International policy issues
|
| |
| Security Council Resolution 1817 (2008) [June
2008] |
| Acknowledges the mandate and the leading role played
by INCB in international drug control [INCB] |
| |
| EMCDDA
General report of activities 2007 [June 2008] |
| Published every spring, it catalogues the Centre's achievements
in each area of its annual work programme. 13-page PDF [EMCDDA] [June
2008] |
| |
| The
Latin American 'Blue Ribbon' Commission |
| This high-level commission (co-chaired by 3 former presidents,
and involving 18 members drawn from public life across Latin America)...
[IDPC] [June 2008] |
| |
| Report
On The Second Meeting of The EU Civil Society Forum [June
2008] |
| The European Commission has established a standing mechanism
for consultation with civil society on drugs issues [IDPC] [June
2008] |
| |
| The
current state of drug policy debate |
| Trends in the last decade in the European Union and United
Nations. 21-page
PDF Report [TNI-UNGASS] [June 2008] |
| |
| IDPC
Advocacy Guide, Version 4 [June 2008] |
| This version has only minor changes from the previous
version, distributed in April, and will be the final version of the advocacy
guide. From now on, a series of IDPC updates on the UN Drug Policy Review
will be produced, the first being scheduled for the end of July. The IDPC
Advocacy Guide provides an update on the emerging process for the review
of global policies on controlled drugs being conducted under the auspices
of the United Nations [IDPC] |
| |
| Drug
control in Georgia: drug testing and the reduction of drug use? [May
2008] |
| The Republic of Georgia has experienced rapid economic,
political and social change after the gaining independence from the Soviet
Union in 1991. Drug-related affairs are no exception. Download
PDF [IDPC] |
| |
| Global State
of Harm Reduction 2008 [May 2008] |
| Mapping the response to drug-related HIV and hepatitis
C epidemics. Full
report 6MB PDF [IHRA] |
| |
| Drugs and Conflict [May
2008] |
| How the mutual impact of illicit drug economies and violent
conflict influences sustainable development, peace and stability [GTZ] |
| |
| Latin
America needs a new drug policy approach [May 2008] |
| The inaugural meeting in Rio de Janeiro of the Latin
American Commission on Drugs and Democracy [UNGASS] |
| |
| Harm
Reduction Developments 2008 [April 2008] |
| Countries with Injection-Driven HIV Epidemics. 84- page
PDF [Open Society Institute] |
| |
| NGO
Regional Consultation - Australia and New Zealand [April 2008] |
| This report presents the findings from the consultations
held in Australia and New Zealand as part of Beyond 2008, a project of
the Vienna NGO Committee on Narcotic Drugs. Beyond 2008 is a rare opportunity
for grass-roots expertise to contribute to a global drug policy process.
5-page PDF [ANCD, NZDF] |
| |
| Nothing
About Us Without Us [April 2008] |
| Greater, meaningful involvement of people who use illegal
drugs: A public health, ethical, and human rights imperative (International
edition). 83-page PDF [Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, International HIV/AIDS
Alliance, Open Society Institute] |
| |
| Making
drug control ‘fit for purpose’: Building on the UNGASS decade [April
2008] |
| Report by the Executive Director of the United Nations
Office on Drugs and Crime as a contribution to the review of the twentieth
special session of the General Assembly. 20-page PDF [UNODC] |
| |
| IDPC
Briefing number 8 [April 2008] |
| Report on proceedings at the 2008 Commission on Narcotic
Drugs [IDPC] |
| |
| IDPC
advocacy guide version three [April 2008] |
| The latest version of the IDPC Advocacy Guide provides
an update on the emerging process for the review of global policies on
controlled drugs being conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.
