drug policy reform

Death by drug policy

When Anthrax is mentioned in the news it is normally in connection with a supposed terrorist plot. Last December though, an outbreak of the disease in Scotland was linked to a contaminated supply of heroin.

In total, it was estimated that the infection claimed 14 lives with approximately 119 other confirmed cases. Although the majority of those infected were from the Glasgow area, cases were also reported as far south as Kent and there was even one infection as far away as Germany.

    The times they are a’changing? - Mike Trace, Chair IDPC

    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.

      Young people speak out about the drug war

      See video

      A video from Espolea and HCLU. Young people voice their objection to the war on drugs.

        The Benefits of Decriminalizing Drug Use

        In 2000, the Portuguese government responded to widespread public concern over drugs by rejecting a "war on drugs" approach and instead decriminalized drug possession and use. It further rebuffed convention by placing the responsibility for decreasing drug demand as well as managing dependence under the Ministry of Health, rather than the Ministry of Justice. With this, the official response toward drug-dependent persons shifted from viewing them as criminals, to treating them as patients.

          Decriminalisation of drugs in Greece

          Greek Justice Minister

          The Greek government has made proposals to decrimanalise drugs in a bill put forward by the Justice Minister Miltiadis Papaioannou to the committee on social affairs. In the bill there are several new propositions most noticeably the decrimanalisation of drugs so long as it only affects the behaviour and condition of the user.

            Significant condemnation of US drugs policy

            In a majority vote at their 102nd Annual Conference at Los Angeles on Tuesday, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has passed an historic resolution calling for an end to America’s ‘war on drugs’.

              Latin judges and prosecutors call for end to global war on drugs in `Rome Declaration’

              A group of prominent judges and prosecutors from Latin America and Europe issued a collective statement earlier this month decrying the consequences of current prohibitive drug policies and calling for new legal regimes that emphasize human rights to replace them across the globe. The `Rome Declaration of 2011’, which endorses the findings of the Global Commission on Drug Policy’s report issued at the beginning of June, acknowledges that the current model of drug policy enforcement “distort[s] the function and role of the judiciary worldwide” by flooding the legal and penal systems with sma

              Who are the Stoltenbergs?

              A major breakthrough in drug policy debate was achieved in Norway this summer. The Prime minister's father, Thorvald Stoltenberg, spoke favourably of drug legalisation and regulation in the mass media, after having been part of the Global Commission on Drug Policy. To understand just how big this is, foreigners need to understand Norway's place in the drug policy landscape and who the Stoltenbergs are.

                The Global Commission on Drug Policy responds to the World Drug Report 2011‏

                Yury Fedotov, the executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has launched the World Drug Report in New York, the UN's key annual report on progress in international drug control.

                This is the occasion for voices proposing an effective drug policy to express themselves.

                  French politician Daniel Vaillant for cannabis legalisation

                  French society is a having major debate on the legalisation of cannabis.

                  Indeed, Daniel Vaillant,Minister of the Relations with Parliament from 1997 to 2000 and Interior Minister from 2000 to 2002, is trying to convince France legalize cannabis.

                  The Deputy ( Member of the parliament) of  the 18th district of Paris, which has a huge population of cannabis users, has already in 2003 proposed a new cannabis legislation.

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