IDPC's blog

I attended a high level seminar, convened by the Kofi Annan Foundation, on Drugs and Security in West Africa last month. As someone new to the region, this trip to Dakar was a real eye-opener on several levels, but from the IDPC drug policy perspective, there were several aspects of what is happening in West Africa that were worryingly familiar, and it is not easy to see how the emerging problems in that region are going to be avoided.

The lasting legacy of the sixth presidential summit held in Cartagena, Colombia on 14th and 15th April will likely be the beginning o

Most of us predicted a dull Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) this year, but it turned out to be surprisingly eventful – a pleasant surprise for veterans, if still frustratingly opaque for those looking for open and vibrant debate.

For many years under the Berlusconi government, Italian drug policy has been directed by ideology.  The government passed a legislative amendment to increase penalties for all categories of drug possession and use, treating cannabis with the same severity as heroin and cocaine.  It has also been consistently hostile towards harm reduction services in domestic and international drug policy forums.

Last week in Bangkok (6th to 8th February 2012), delegates from governments, UN agencies and civil society organisations (CSOs) based in the Asia-Pacific region gathered in the UN Conference Centre to discuss the progress they have made in taking action on problems related to HIV/AIDS.

Everyone in the drug policy movement is saying that a corner has been turned, and significant reform is now inevitable. As ever, it is more complex than that, as governments and advocates around the world grapple with the new uncertainties.

The primary producers and consumers of illicit drugs – drug users and farmers of opium, coca and cannabis – are often some of the most marginalised groups in our societies. This is true in both high and low income countries, although the alleviation of poverty is at the heart of what the Millennium Development Goals were set out to achieve.

Over the past decades, there has been much discussion about the effectiveness of several aspects of the drug control system. The police play a decisive role in enforcing drug laws, and directly experience the effects caused by the implementation of several provisions that aim to reduce drug use in our society. Therefore, although it is not the task of the police to design policy strategies and decide priorities in action plans, it is crucial to listen to their experiences.