The International Society for the Study of Drug Policy (ISSDP) is a society of scholars committed to advancing drug policy research.
El ISSDP el sitio web ahora está disponible en Español.
16th Annual ISSDP Conference
ISSDP 2023 will be hosted by RAND Europe in Leuven, Belgium on 30 May – 1 June 2023.
Abstract submission for the conference has now closed.
Forthcoming Events:
ISSDP at the 66th United Nations Commission on Narcotics Drugs
ISSDP will be taking part in the 66th United Nations Commission on Narcotics Drugs Meeting in Vienna from 13-17 March 2023. We are sending our first delegation as an ECOSOC registered organisation and sponsoring two key side events:
Friday 17th March 9:10-10:00 CEST
Exploring the Dynamics of Drug Markets in Contemporary Times
Link to the teams meeting | PDF Flyer
Thursday 16 March 14:10-15:00 CEST
Emerging Research on Psychedelic Therapies and their Implications for Policy
Other events at which ISSDP members are speaking are listed below:
Tuesday 14 March – 8:00-8:50am CEST
PRINCIPLE TO POLICY TO PRACTICE. IMPLEMENTING A HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH WITH PEOPLE WHO USE DRUGS
Organized by the Release Legal Emergency and Drugs Service Limited with the support of Ghana, Norway, the Global Commission on Drug Policy and the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy.
In person (M6) & online: https://bit.ly/3Jr7R6V
Tuesday 14 March – 8:00 -8:50am CET
URBAN DRUG POLICIES IN THE GLOBALISED WORLD: A LEXIMETRICAL FOCUS
Organized by the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational Transparty with the support of the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies.
Web-link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82200657239?pwd=Mk15SEJ0QjcxWFd4U01hVHUycy96UT09
Tuesday 14 March – 14:10-15:00 (CEST/Vienna)
UNDERSTANDING THE DRUG TRAFFICKING THREAT ALONG THE SOUTHERN ROUTE: SPECIAL FOCUS ON THE SOUTHERN AND EASTERN AFRICA REGION
Organised by the United Kingdom with the support of the UNODC, South Africa, Kenya, European Union, USA, Japan, GI-TOC.
Thursday, 16 March – 9.10-10.00 a.m.
MITIGATING THE RISKS OF CORPORATE CAPTURE FOR LEGAL CANNABIS MARKETS
Organized by the Transform Drug Policy Foundation with the support of the International Drug Policy Consortium, México Unido Contra la Delincuencia (MUCD), Health Poverty Action and the Norwegian Association for Safer Drug Policies.
In-person only (M0E07)
Thursday 16 March – 13:00-13:50 (CEST/Vienna)
THE FUTURE OF ILLICIT ECONOMIES IN AFGHANISTAN
Organised by the UNODC Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs, with the support of GI-TOC, London School of Economics and Political Science and University of Birmingham.
A link to other side events at CND66 is available here:
https://www.unodc.org/documents/commissions/CND_CCPCJ_joint/Side_Events/2023/2303166_Programme_CND_ebook.pdf
Recent Events:
15th Annual ISSDP Conference
Thank you all for attending!! We had 148 participants from 22 countries squeezed into a packed day of presentations, panels and posters.
For those of you in attendance and who are members, you can access conference papers and presentations here.
ISSDP co-produced sessions at Lisbon Addictions
ISSDP at the 6th International Conference on Governance, Crime and Justice Statistics in South Korea

ISSDP took part in the 6th International Conference on Governance, Crime and Justice Statistics on 9-11 November 2022 in Seoul, South Korea. This hybrid conference brought together participants from 123 countries and was organized by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Statistics Korea (KOSTAT), National Institute of Statistics and Geography of Mexico (INEGI) and other agencies.
An ISSDP panel was held on “Developing comprehensive, rigorous and innovative approaches to measuring and monitoring illicit drug supply” comprised of Adrian Franco (INEGI, Mexico), Beau Kilmer (RAND Corporation, USA); Hai Luong ( University of Queensland); Letizia Paoli (Leuven Institute of Criminology, Belgium) and Caitlin Hughes (Flinders University, Australia), while Angela Me (UNODC), John Collins (GI-TOC) and David Decary-Hetu (University of Montreal) took part in sessions on Illicit Financial Flows, Measuring and Monitoring Organised Crime and Online Fraud.
Recordings are now available on the UNODC YouTube channel:
- Day 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgNIUR0Sx9k&t=27s
- Day 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-tMC3tU9L4&t=3s
- Day 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_-UYceUl7U&t=13793s
- Recap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37e4oY7YpMg
ISSDP and UNODC Virtual Side Event at the 65th Commission on Narcotics Drugs meeting on the Policy Impact of Cannabis Legalization from a Scientific Perspective. Tuesday, 15 March 2022
The virtual side event explored scientific evidence on the implications of cannabis legalization. As of April 2021, legal provisions that allow the non-medical use of cannabis have been adopted in Canada, Uruguay and in 20 jurisdictions of the United States. The purpose of the discussion was to look at the complexities of the research evidence related to cannabis markets in these countries and assess to what extent this evidence can inform about the net impact of cannabis legalization. Factual evidence was discussed on a wide range of possible impacts, from public health-related to implications for other social phenomena.
A video of this webinar is available to ISSDP members
ISSDP Membership General Assembly Meeting
ISSDP held a virtual general assembly meeting of its members on Tuesday, February 1st 2022. In addition to agenda items, we held a “Meet the Author” event with Alison Ritter, author of Drug Policy.