12-page PDF [IDPC] |
| |
| Beyond
2008: An International NGO Forum [March
2008] |
| The current global review is allowing NGOs in nine regions
of the world to reflect on their contribution to the world’s response
to drugs as well as to begin building new relationship that will lead to
improved responses in the future. The Vancouver consultation was one of
two held in North America. 31-page PDf [Centre for Addictions Research
of BC, Canada] |
| |
| Latin
American Drugs II: Improving Policy and Reducing Harm [March
2008] |
| This report analyses policies and their political and social ramifications
and presents policy recommendations. 52-page PDF [International Crisis
Group] |
| |
UNODC
Annual Report [2008] |
| Covering activities in 2007. 58-page PDF [UNODC] |
| |
| Report
of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2007 [2008] |
| Chapters for download or whole report as 3.5MB
PDF [INCB] |
| |
Unique
in International Relations? [2008] |
| A Comparison of the International Narcotics Control Board and the UN
Human Rights Treaty Bodies? 46-page PDF [IDPC] |
| |
Beckley
Foundation Report 13 [2008] |
| This report - a collaborative effort between several drugs, health, and
human rights NGOs ? looks at the tensions between some aspects of the global
drug control system, and UN human rights standards. 52-page PDF [IDPC] |
| |
IDPC
Briefing 7 [2008] |
| The International Narcotics control Board; Current tensions and options
for reform. 23-page PDF [IDPC] |
| |
|
Partnership with business [2008]
|
|
Co-operation with Industry is a core element of international drug precursor
control [European Commission]
|
| |
|
Drug precursors:
external aspects [2008]
|
|
This Regulation lays down the rules governing the thorough monitoring
of the trade in precursor drugs between the European Union (EU) and third
countries [Europa]
|
| |
|
Combating drugs [2008]
|
|
Cooperation between the Member States in the fight against drugs [Europa]
|
| |
|
New Report on the INCB
|
|
“Unique in International Relations?: A Comparison of the International
Narcotics Control Board and the UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies”.
46-page PDF [IHRA]
|
| |
|
UNODC Annual Report
2007
|
|
The UNODC Annual Report for 2007 (covering activities in 2006) provides
an overview of the organization's activities worldwide [UNODC]
|
| |
|
EMCDDA Annual report
2007
|
|
The report on the state of the drugs problem in Europe presents the
EMCDDA's yearly overview of the drug phenomenon [European Monitoring
Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction]
|
| |
|
International
drug control: 100 years of success?
|
|
TNI comments on the UNODC World Drug Report 2006 [TNI]
|
| |
|
Tackling drugs
to reduce poverty
|
|
The United Nations Office of Drug Control claimed in 2006 that 'Drug
control is working and the world drug problem is being contained'. Yet
the scale and diversity of the illicit global drug trade has increased
in the last decade, as have rates of drug use in most countries [id21,
UK]
|
| |
|
2006
Report on the global AIDS epidemic: May 2006
|
|
This report includes country, regional and global estimates for the
HIV and AIDS epidemic at the end of 2005 and 2003. It also describes
the evidence, the success stories and the challenges that confront countries
and the international communitiy in responding to the epidemic [UNAIDS]
|
| |
|
Report of the International
Narcotics Control Board for 2006
|
|
For many generations, attempts have been made to combat the adverse
effects of illicit drug trafficking and abuse, and institutions have
been set up at the national and international levels to address those
issues. Significant progress has been made in reducing illicit drug trafficking
and abuse, though a lot more remains to be done [United Nations]
|
| |
|
EU
drugs strategy (2005-2012)
|
|
The EU drugs strategy for the period 2005–2012 was endorsed by the European
