Welcome to the IDPC January 2010 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.

IDPC holds first Law Enforcement Seminar in Malaysia
The IDPC Law Enforcement project took a big step forward in December 2009 with the first seminar taking place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the Royal Malaysia Police Force. The seminar was organised in partnership with the Malaysia AIDS Council (MAC).  The seminar covered a range of topics including talks by people living with HIV, a presentation by Dr Alex Wodak and a number of sessions led by Tom Lloyd QPM MA(Oxon), former UK Chief Constable, who leads the IDPC project, on how law enforcement can work more effectively with other agencies to improve their harm reduction performance.  Read more.

Response Beyond Borders - Asian Parliamentary Standing Committee on Harm Reduction created
This committee set up at the RBB Asian consultation meeting in Bangkok in January 2010 will focus on advocacy with other MPs, on effective policy and legislative changes as well as providing a mechanism for dialogue with communities of people who use drugs and people living with HIV. The Committee was formed with support from RBB and the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development. Read more.

Be involved! Be heard! Country Progress reports to be submitted to UNAIDS
ICASO is calling for the urgent involvement of community sector organizations in the review and reporting process related to the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS. The review and reporting process for the 2010 period is already underway. Countries need to send their progress reports to UNAIDS by March 31, 2010.  Read more.

Call for nominations for the 2010 Red Ribbon Award
The call for nominations for the 2010 Red Ribbon Award is now open. As in the past, the award honours and recognizes exceptional grassroots leadership in responding to the AIDS epidemic. Nominations are accepted from December 1st, 2009 until February 28th, 2010.  Read more.

Canadian appellate court upholds ruling in favour of Vancouver's supervised injection facility
The British Columbia Court of Appeal in Canada has upheld a lower court ruling from last year that granted Vancouver’s supervised injection facility an ongoing exemption from certain provisions of Canada’s drug laws (prohibiting possession and trafficking of controlled substances) and that also declared those provisions of Canada’s law constitutionally invalid insofar as they apply to the users and site operators of Insite.  Read more.

Safe Games 2010: Vancouver, Canada
SafeGames 2010 (www.safegames2010.com), a consortium of local, national, and international harm-reduction and advocacy organisations, is working to ensure that Vancouver residents and international visitors celebrate safely during the upcoming Winter Olympics. Read more.

IHRA invites applications for two new posts
The International Harm Reduction Association is recruiting for two new positions. The deadline for applications for both posts is 5th February 2010. The posts are Networking and Advocacy Officer and Human Rights Analyst: Death Penalty Project.  For more information go to the IHRA website.

Call for authors: Encyclopedia of Drug Policy
Academic editorial contributors are being sought for the Encyclopedia of Drug Policy, a new 2-volume reference to be published in 2011 by SAGE Publications.  Read more.

Latest publications

NGO Guide for attending the 54th Commission on Narcotic Drugs
IDPC has produce this short guide to provide logistical information to NGOs and civil society actors planning to attend the 54th session of the CND in Vienna from 8th to 12th March 2010.

Beckley Briefing paper 20 - What can we learn from Sweden’s drug policy experience?
Sweden’s drug policies have recently attained symbolic status in international policy debates. This paper examines the country’s policies, their effectiveness or otherwise and the historical and cultural context that underpins them. It considers whether these policies should or could be applied in other countries.

Beckley Briefing paper 21 - Drug use: Knowledge, Culture and Context
This paper contributes to recent debates surrounding the improvement of the UN drug control system’s methods of gathering and analyzing data. It critically examines the current predominance of quantitative evidence, arguing for a greater emphasis on the cultural understanding of drug use and more attention to the taken-for-granted assumptions underpinning policies.

TNI Briefing paper: The Security Approach to the Drugs Problem - Perpetuating Drugs and Conflict in Colombia
This briefing paper from TNI explores how the drugs problem in Colombia is intertwined with structural factors at the social, economic, institutional and cultural levels that have contributed to its consolidation over the past three decades. In addition, the drug problem has taken on even more complex connotations because of its relationship to the armed conflict, particularly over the past 20 years. This has had serious consequences for the socio-economic conditions of peasant and indigenous communities affected by the production of raw materials used to produce cocaine.

Financial costs of the penalization of drug possession for personal use in Poland
This report contains the findings of economic research estimating the financial costs of the penalization of drug possession for personal use in Poland. The research and the report presenting its outcomes (published in December 2009) were done by the Institute for Public Affairs in Poland. The results are very interesting and in times of economic crisis are becoming a powerful tool in the drug policy debate.  A paper has also been published based on the results of the research.  Read more.

Yearly update from Eurasian Harm Reduction Network
Each year the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (ЕHRN) issues a yearly note with a review of events in the sphere of harm reduction that took place in Eastern and Central Europe and Central Asia. The year 2009 was a challenging one for many harm reduction supporters and services in our region as the economic crisis began to have impact, but it was also a year in which some important progress was made on key issues in harm reduction. In this yearly note EHRN focuses on the following topics: drug policy, opioid substitution treatment, overdose, stigma, special populations and financing of harm reduction.

