Category: UNGASS2016

Nowhere to hide: It’s high time we measured countries’ performance in drug policy

By Marie Nougier IDPC Head of Research and Communications & Dave Bewley-Taylor, GDPO Director First published here by IPDC, October 2019  Traditionally, the UN and governments have measured progress in drug policy in terms of flows and scale; principally the numbers of people arrested, hectares of drug crops eradicated and the amounts of drugs seized. For years now, IDPC and…Continue Reading Nowhere to hide: It’s high time we measured countries’ performance in drug policy

View from the Ground – Harm reduction, drug policy and the law in the Maghreb: focus on Tunisia and Mauritania

View from the Ground – Harm reduction, drug policy and the law in the Maghreb: focus on Tunisia and Mauritania Khalid Tinasti Honorary Research Associate, Swansea University July 2017 Introduction: The Maghreb countries – Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia – while seldom discussed, are crucial to global debates on drug control policies. These countries…Continue Reading View from the Ground – Harm reduction, drug policy and the law in the Maghreb: focus on Tunisia and Mauritania

Preparing for 2019: Drug Policy Objectives and Indicators, System-wide Coherence and the Sustainable Development Agenda

Preparing for 2019: Drug Policy Objectives and Indicators, System-wide Coherence and the Sustainable Development Agenda Side event held at the 60th Commission on Narcotic Drugs offers insights into how drug policy indicators could aid in achieving the sustainable development agenda. Nazlee Maghsoudi, Knowledge Translation Manager at the ICSDP Click here to visit the CND Blog’s…Continue Reading Preparing for 2019: Drug Policy Objectives and Indicators, System-wide Coherence and the Sustainable Development Agenda

ICSDP (re)Blog: Scientific Experts Launch Open Letter on Need for New Metrics to Evaluate Drug Policy

Reblog from: http://www.icsdp.org/scientific_experts_launch_open_letter_on_need_for_new_metrics_to_evaluate_drug_policy On January 21, 2016, more than eighty representatives from Member States, UN agencies, and civil society organizations gathered for the launch of a scientific open letter on the path forward for drug policy evaluation. Titled, “Identifying Common Ground for UNGASS 2016: Rethinking Metrics to Evaluate Drug Policy,” the event hosted by the…Continue Reading ICSDP (re)Blog: Scientific Experts Launch Open Letter on Need for New Metrics to Evaluate Drug Policy

View From the Ground: Bocas del Toro; Drugs in Paradise

By Alastair Smith, Panama Following exploratory fieldwork in the rural coca growing fields of Colombia, GDPO followed the cocaine supply chain to Panama. Most recently, time spent on the Northern Caribbean coast soon revealed the permeation of drug trafficking into the already complex socioeconomic context that many perceive as paradise. First impressions of Bocas del…Continue Reading View From the Ground: Bocas del Toro; Drugs in Paradise

Has the US just called for unilateral interpretation of multilateral obligations?

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?

Time for UN to open up dialogue on drug policy reform and end counter-productive blame-game

As the UN International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) launched its annual report on Tuesday, 4 March, amidst an unprecedented crisis in the international drug control regime, leading drug policy reform experts have called on the INCB and related UN institutions to urgently open up a constructive dialogue on international drug policy reform. Approval of legally…Continue Reading Time for UN to open up dialogue on drug policy reform and end counter-productive blame-game

‘The Dilemmas of Drug Policy: Global to local’

On Wednesday 19th February GDPO hosted a film screening of ‘Raw Opium: Pain, Pleasure, Profits’ followed by a panel discussion ‘The Dilemmas of Drug Policy: Global to local’. The film itself follows the trade in opium/heroin from a poppy growing region of India, over the Tajikistan-Afghanistan border and on to Vancouver’s supervised injection site –…Continue Reading ‘The Dilemmas of Drug Policy: Global to local’

INCB vs Uruguay: the art of diplomacy

INCB President Yans disqualified himself and should consider stepping down International tensions over Uruguay’s decision to regulate the cannabis market reached new levels when Raymond Yans, president of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), accused Uruguay of negligence with regard to public health concerns, deliberately blocking dialogue attempts and having a “pirate attitude” towards the…Continue Reading INCB vs Uruguay: the art of diplomacy

Modernizing Drug Law Enforcement takes the stage at United Nations headquarters in New York

Last week the topic of modernizing drug law enforcement took center stage at UN Headquarters when the Permanent Missions of Switzerland and the Czech Republic to the United Nations co-sponsored a program with International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), Harm Reduction Coalition, the International Security Research Department at Chatham House and the International Institute for Strategic…Continue Reading Modernizing Drug Law Enforcement takes the stage at United Nations headquarters in New York