Council of 16–17 December 2004. This new strategy builds on the final
evaluation of the 2000–2004 EU drugs strategy and action plan on drugs
(COM (2004) 707 final) and on Europol and EMCDDA contributions in this
context (Snapshots 1999-2004 and thematic papers) [EMCDDA]
|
| |
|
The
EU drugs action plan (2005-2008)
|
|
Having examined the proposal of the Commission put forward in February
2005, the Council endorsed the EU drugs action plan (2005-2008) in June
2005 (taking fully into account the final evaluation of the EU drug strategy
and EU action plan (2000-2004) [EMCDDA]
|
| |
|
Bern – Informal drug policy dialogue
|
|
Report from 6 & 7 November 2006, the third meeting of the [Andreas
G. Papandreou Foundation (APF) and the Transnational Institute (TNI)]
|
| |
|
Looking at the UN, smelling
a rat
|
|
A comment on ‘Sweden’s succesful drug policy: a review of the evidence’ UNODC
september 2006 [CEDRO, Netherlands]
|
| |
|
International
Narcotics Control Strategy Report
|
|
The 2005 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) is
an annual report by the Department of State to Congress prepared in accordance
with the Foreign Assistance Act. It describes the efforts of key countries
to attack all aspects of the international drug trade in Calendar Year
2004
|
|
[US Department of State]
|
| |
|
Report of the International
Narcotics Control for 2004
|
|
INCB
|
| |
|
A Fourth
International Convention for Drug Policy: Promoting Public Health Policies
|
|
The book outlines various opportunities for a new international drug
regime and proposes a new Fourth Framework Convention. This incorporates
measures for promoting public health through substitution treatment,
prevention, education and alternative development, as well as the evaluation
and application of such measures
|
|
David Spivack, The British Institute of International and Comparative
Law
Senlis Council March 2004
|
| |
|
Illicit
Drug Policies and the Global HIV Epidemic Effects of UN and National
Government Approaches
|
|
While HIV transmission through contaminated injection equipment is well
documented, less attention has been paid to the ways that illicit drug
policy and related issues, such as patterns of arrest of drug users or
government stance toward provision of sterile injection equipment, shape
global trends in HIV infection
|
|
Daniel Wolfe and Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch
International Harm Reduction Development Program March 2004 OSI
|
| |
|
Public
spending on drugs in the European Union during the 1990s - retrospective
research
|
|
An initial overview (using the information available) of the first comprehensive
research carried out at European level on public expenditure [EMCDDA]
|
| |
|
Public expenditure on drugs in the EU
|
|
Postma, M. (2004).EMCDDA
|
| |
|
Public
spending on drugs in the European Union during the 1990s, EMCDDA
|
|
Retrospective research 2003 [EMCDDA]
|
| |
Reducing
the harm of drugs |
|
Some have perceived a contradiction
between drug prevention and treatment on the one hand and efforts to
reduce the negative health and social consequences of drug use on the
other. However, in a new discussion paper,
UNODC says that these are in fact complementary rather than contradictory
[UNODC]
|
| |
|
U.S. Assistance Has Helped
Mexican Counternarcotics Efforts
|
|
But Tons of Illicit Drugs Continue to Flow into the United States. 46-page
PDF [GAO, USA]
|
| |
|
IDPC
Advocacy Guide (Version Two)
|
|
The second version of the IDPC Advocacy Guide provides an update on
the emerging process for the review of global policies on controlled
drugs being conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. 10-page
PDF [IDPC]
|
| |
|
Closed to reason:
Time for accountability for the International Narcotic Control Board
|
|
For more than two decades, the International Narcotic Control Board
(INCB) has tried to stop harm reduction and its HIV prevention programs.
