Rights of indigenous people

Blog15 August 2025

Reviewing the coca leaf’s international status: A chance to heal what Prohibition broke

The upcoming critical review process offers a chance to de-schedule the coca leaf, mitigating prohibition's environmental and social harms, affirming Indigenous rights, and reforming colonial, punitive drug policies.

Events

48th meeting of the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD)

Geneva, Switzerland

20 October 2025 - 29 October 2025

The WHO's ECDD meeting will assess the critical reviews of a handful of substances, including the coca leaf, guiding future international scheduling decisions, with major implications for Indigenous rights.

Publications13 August 2025

Vienna after consensus: Report of the 68th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs

IDPC highlights the creation of an independent review and deepening divides on harm reduction, human rights, and Indigenous rights.

Blog7 August 2025

A historic opportunity: Why the global liberation of the coca leaf matters on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples

On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, IDPC's Ann Fordham highlights how the international drug control regime harms Indigenous communities, and how the WHO’s coca leaf review offers a chance to right a longstanding injustice.

Blog3 July 2025

Indonesia’s drug policy at a crossroads: A shift towards rights-based reform?

Indonesia’s drug policy is under review as civil society pushes for health- and rights-based reforms, including legal changes, better treatment access, gender-sensitive harm reduction, and respectful kratom regulation rooted in indigenous knowledge.

Publications4 June 2025

Land use, drug policy and climate justice - Plató magazine special edition

This publication offers contributions to the debate on land use and climate justice, shining a light on the dynamics arising from current drug policies in Brazil.

Publications29 March 2025

The legal regulation of drugs: the potential to deliver global justice

Health Poverty Action proposes restructuring illegal trades to prioritise public health, equity, and sustainability rather than reproducing harmful market practices.

Publications20 February 2025

Decolonising global health in the Global South by the Global South: Turning the lens inward

Sharma and Sam-Agudu propose a framework to reassess coloniality in Global South public health, tackling harmful behaviours and systemic inequalities while developing new frameworks that elevate neglected knowledge systems.

Events

Understanding the coca leaf review process: A conversation with experts about the cultural and scientific value of the coca plant and the WHO review process

New York, United States / Online

31 January 2025

The event will explore the cultural, scientific, and policy dimensions of the coca WHO review process.

Blog10 December 2024

Human rights and drug policies: Reflecting on a year of successes and frustrations - International Human Rights Day 2024

IDPC marks Human Rights Day 2024 by shining a light on setbacks, key progress and promising avenues to better align drug policies and human rights standards.

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.

Publications12 November 2024

'They talk about it like it's an overdose crisis when in fact it's basically genocide' The experiences of Indigenous peoples who use illicit drugs in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood

Lavalley et al. call for responses to Canada's overdose epidemic to centre the ongoing impacts of structural violence, colonialism and poverty that perpetuate inequalities faced by Indigenous communities.

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