by Rick Lines And Damon Barrett [Dr Rick Lines and Damon Barrett are the Chair and Director of the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy, University of Essex] This post was originally published here These are interesting times for drug law reform, which, as it gathers pace, is asking important questions of international law. A UN General Assembly Special Session…Continue Reading Has the US just called for unilateral interpretation of multilateral obligations?
Fatal attraction: Brownfield’s flexibility doctrine and global drug policy reform
This post was first published here at the Huffington Post A joint contribution by: Professor Dave Bewley-Taylor Director, Global Drug Policy Observatory, Swansea University Martin Jelsma Coordinator, Transnational Institute Drugs and Democracy Programme Damon Barrett Director, International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy ___________________________________ State-level cannabis reforms, which gathered steam this month, have exposed the…Continue Reading Fatal attraction: Brownfield’s flexibility doctrine and global drug policy reform
The Long March of Ayahuasca; From the Amazon basin to UNGASS 2016
Notes on the World Ayahuasca Conference 2014 Constanza Sanchez Aviles, GDPO Research Associate & Law, Policy & Human Rights Coordinator at ICEERS Foundation The World Ayahuasca Conference (AYA2014), held in Ibiza on September 25th-27th and organized by the ICEERS Foundation gathered more than six hundred professionals and non-professionals with an interest in this psychoactive Amazonian…Continue Reading The Long March of Ayahuasca; From the Amazon basin to UNGASS 2016
SPP Prof. Julia Buxton Highlights the Great Disconnect Between Drugs and Development
This post was originally published here by the School of Public Policy at the Central European University. Julia Buxton, Professor of Comparative Politics at the School of Public Policy (SPP), outlined key conclusions from her forthcoming report on the relationship between drugs and development in a stimulating faculty research presentation on Thursday, October 16. “Drugs are…Continue Reading SPP Prof. Julia Buxton Highlights the Great Disconnect Between Drugs and Development
Pushing Treaty Limits?
By Wells Bennett This post was originally published here. Suppose the United States government helps to negotiate, and subsequently champions, certain framework treaties–ones justly viewed as imposing significant constraints on all signatories. Down the road, the United States occasionally even calls out counterparties for their looser policy innovations, when the latter push the outer boundaries of what’s…Continue Reading Pushing Treaty Limits?
GDPO Summer School Success
In July, Global Drug Policy Observatory staff Professors David Bewley Taylor and Julia Buxton delivered the 10 day intensive Human Rights and Drug Policy summer school, at the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary. Funded by the Open Society’s Global Drug Policy Programme, the summer school was attended by 24 participants from across the world. This included…Continue Reading GDPO Summer School Success
Interview: Anya Sarang, President of the Andrei Rylkov Foundation
The following is a transcript of an interview with Anya Sarang, President of the Andrei Rylkov Foundation in Moscow. Sarang, who has worked on developing and supporting the emerging harm reduction movement in Russia, discusses contemporary drug policy in the country and its effects. The interview was conducted by Alexander Marshall as part of his…Continue Reading Interview: Anya Sarang, President of the Andrei Rylkov Foundation
2014 The World Drug Report: The Titanic sails at dawn
This post was originally published here by the International Drug Policy Consortium. As it its customary practice, the UNODC released its flagship publication on June 26th, the UN’s designated ‘International day against drug abuse and trafficking’ as well as the occasion of the ‘Support Don’t Punish’ day of action, which seeks to draw attention to the…Continue Reading 2014 The World Drug Report: The Titanic sails at dawn
Peace Wins in Colombia
When the Colombian presidential elections headed into a run-off in May, and voters were given the choice between the right-wing incumbent Santos administration and Óscar Iván Zuluaga, a right-wing protégé of former President Alvaro Uribe Velez, journalist Mario López, writing in the local newspaper El Espectador, noted, “Whichever candidate wins the country is not going…Continue Reading Peace Wins in Colombia
Resistance to a ‘War on Drugs’ in West Africa
It has long been known that the most cost-effective way to combat the drug trade is through treatment, prevention, and education at home. These methods continue to be underfunded in the the main consumer countries. Instead, the focus is on supply, a policy choice that has, among many other disastrous implications, served to push routes…Continue Reading Resistance to a ‘War on Drugs’ in West Africa