This posture is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of their responsibilities
and of drug addiction itself [Harm Reduction Journal]
|
| |
|
International
Human Rights Jurisprudence on Issues Relating to Drug Use and Harm
Reduction
|
|
Commissioned by the Open Society Institute Law and Health Initiative,
this research paper reviews jurisprudence from treaty-monitoring bodies
of the United Nations and selected regional and national human rights
courts that can be used to advocate for the human rights of people who
use drugs. 24-page PDF [Open Society Institute, USA]
|
| |
|
EMCDDA
publishes Country situation summaries for 28 countries
|
|
Country situation summaries provide a quick, structured overview of
the trends and characteristics of national drug problems [EMCDDA]
|
| |
|
Crime and
Development in Central America
|
|
The countries of Central America are diverse. But they have one thing
in common. They are all affected - to varying degrees - by drugs, crime
and poverty. 101-page PDF [UNODC]
|
| |
|
Closed
to Reason: The International Narcotic Board and HIV/AIDS
|
|
A 37-page report arguing that the International Narcotics Board hampers
efforts to address the HIV epidemic among injecting drug users [Policy
Pointers Worldwide]
|
| |
|
Situational
analysis of illicit drug issues and responses in the Asia-Pacific region
|
|
The body of this report provides a brief summary of the current illicit
drug use situation, country responses to illicit drug issues, and Australian
and international involvement in relation to illicit drugs for each country
[Australian Policy Online]
|
| |
|
Study on the
legal aspects of substitution treatment for opioid dependent drug users
: an insight into nine European countries
|
|
Because little is known about the regulation of substitution treatment
in the EU-countries, the EMCDDA commissioned a research project in addition
to the forementioned study. It was granted to the Catholic University
of Leuven (KULeuven), Belgium, the main purpose being to focus specifically
on laws and other regulations with regard to substitution treatment and
their implication(s) on practices in several EU countries. The following
is an outline of this research project and the general conclusions mentioned
in the final report.
|
|
KarolienMeuwissen
Research Centre Forensic Mental Health Care (Prof. Dr. JorisCasselman),
Catholic University Leuven, Belgium 2002
|
| |
|
Evidence for
Action on HIV/AIDS and Injecting Drug Use
|
|
5 Policy briefs [WHO]
|
| |
|
Drugs and decision-making
in the European Union
|
|
Drugs figure prominently on the political agenda of the European Union.
While policy on drugs is still primarily the responsibility of individual
member states, the Council of the European Union increasingly forges
agreements on a joint approach. The European Commission too has complementary
powers in certain drug-related matters as part of Community policy
|
|
[Tim Boekhout van Solinge. 2002. CEDRO]
|
| |
|
Injecting drug
users in Europe
|
|
It has been estimated that there are now 800,000 active drug injecters
living in the European Union. Drug injecting, which causes AIDS, is commonly
practised among the drug abusers in this part of the world, where it
quickly triggered a full-scale endemic of AIDS, HBV and HCV The various
member-countries have responded in different ways. But the rates of infection
are still alarmingly high everywhere: they are often above 50%, and in
some groups, 90% of the drug abusers have been contaminated with the
hepatitis C virus
|
|
Lucas Wiessing
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), Lisbon
2001
|
| |
|
The
role of Civil Society in Drugs Policy in the European Union
|
|
Green paper on the role of Civil Society in Drugs Policy in the EU [Europa]
|
| |
|
Cracks in the Vienna
Consensus - The UN Drug Control Debate
|
|
Four decades have passed since the first United Nations drug control
convention entered into force. Numerous UN conferences and summits have
been devoted to negotiating a harmonized global approach to illicit drugs.
Yet more and more cracks are now beginning to appear in the supposedly
universal model which is, in reality, based on a highly fragile consensus
|
|
Martin Jelsma and Pin Metaal WOLA Drug War Monitor, January 2004 [Transnational
Institute]
|
| |
|
49th Session of the
Commission on Narcotic Drugs
|
|
The documentation of the 49th Session of the Commission on Narcotic
Drugs, which took place on March 13th-17th, is now available for download
[UNODC]
|
| |
|
Beckley
report 11 - The Funding of the United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime;
An Unfinished Jigsaw
|
|
This report aims to provide a broad and accessible summary of the UNODC
funding situation since 2002 [Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme,
UK]
|
| |
|
IDPC Briefing paper 3
- Civil society involvement in the European Union drug strategy
|
|
The third briefing paper from International Drug Policy Consortium is
a response to the call of the European Commission for civil society organisations
to express their views on the Commissions's Green Paper on the Role of
Civil Society in Drugs Policy in the European Union [International Drug
Policy Consortium]
|
| |
|
State
of Siege: Drug-Related Violence and Corruption in Mexico
|
|
WOLA's new report analyzing drug-related violence in Mexico and its
relation to US drug policy [WOLA, USA]
|
| |
|
Crisis
or opportunity? Bolivian Drug Control Policy and the U.S. Response
|
|
A brief by WOLA and the Andean Information Network (AIN) with information
on cooperative eradication of coca by the Morales government and U.S.
