The EMCDDA is offering a new series of webinars around the theme of COVID-19. The purpose of the webinars is to help those working in the drugs field understand how drug users, and those supporting them, are coping with the pandemic and to share knowledge and experience. The webinars will give a voice to key professionals working in the drugs field and will allow for a panel discussion on emerging challenges. The sessions, chaired by EMCDDA staff members, are open to EMCDDA employees, the Reitox network and professionals working in the domain.

In the trial phase, the webinars will vary in length and frequency and will be adjusted following participants’ evaluations. The agency is testing the webinar format as a new EMCDDA product type.

This is the fifth EMCDDA webinar on the coronavirus.

 Team leader, Dark Web Team, European Cybercrime Centre, Europol

, Strategic analyst, Horizontal Operational Services, Europol

 School of Criminal Sciences, University of Lausanne

: 1 July 12.00-13.30 (WET/Lisbon) 13.00-14.30 (CET/Brussels)

COVID-19 and drug supply via darknet markets

Latin American prisons are among the most overcrowded in the world and generally do not have the capacity to effectively prevent, test and treat COVID-19. Although several countries in the region have announced measures to reduce the prison population, planned releases are insufficient, delayed in implementation, and in several cases arbitrarily exclude categories of people, such as those imprisoned for drug offences.

Even before the COVID-19 crisis, civil society in the region had been working for years in social, political and legal advocacy to improve conditions inside prisons, as well as to reform the criminal justice system and reduce the growing rates of incarceration. In the face of the current COVID-19 crisis, these same networks have mobilised to promote the reduction of the prison population, in several cases with success. Although the strategies take place in different political and legal contexts, civil society in the region faces common challenges, such as difficulties in establishing clear criteria and release mechanisms, the high percentage of people detained for drug offences, and the slowness of governments to proceed with the release of those who should be released according to the announced criteria.

.

This event will include the participation of representatives of these networks, particularly people who have been directly affected by the serious situation in the region's prisons and the excessive use of prison in Latin America.

Claudia Cardona, Psychologist for the Corporación Humanas and leader of Mujeres Libres, Colombia

Andrea Casamento, President of the Asociación Civil de Familiares de Detenidos (ACIFAD), Argentina

Luciana Boiteux, Lawyer and Professor at the Law School of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and coordinator of the Drug Policy Section of the Institute of Criminal Sciences, Brazil

Beatriz Maldonado Cruz, Leader of Mujeres Unidas por la Libertad, Mexico

Paula Litvachky, Executive Director of the Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), Argentina

Rodrigo Uprimny, Senior Researcher at Dejusticia and professor at the National University of Colombia.

COVID-19: Strategies to reduce the prison population in Latin America

This two-week summer school prepares professionals and students to meet the complex policy challenges that face Europe in the field of drugs. Involving scientific experts from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), but also university professors and policy-makers, it provides a multi-disciplinary and inclusive approach to the study of the drug problem in Europe and beyond. As this summer school will give 6 ECTS credits for its courses, students can easily transfer credits to other European universities using the ECTS system. Credits will be attributed formally to post graduate students (Master and PHD), but it is possible to allow undergraduate to use these credits in their home universities.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we will be delivering the European Drugs Summer School (EDSS) this year through online and remote teaching . Live sessions with experts and practitioners will be held from early to late afternoon (Lisbon Time, GMT +1). The sessions will be recorded and available for viewing later. Small individual exercises will be given every day and an exam will be offered to those who wish to earn credits.

We will announce the programme at the end of April. Students already registered will be contacted by ISCTE for further information. Please check the EDSS website for an announcement on fee reductions and the option to defer registration to next year.

European Drugs Summer School (EDSS) 2020

A special commemorative event of the sixtythird session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, organised at the occasion of the United Nations International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Traffickingt, will be held virtually on 

Friday, 26 June 2020, starting at 2:00 p.m

. Vienna Time (CEST). During this event, the World Drug Report 2020 will be launched, followed by a discussion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world drug situation, from a regional perspective.

