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

A Temporary Aberration?

The punitive element of the War on Drugs at home has led to record rates of incarceration.  Of the world’s entire prison population, twenty five percent are now in the US.  More than half the inmates are there on drug-related charges, and of these the majority were arrested for simple possession. On this note, here…Continue Reading A Temporary Aberration?

A Partial Solution ; The Colombian Government, the FARC, and the drugs issue at the peace talks

On May 16th the Colombian government announced an agreement had been reached with the FARC guerrilla on the latest issue under discussion at the peace talks in Havana, Cuba: “A Solution to the Problem of Illicit Drugs.”  The points agreed upon, which were provided in an accompanying text, suggest some positive steps away from the…Continue Reading A Partial Solution ; The Colombian Government, the FARC, and the drugs issue at the peace talks

Need for evidence-based, contextualised drug policy highlighted at SOAS expert debate

On May 12th the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London,   hosted a panel debate titled, ‘Rethinking Counter-narcotic Policies in Drug-producing Countries’.  SOAS professor Jonathan Goodhand, chair of the debate, opened the discussion with an outline of a “political economy” approach to the drugs issue, one that would take account of the…Continue Reading Need for evidence-based, contextualised drug policy highlighted at SOAS expert debate

Need Versus Greed: the Complex Nature of Opium Farming in the North East of India

This blog was written by Romesh Bhattacharji, former Narcotics Commissioner of India, founding member of the Institute of Narcotics Studies and Analysis (INSA) and GDPO Technical Advisor During the shooting of the film Raw Opium in March 2009 I was interviewed in a poor man’s steep and low yielding opium field in Kadong village of Anjaw…Continue Reading Need Versus Greed: the Complex Nature of Opium Farming in the North East of India

Country Snapshot: Drugs in Zimbabwe

Africa is witnessing an upsurge in illicit drug trafficking as well as an increase in illicit drug use and the problems associated therewith. Whilst data in the region is sketchy, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) World Drug Report of 2013 estimates that there are 28 million drug users in Africa.  They…Continue Reading Country Snapshot: Drugs in Zimbabwe

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’