policy recommendations [WOLA, USA]
|
| |
|
Integration
of supply and demand reduction strategies: moving beyond a balanced
approach
|
|
INCB 2004
|
| |
|
HIV/AIDS
Policy in the United States
|
|
Monitoring the UNGASS Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS [Open Society
Institute, USA]
|
| |
|
The Evidence
Base for the Classification of Drugs
|
|
This report, prepared for the UK House of Commons Select Committee on
Science and Technology, presents the results of four case studies examining
the evidence base for the classification of illegal drugs in the context
of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 [RAND, USA]
|
| |
|
The
United Nations Drug Conventions Regime and Policy Reform
|
|
This paper describes and evaluates the options highlighted in the context
of key scenarios for reform. The legal consequences which are consequences
of the different options are addressed. One conclusion is that a route
to Convention reform may be founded on collective action based on alliances
between like-minded states
|
|
Dr. MadsAndenas and David Spivack, The British Institute of International & Comparative
Law
Senlis Council August 2003
|
| |
|
International
Drug Policy Status Quaestionis
|
|
The review of the current international drug system, drafted for the
Network of European Foundations Comité des Sages. The selection of articles
covers various components of the drug issue and the possible implications
and influence of alternative policies on the current drug control system
|
|
Prof Brice De Ruyver, Tom Vander Beken, GertVermeulen, Freya Vander
Laenen, Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy, Ghent
University, Maklu Publishers, Antwerp,
Senlis Council September 2003
|
| |
|
Unintended
Consequences: Drug Policies Fuel the HIV Epidemic in Russia and Ukraine
|
|
Strict UN drug control treaties directly undermine HIV prevention efforts
by discouraging countries from implementing effective, realistic, and
compassionate public health measures
|
|
International Harm Reduction Development Program April 2003 OSI
|
| |
An Agenda for
Vienna Change of Course
|
|
By 1998, when the United Nations convened a special General Assembly
on drugs, there was already overwhelming evidence that the current approach
to global drugs control had failed miserably, given the continuing rise
in consumption and production. However, the evidence was ignored and
no evaluation of what was wrong with current drug policy took place
|
|
Drugs & Conflict Debate Papers 6, March 2003 [Transnational Institute]
|
| |
|
Cannabis Policy,
Implementation and Outcomes
|
|
The political debate on cannabis policy is often more based on opinions
than on evidence. However, evidence-based knowledge is required to design
effective cannabis policy. A review of the scientific literature on cannabis
policy and its consequences was conducted
|
|
Mirjam van hetLoo, StijnHoorens, Christian van ‘t Hof, James P. Kahan
MR-1805-VWS, © 2003 RAND
|
| |
|
The Mechanics
and Dynamics of the UN System for International Drug Control
|
|
The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the
UN international drug control system and offer the reader the context
necessary to engage with the debates surrounding some form of change
within that system
|
|
David R. Bewley-Taylor B. Sc (Econ), PhD & Professor Cindy S. J.
