TalkingDrugs | Drug Information, Issues, Stories & News

The Decriminalisation Playbook: New UNAIDS Report Lays Out Pathway for HIV Response

For decades, the global “war on drugs” has been sold as what’s best for public health: by harshly criminalising drug use, people would be scared into abstinence, creating a drug-free…

André Gomes

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Mar 16, 2026

Drug Harm Reduction

Sustaining HIV Community Advocacy and Harm Reduction Responses in South Africa

South Africa has struggled for years with one of the highest HIV burdens in the world. Recent improvements in early screening and treatment coverage have led to significant improvements in…

Armand Nsababaganwa

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Mar 19, 2026

Drug Policy

The Prosecutor vs Duterte: Highlights from the ICC Hearings

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has progressed to the next stage of its much anticipated case against former Philippine president Rodrigo Roa Duterte for his War on Drugs. Through the…

Santiago Camara

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Mar 13, 2026

Latest Stories

Drugs & Development Stimulants

Bangkok on Speed: Work, Migration and Methamphetamine in Urban Thailand

David McNeill

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Mar 10, 2026

Lek was 21 when she arrived in Bangkok. Fresh from a music degree at her local university, she was ready…

Cannabis leaf and gavel on a Tunisian flag.

Cannabis Drug Policy

Nine Years After Reform, Tunisia’s Drug Law Still Fills Its Prisons

Michelle Wazan

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Mar 9, 2026

In April 2017, after years of advocacy and political debate, Tunisia’s parliament amended the country’s controversial narcotics legislation, known as…

Drug Harm Reduction

Georgia’s Soviet-Era Healthcare System is Putting Doctors in Prison

Giorgi Minasovi

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Mar 6, 2026

Should a psychiatrist face prison for obeying the law? This was the question raised by the case of an anonymous…

A pygmy village in Uganda, where cannabis cultivation is common.

Cannabis Drugs & Development

In Uganda, Cannabis is a Lifeline for Pygmy Communities

Dennis Walker

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Mar 5, 2026

Cannabis use in Sub-Saharan Africa is a deeply rooted historical practice, which continues to thrive despite the widespread criminalisation and…

Language matters.

The words we use to describe drugs and the people that take them has a real and deep impact. From stigmatising labels, to being accused of murdering someone,

This month, we’re bringing together our stories that focus on on how language can shape our lives and futures.

View All Posts

Drug Harm Reduction

Georgia’s Soviet-Era Healthcare System is Putting Doctors in Prison

Giorgi Minasovi

.

Mar 6, 2026

Should a psychiatrist face prison for obeying the law? This was the question raised by the case of an anonymous…

Drug Harm Reduction

The Aesthetics of Drug Prohibition and Harm Reduction

Lara Talone

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Feb 16, 2026

The Opioid Crisis Lookbook, (OCL) is the provocative title of a magazine started in 2022. Even without reading the magazine…

All the world's flags lined up in front of the UN building.

Drug Policy

How International Drug Policy Is Increasingly Fragmented

Alex Stevens

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Feb 12, 2026

For many years, international drug policy seemed stuck in tired rhetoric about a ‘drug-free world’. International discussions repeatedly called for…

Drug Policy Drugs & Development Drugs & Gender

UNGASS: 10 Years of Failing International Drug Policy Progress

Talking Drugs

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Feb 4, 2026

The world is losing the global war on drugs, and it is losing it badly. This is the core message…

A pole with several cameras stands against a light background.

Drugs & Development

Dealing With Surveillance in Harm Reduction AI Tools

Anoushka Singh

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Dec 11, 2025

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools have quickly become staple tools of the internet: unprecedented investments in this technology, appearing as chatbots,…

Resources

Drug Policy

The Decriminalisation Playbook: New UNAIDS Report Lays Out Pathway for HIV Response

André Gomes

.

Mar 16, 2026

For decades, the global “war on drugs” has been sold as what’s best for public health: by harshly criminalising drug…

Drug Harm Reduction Opioids

Orphines: A Rising Group of Synthetic Opioids

Emily Andrews

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Jan 27, 2026

For the past decade, the world has seen an unprecedented explosion in synthetic drug production and distribution, particularly of synthetic…

White pills in the middle of roasted coffee beans.

Drug Harm Reduction Stimulants

Could Stimulant Replacement Therapy Reduce Cocaine and Stimulant Harms?

Tom Fresen

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Nov 18, 2025

Stimulant deaths around the world are on the rise. In the UK, the number of deaths involving cocaine is 11…

Drug Policy Drugs & Development

UNDP Report Calls for Drug Market Reforms to Achieve Global Development Goals

André Gomes

.

Sep 19, 2025

The latest report published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is challenging governments to rethink their approach to drug…

Drug Harm Reduction Other Drugs

Alpha-PVP: What Is It, and Key Harm Reduction Tips

Noor Vissram

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Oct 23, 2024

Alpha-PyrrolidinoValeroPhenone (also known as alpha-PVP) is a relatively recent New Psychoactive Substance (NPS) in global circulation. While previously prominent in…

Drugs & Gender Psychedelics

We Need More Research into Ketamine Use By Women and Gender-Diverse People

Isabelle Gius

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Oct 21, 2024

On 20 June, in honour of World Psychedelics Day, the Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN) and TalkingDrugs published…

The Decriminalisation Playbook: New UNAIDS Report Lays Out Pathway for HIV Response

Sustaining HIV Community Advocacy and Harm Reduction Responses in South Africa

The Prosecutor vs Duterte: Highlights from the ICC Hearings

Latest Stories

Bangkok on Speed: Work, Migration and Methamphetamine in Urban Thailand

Nine Years After Reform, Tunisia’s Drug Law Still Fills Its Prisons

Georgia’s Soviet-Era Healthcare System is Putting Doctors in Prison

In Uganda, Cannabis is a Lifeline for Pygmy Communities

Most Popular

Is Ibiza the Disneyland of Drugs?

Global Drug Decriminalisation Map: 29 countries. 49 models of drug decriminalisation

Does Grapefruit Juice Make MDMA Stronger?

Language Matters: Is My Country a “Narco-state”?

Report: Global Drug Trafficking Market Worth Half a Trillion Dollars

Futuro Coca: Imagining a New Future for Coca in Colombia

Health Risks Associated with Mephedrone Use: What We Know So Far

Tali-Ban: How Europe’s Heroin Markets Will Survive Afghanistan’s Opium

Language matters.

Georgia’s Soviet-Era Healthcare System is Putting Doctors in Prison

The Aesthetics of Drug Prohibition and Harm Reduction

How International Drug Policy Is Increasingly Fragmented

UNGASS: 10 Years of Failing International Drug Policy Progress

Dealing With Surveillance in Harm Reduction AI Tools

Resources

The Decriminalisation Playbook: New UNAIDS Report Lays Out Pathway for HIV Response

Orphines: A Rising Group of Synthetic Opioids

Could Stimulant Replacement Therapy Reduce Cocaine and Stimulant Harms?

UNDP Report Calls for Drug Market Reforms to Achieve Global Development Goals

Alpha-PVP: What Is It, and Key Harm Reduction Tips

We Need More Research into Ketamine Use By Women and Gender-Diverse People