Presented in six separate booklets, the World Drug Report 2020 provides a wealth of information and analysis to support the international community in implementing operational recommendations on a number of drug policies issues, including the recommendations contained in the outcome document of the special session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem, held in 2016.

The launch of the World Drug Report 2020 will be followed, after a short break, by a discussion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the world drug situation, co-sponsored by the European Union and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

The event will be webcast, accessible through the following link: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/commissions/CND/session/63_Session_2020/special-event-launch-of-world-drug-report-26-june.html.html

Special commemorative event of the 63rd session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs

Last year, thousands of activists in 261 cities of 92 countries joined arms to promote policies and practices that centre solidarity, reduce harm and protect human rights. The 2020 Global Day of Action is all about accelerating momentum for reform. And, to do so, we need each other.

Since the first Global Day of Action, in 2013, the Support. Don’t Punish campaign has seen local partners organise activities in hundreds of cities of over 100 countries around the world. We are united in the recognition that the “war on drugs” is a war on us all and, in particular, those of us experiencing stigma, exclusion and criminalisation.

If you’re thinking about joining the 2020 Global Day of Action, fill the form available online and in Word format below.

Should you need inspiration or guidance, check out our repository with hundreds of activities organised in previous years, or get in touch via Slack and e-mail.

The deadline for submissions is Monday, 27 April 2020.

Important note on Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)

At the moment of drafting, over 150,000 cases of COVID-19 have been detected across the globe. It is impossible to accurately estimate how the pandemic will evolve in the coming weeks and months, but we know it will disproportionately affect many of the populations at the heart of the Support. Don’t Punish campaign. We believe we have a responsibility to do our best to keep ourselves and others healthy. When completing the form, we invite you to consider alternative plans in case the pandemic impedes the realisation of your initially-planned activities.

To help stimulate your creativity, check out our 'Bank of Ideas for Mobilisation'.

Please, check the official advice of public authorities in your country. We also invite you to consider the following resources:

Rolling updates and guidance on coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
By the World Health Organisation

COVID-19 Harm Reduction for People Who Use Drugs
By the International Network of People who Use Drugs, in collaboration with TalkingDrugs

COVID-19 Guidance for People Who Use Drugs and Harm Reduction Programs
By the Harm Reduction Coalition

Submission period: 16 March – 27 April 2020

Assessment period: 27 April – 4 May 2020

Expected disbursement period: 8 - 22 May 2020

Feedback submission period: July - September 2020

2020 Support. Don't Punish Global Day of Action

By Mainline and Poppi: Drugs Museum Amsterdam

, Poppi: Drugs Museum Amsterdam open the doors for a unique photo expo: Dutch Drugs Stories. This pop-up event takes place in Amsterdam. For a full month we will organise thematic nights, debates, film screening and lectures. There is room for theatre, spoken word and storytelling and music. All drugs-themed.

For more info and tickets, please click here.

Dutch Drug Stories

As the world has been gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic, the global “war on drugs” has continued in ways that are both surprising and tragically familiar. We can see how the drug war is utilized as political proxy, authoritarian instrument, and mechanism of oppression by charting recent examples across the globe: from President Trump’s surprising April 1 coronavirus press conference announcing “enhanced counter-narcotics operations” in the Western Hemisphere to restrictions on press freedoms in the Philippines to police brutality and systemic racism in the United States.

This live-streamed conversation will explore the current state of the drug war, the anti-racism protests taking place across the world, responses from political leaders, and the rise of authoritarianism in the context of COVID-19. The event will take place on 

Sheila Coronel: Sheila Coronel is director of the Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism at the Columbia University School of Journalism.

Geoff Ramsey: Geoff Ramsey is director for Venezuela at the Washington Office on Latin America.

Aqeela Sherrills: Aqeela Sherrills is director of the Newark Community Street Team.

Matthew Wilson: Matthew Wilson is deputy director for the Open Society Global Drug Policy Program.

How the war on drugs continues to fuel authoritarianism

As the United States and the world reel from COVID-19, another epidemic, opioid addiction, continues to ravage the U.S. The opioid epidemic has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans, generated vast national economic and social costs, and exposed the critical weaknesses and limitations of U.S. drug policy.