Fazey B. Sc. (Soc), PhD
Forward Thinking on Drugs 2003.
|
| |
|
Drug Use and Drug
Policy Futures: Insights from a Colloquium
|
|
Are there reasons to think drug problems and policy could change rapidly
over the next 5 to 20 years? The authors believe so
|
|
Jonathan P. Caulkins, Peter Reuter, Martin Y. Iguchi, James Chiesa
IP-246-DPRC, © 2003 RAND
|
| |
|
Illicit
drugs convention reform & the United Nations agencies
|
|
This background paper, prepared for the September 2002 Comité des Sages
Meeting, provides a brief summary of the positions (stated or implicit),
interests and potential contributions of various UN agencies regarding
reform of the three main international conventions on illicit drugs
|
|
Andrew Wilson
Senlis Council September 2002
|
| |
|
Breaking the
Impasse Polarisation & Paralysis in UN Drug Control
|
|
The big trends in drug policy over the past decade reveal two opposing
tendencies: one tends towards tolerance and pragmatism and has its centre
of gravity in Europe, while the other under US guidance tries to reinvigorate
a zero-tolerance mentality using more repressive means. The polarisation
has led to paralysis on the UN level. A more assertive European role,
combined with the UNDCP reform process and the evaluation in April 2003
could provide an opportunity for a breakthrough
|
|
Drugs & Conflict Debate Paper 5, July 2002 [Transnational Institute]
|
| |
|
Unsavory Bedfellows
Washington's International Partners in the War on Drugs
|
|
The United States has made common cause with an assortment of dubious
regimes around the world to wage the war on drugs. Perhaps the most shocking
example was Washington's decision in May 2001 to financially reward Afghanistan's
infamous Taliban government for its edict ordering a halt to the cultivation
of opium poppies
|
|
Ted Galen Carpenter
Cato Foreign Policy Briefing No. 71
|
| |
|
Coca yes, cocaine no?
|
|
Time has come to repair an historical error responsible for including
the leaf amongst the most hazardous classified substances, having caused
severe consequences for the Andean region. This issue of Drugs and Conflict
explains the motives, context and range of this petition, as well as
the procedures that need to be followed to reach this objective (20-page PDF) [TNI,
USA]
|
| |
|
The
Evidence Base for the Classification of Drugs
|
|
A 16-page paper providing an evidence base for the classification of
drugs, with additional information on drug use, strategy, punishment,
treatment regimes and drug education in several countries [RAND, Europe]
|
| |
|
A Failed Balance Alternative
Development and Eradication
|
|
In 1961, the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs prohibited planting
crops having no medical or scientific purpose, fixing a period of 15
years –for opium– and 25 years – for coca– as deadlines for their ultimate
extinction. Those targets were clearly not met. In 1998, ignoring decades
of lack of success in addressing the issue of illicit crops, the UN set
the year 2008 as yet another deadline by which to eliminate coca and
opium. At the UN Special Session on drugs, AD was identified as a key
instrument to be used in fulfilling this objective, as part of an integral
anti-drugs strategy
|
|
Drugs & Conflict Debate Paper 4, March 2002
|
| |
|
Drugs and Insurgents
in Colombia
|
|
A Regional Conundrum
|
|
Research brief RB-69, 2001 RAND
|
| |
|
Colombian Labyrinth:
The Synergy of Drugs and Insurgency and Its Implications for Regional
Stability NGO
|
|
Argues that U.S. policy toward Colombia has been driven to a large extent
by counter-narcotics considerations, but the evolving situation in that
South American country confronts the United States with as much of a
national security as a drug policy problem
|
|
Angel Rabasa, Peter ChalkAngelRabasa, Peter Chalk
MR-1339-AF, 2001 RAND
|
| |
|
Merging Wars Afghanistan,
Drugs and Terrorism
|
|
Today, the two major producers of opium poppy and coca, Afghanistan
and Colombia, are in the midst of shifting counterdrug strategies. In
this issue we will look at the case of Afghanistan, analysing the UN
International Drug Control Programme’s (UNDCP) ill fated interventions.
And while international attention is focused on Afghanistan, the linkage
of drugs and terrorism is endangering the troubled peace talks between
the government and the FARC guerrilla in Colombia
|
|
Drugs & Conflict Debate Paper 3, November 2001 [Transnational Institute]
|
| |