Policy Forum: The Beckley Foundation’s Global Cannabis Commission Report
This is a recent article on the Beckley Foundation’s Global Cannabis Commission Report that appeared in Drugs and Alcohol Today. The original report was published in October 2008, and was presented in the House of Lords and at the UN High Level Segment in Vienna in March. It was very well received and has exerted considerable influence since.  Read the paper.

It's lack of balance that makes skunk cannabis do harm
This article published in the New Scientist argues that the chemical imbalance in street cannabis (skunk) makes it more harmful.  If the recreational cannabis market was regulated to ensure a balanced chemical structure in cannabis it would be safer for users.

After the War on Drugs: a film from HCLU
The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) has produced a documentary featuring Transform's recent publication, 'After the War on Drugs: Blueprint for Regulation'. The documentary was filmed at the 2009 International Drug Policy Reform Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico last November. Click here to watch the feature.

Where Darkness Knows No Limits: Incarceration, Ill-Treatment, and Forced Labor as Drug Rehabilitation in China
Chinese authorities are incarcerating drug users in compulsory drug detention centres that deny them access to treatment for drug dependency and put them at risk of physical abuse and unpaid forced labor, Human Rights Watch said in a new report. Half a million people are confined within compulsory drug detention centres in China at any given time, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).  Read the report.

Upcoming events

Reforms in Drug Legislation in Latin America
8 Feb 2010, Lima, Peru
This international seminar will take place in Lima, Peru on February 8.  Organised by the Center for the Investigation of Drugs and Human Rights (CIDDH), the Transnational Institute (TNI) and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), the event includes officials and experts from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. That evening, the Drugs and Democracy Commission will present its report in Lima, Peru.  Click here for additional information (in Spanish).

Winds of Change: A Review of Current Drug Policy Worldwide
22 - 23 Feb 2010, Mexico
The Collective for an Integrated Drug Policy (CUPIHD) is organizing an international Seminar, Winds of Change: A Review of Current Drug Policy Worldwide, that will take place on Feb. 22 and 23, 2010 in Mexico D.F..  The seminar aims to be a space for international experts, academia, civic society and government to talk and reflect on the current changes in drug policy occurring in the United States, Latin America and Europe, in order to analyze the situation in Mexico and discuss alternatives to current policy. International experts will include representatives from the IDPC, the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, the Drug Policy Alliance, the Washington Office on Latin America, the Transnational Institute, Intercambios and Psicotropicus.  Click here additional information.

Harm Reduction 2010: IHRA’s 21st International Conference
25 – 29 April 2010, Liverpool, UK
The online registration and abstract submission systems for the International Harm Reduction Association’s 21st conference are now open. The deadline for abstract submission is November 1st, and the deadline for discounted ‘Early Bird’ payments is January 21st. As in previous years, this promises to be a ‘must-attend’ event for the harm reduction field, with a programme covering a huge range of topics. For 2010, the event is returning to the city which hosted the first conference back in 1990 – Liverpool, England. All of the latest information – including news, supporting organisations, scholarships, travel, visas, and an online accommodation booking service – are available on the conference website.

Farmers perspectives on the war on drugs - session at Harm Reduction 2010 Conference
29 April 2010, Liverpool, UK
In a significant omission, production and supply-side issues have not been a traditional focus of the International Harm Reduction Conference. This session at this year's conference in Liverpool is intended to provide participants with an overview of the diversity and seriousness of the issues facing people in four very different producer nations from the perspectives of those with first hand experience. This session will take place on Thursday 29th April between 9am and 10am. The session is organised by TNI, IHRA and IPS.

Drugs, Alcohol and Criminal Justice: ethics, effectiveness and economics of intervention
24 - 26 June 2010, London, UK
The University of Kent is delighted to announce the Second European Conference of the CONNECTIONS Project, organised by the Conference Consortium and supported by Drink and Drugs News and Napo.  The conference will look at a range of interventions and treatments, from harm reduction to drug free ‘recovery’ in the criminal justice system. The premise is that no one treatment modality can deal effectively with the complex range of presented need. The task of the conference is to discuss and debate how best the different components can be combined most effectively.  Read more.

'Rights Here, Rights Now': XVIII International AIDS Conference
18 - 23 July 2010, Vienna, Austria
The XV11 International AIDS Conference will take place in Vienna in July of this year. The abstract deadline is 10th February 2010 and the deadline for satellite session proposals is 31st March 2010. For more information visit the conference website.

8th National Harm Reduction Conference: Harm Reduction Beyond Borders!
18 - 21 November 2010, Austin, Texas, USA
This November, the 8th National Harm Reduction Conference will bring together approximately 1,000 drug users, ex-drug users, researchers, sex workers, social workers, doctors, politicians and community organizers from around the United States to share perspectives on Harm Reduction. Click here for more information on registration, scholarships, submitting abstracts, and exhibitor/vendor applications.