliating policing responses to drugs.

News22 August 2023

Drug policy and pathways to peace in Colombia

As momentum for drug policy reform grows in Colombia, the growers of northern Cauca insist on a clear demand: that profits from legal regulation do not go to armed groups or big business, but to the growers themselves.

Publications22 August 2023

Youth response to the 2023 World Drug Report

The Paradigma Youth Coalition present their response to the 2023 World Drug Report, emphasising the importance of involving young people in shaping progressive drug policies with evidence-based approaches, inclusivity and harm reduction at their core.

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