To harness the lessons learned and provide policymakers with a wide range of policy options and recommendations, experts from Brookings and beyond have undertaken a multidisciplinary effort — in the forthcoming series “The opioid crisis in America: Domestic and international dimensions” — to develop new insights and best practices for policy stakeholders working at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as members of the public who are on the front lines of the opioid crisis. The project has analyzed and assessed a broad range of the opioid epidemic dimensions.

, in the first of two webinars, the Brookings Institution will release the project’s findings on prevention, treatment, and regulation of the opioid crisis. Brookings President John R. Allen will introduce the project and event. Representative David Trone, D-M.D., will provide keynote remarks and join Brookings Senior Fellow Vanda Felbab-Brown in a conversation. Subsequently, NPR correspondent Brian Mann will moderate a panel of experts from the Brookings Opioid Project: Carol Graham, Jonathan Caulkins, Beau Kilmer, and Rosalie Liccardo Pacula. The panel will then take questions from the audience.

The opioid crisis in America – Prevention, treatment and regulation

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP Nigeria) is inviting you to a scheduled virtual conference on Zoom on 

Theme: Drug policy in Africa; the best approach

To join the Zoom meeting follow this link.

Meeting ID: 815 0002 2867
Password: 506201

Drug policy in Africa - The best approach

Part 1 of a series on Psychedelic Community & Racial Justice.

The killing of George Floyd has once again put the spotlight on the ongoing systemic issues of racial injustice, police violence, and criminalization of marginalized BIPOC communities. The psychedelic community must stand in solidarity with wider activism for collective liberation, including and extending far beyond ending the war on drugs.

Where do we go from here? How do we build a better, more equitable and caring future?

First we'll look at the history to understand how we got to this moment and how we can advocate for policy that repairs the harms of the past, from colonization to the drug war and modern policing.

Camille Barton (they/them) is an artist, writer and somatic educator, working on the intersections of wellness, drug policy and transformative justice.

 is Executive Director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP, formerly Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) and a retired Major of the Maryland State and Baltimore City Police Departments. Following the tragic murder of his close friend, Corporal Ed Toatley, while making an undercover drug buy, Neill resolved to reform failed drug war policies.

 (they/them) is an Outreach Coordinator for DanceSafe, President of New York DanceSafe, and the Technical Program Manager at NEXT Distro.

 is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and the Founder of the Psychedelic Society of Western New York, out of which he developed a local psychedelic harm reduction organization.

 History of the drug war, colonization & racism

This fourth webinar in the series takes a deeper dive into issues of access to housing, shelter and health services for people who use drugs during COVID-19, and the amplified challenges faced during this time. The aim of this webinar is to share experiences and facilitate an interactive discussion on both existing services that have been adapted, and new initiatives that have been established to address the challenges faced by the community related to housing and shelter. The speakers will discuss how COVID-19 has affected their programmes, the role and mobilisation of civil society, and advocacy for housing, shelter and survival support for PWUD.

Webinar #4 on COVID-19 and Harm Reduction Programme Implementation

By the California Department of Public Health, Office of AIDS and the California Department of Health Care Services

Jointly hosted by the California Department of Public Health, Office of AIDS and the California Department of Health Care Services, this webinar will explore opioid treatment services during the COVID-19 pandemic, including opportunities to build on recent changes to federal regulations that have made buprenorphine and methadone prescribing more flexible and accessible.

Presentations will include perspectives from both people with personal experience of utilizing treatment and providers delivering innovative opioid treatment services.

Elizabeth Day: Harm Reduction & Hepatitis C Educator, North Carolina Survivors Union

Aaron Ferguson: Urban Survivor’s Union Leadership Team Member and Opioid Treatment Advocate

Andrew Tatarsky, PhD Director, Center for Optimal Living

Louise Vincent, MPH Executive Director, North CarolinaSurvivors Union

Leah Warner, NP, MPH Street Medicine, San Francisco Department of Public Health

Meeting number: 145 934 5183 Password: P3mAeXeme43

Past Events