Welcome to the IDPC September Alert. The International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) is a global network of NGOs and professional networks that work together to promote objective and open debate on drug policy. This Alert contains news, updates on the latest publications and upcoming events relevant to international drug policy.
News
IDPC calls on UNODC Executive Director to take up key challenges
IDPC has issued an advocacy note that highlights the most critical issues for the UNODC Executive Director to tackle over the next two years. The note outlines six key challenges facing the UNODC in the field of drug policy in the coming years, and offers the support of the Consortium to any candidate who takes these challenges seriously, and can commit to a modernising agenda to make the Office relevant and fit for purpose for the 21st century. Read the advocacy note.
IDPC website now in Spanish and French
Our website has now been translated in Spanish and French. Check it out at www.idpc.net and use the language switcher in the top right hand corner of the home page. We are also planning Russian, Portuguese and Italian translation in the coming months so watch this space. UK injectable heroin trial reports remarkable progress with “entrenched” addicts
Results from an initial overview of the randomized injectable opioid therapy trial (RIOTT) in the UK has shown that clients form a 'hard-to-treat' population responded well and made notable gains in abstaining from street heroin and improvements in health and social functioning. The trial director, Professor John Strang, said that the results were “quite spectacular” and called for wider availability of the treatment modality. The RIOTT study adds to a growing and increasingly powerful evidence base for Heroin Assisted Treatment. Read more. Asia Pacific plans for UNGASS on HIV
Civil society groups in Asia and the Pacific are mobilising early for next year's UNGASS on HIV. Recent news from the region indicates that the Asia Pacific Council of AIDS Service Organizations (APCASO) will be coordinating the civil society response in the lead up to UNGASS across the region. IDPC partner member, Asian Harm Reduction Network has been highlighting the linkages between the UNGASS on drugs and the UNGASS on HIV in terms of process, outcomes and potential for collaboration between the drugs and HIV fields. Read more.
Taiwan - Harm reduction for young people
Asian Harm Reduction Network (AHRN) and YouthRISE have been working together to engage Taiwanese policy makers on issue of harm reduction for young people. Pascal Tanguay from AHRN delivered a keynote address at the 2009 Asia Pacific Anti-Drug Conference, focusing this year on adolescent care, on 9 September in Taipei, Taiwan. The presentation on harm reduction strategies for young people was developed with the support of YouthRISE. Taiwan's two-year old harm reduction programme has already been effective in reducing HIV transmission among IDUs and has led to a decrease in crime rates. Read more.
Indonesian human rights group call for non-discrimination of people living with HIV
In August, Indonesia hosted the 9th International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP IX). In Indonesia, people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHAs) have for too long stigmatized and discriminated for their illness. The Indonesian National AIDS Commission (KPAN) has to play a more active role in ensuring that not just AIDS is reduced, but beyond that that PLHAs will no longer be stigmatized and discriminated against. Read more.
Latest Publications Comparing the drug situation across countries: Problems, Pitfalls and Possibilities - Beckley Briefing Number 19
This paper seeks to compare the drugs situation in a number of developed countries. Data from eight indicators are for the first time compared across six European countries (Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, the United Kingdom) the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The paper highlights the difficulty in assessing some of these indicators, primarily because a reliance on routine data collections for many of the indicators means that they not measured the same way across countries. Moreover, in many countries, no routine data collection captures some of the indicators at all. Mindful of the difficulties with making direct comparisons or drawing firm policy conclusions from the raw data, the brief comments upon the data collected and reviews the indicators before considering some opportunities for future work. It is hoped that the data and discussion presented will not only stimulate further research, but also be of use to analysts and policy makers in helping to inform their search for effective policy and programme responses to the continuing challenges posed by illicit drug markets around the world. Read the briefing.
2009 Afghanistan Opium Survey
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime released the results of its 2009 Afghan Opium Survey on September 2nd under the headline “Afghan Opium Market Plummets”. UNODC found that opium cultivation had fallen by 22% since last year, and that prices had reached their lowest point since 2001. However, it should be noted that opium production, as opposed to cultivation, fell by only 10% as a result of increases in yield per hectare. It remains unclear whether Afghanistan is witnessing a sustainable downward trend in production or simply a market adjustment. Read the executive summary. Independent Evaluation of Beyond 2008 Initiative
This evaluation was commissioned by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in order to ‘measure the results achieved by Beyond 2008 in bringing NGO’s voice to the ten-year review of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Illicit Drugs (UNGASS)’. It has sought to analyse the project with the following criteria in mind; relevancy, participation, representation, efficiency, effectiveness, lessons learned, good practices and recommendations for the future. The evaluation has involved a series of in-depth interviews, an NGO survey and a broader literature review. Read the evaluation.
English summary of recent Argentine judgement on decriminalisation
On August 25, 2009, Argentina’s Supreme Court of Justice unanimously declared to be unconstitutional the second paragraph of Article 14 of the country’s drug control legislation (Law Number 23,737), which punishes the possession of drugs for personal consumption with prison sentences ranging from one month to two years (although education or treatment measures can be substitute penalties). According to the Court, the unconstitutionality of the article is applicable to cases of drug possession for personal consumption that does not affect others. Read the English summary.
A Heroin User in Stockholm - film by HCLU
HCLU have produced a new short film on the dark side of Swedish drug policies, in which they mobilize people to urge the Swedish Minister of Public Health to introduce needle exchange to Stockholm. Read more and watch the video.
Events The changing use and misuse of Catha Edulis (khat) in a changing world: tradition, trade and tragedy
5 - 9 Oct 2009 Linköping, Sweden
This conference will present research on different aspects of khat (a naturally occurring stimulant plant, which contains the amphetamine-like cathinone) and its use at the Horn of Africa, in Europe and elsewhere.Click here for more information. Release Annual Conference 2009
22 October 2009, Derby, UK
This year's Release conference will focus on the topic of drug treatment and the law. See the conference programme. Click to register online. First Caribbean Drug Policy Forum
2 - 3 November 2009, Kingston, Jamaica
The First Caribbean Drug Policy Forum led by the Caribbean Drug & Alcohol Research Institute, and supported by The Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition and the Caribbean Harm Reduction Coalition will be held at Mona Lodge, UWI Campus, Kingston, Jamaica on 2-3 November 2009. We plan to bring together academics, policy makers, law enforcement and activists to have an open debate on where Caribbean drug policy is and where it should go. For further information contact Marcus Day at marcus.p.day@gmail.com. International Drug Policy Reform Conference
12 – 14 November 2009, Albuquerque, New Mexico
The International Drug Policy Reform Conference is the world’s principal gathering of people who believe the war on drugs is doing more harm than good. No better opportunity exists to learn about drug policy and to strategize and mobilize for reform. Visit the conference website for online registration, schedule announcements, ways to support the conference, or to join the conference mailing list. MENAHRA's First Regional Conference on Harm Reduction
16 - 18 November 2009, Beirut, Lebanon
MENAHRA is organising the First Regional Conference on Harm Reduction in November 2009, in order to present and discuss the strategies of harm reduction for the region and advocate for their implementation. The Conference is anticipated to attract around 300 professionals and academics engaged in, or interested in adopting, harm reduction strategies. For more information visit the conference website. Harm Reduction 2010: IHRA’s 21st International Conference
26 – 29 April 2010, Liverpool, UK
Registration for IHRA’s 21st conference has opened. Visit the conference website for information to the most of this event – including latest news, abstract submission, travel and visas, and an online accommodation booking service. The conference will take place in April in Liverpool, England – a city with a proud history of public health and harm reduction and the host of the first event in this series in 1990.
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