SSDP is an international grassroots network of youth and student groups in Australia, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ghana, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria and UK, who mobilize to transform global drug policy towards one focused on human rights, public health, and harm reduction.

SSDP UK es una red de grupos comunitarios de jóvenes y estudiantes en el Reino Unido, que realiza campañas para desarrollar políticas humanas y racionales sobre drogas, basadas en evidencias.

SSDP est un réseau de jeunes et d’étudiants britanniques qui mènent campagne pour une politique des drogues humaine, rationnelle et basée sur des données scientifiques.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) International

Two online sessions — Registration required

Monday 19 October 2026, 18:00 CEST (Paris/Berlin) — 

Tuesday 20 October 2026, 14:00 CEST (Paris/Berlin) — 

A panel of 19 independent experts established by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) is reviewing the international drug control system, presenting an important opportunity for young people affected by drug policies to contribute their perspectives and priorities to the global debate.

To support meaningful youth participation in this process, Youth RISE, SSDP US, SSDP International, Paradigma and Hayat are organising two free, interactive information sessions for young advocates, students, young people who use drugs and others affected by punitive drug policies.

The sessions will explain the significance of the expert panel's review, explore key issues that young people may wish to raise, and provide practical guidance on preparing a compelling written submission of up to 1,500 words.

The two sessions will cover the same content

, offering participants in different time zones an opportunity to take part. Simultaneous interpretation from English into Spanish will be available.

09:00 PT / 10:00 Mexico City / 11:00 Bogotá / 12:00 ET / 17:00 London / 18:00 Paris / 21:30 New Delhi


05:00 PT / 06:00 Mexico City / 07:00 Bogotá / 08:00 ET / 13:00 London / 14:00 Paris / 17:30 New Delhi


These sessions are intended for young people already engaged in drug policy reform and harm reduction movements. The organisers request that the invitation be shared within these networks rather than promoted publicly on social media.

Youth information sessions on the CND expert panel reviewing the global drug control system

On the 26th June 2026, as communities around the world mark the Support Don’t Punish campaign’s 

, South Africa will launch the Drug Decriminalisation Coalition (or 

) – the first national coalition on drug decriminalisation in Africa and an important milestone in the evolution of drug policy reform efforts.

For too many years, conversations about drug policy reform in Africa have largely taken place in silos. Harm reduction organisations have focused on expanding access to health services, human rights groups have highlighted the harms associated with criminalisation, researchers have generated growing bodies of evidence on the social and public health impacts of punitive drug policies, and networks of people who use drugs have continued to advocate for dignity, inclusion and meaningful participation in policy-making processes. While these efforts have produced important advances, they have often operated independently of one another.

The launch of the Drug Decriminalisation Coalition reflects the growing recognition that meaningful policy reform requires a coordinated collective approach.

The Drug Decriminalisation Coalition has been established as a multi-sector platform bringing together people who use drugs, harm reduction and drug policy advocates, researchers, legal experts, civil society organisations, public health stakeholders, practitioners, community organisations and human rights defenders committed to advancing evidence-based drug policy reform in South Africa.

Its founding Steering Committee reflects this diversity, comprising representatives from networks of people who use drugs, civil society organisations, legal and policy experts, and public health practitioners. This broad representation reflects a shared recognition that drug policy reform cannot be achieved through isolated interventions but requires collaboration across sectors and meaningful participation by those most affected by criminalisation.

The Coalition is guided by the following vision statement:

“A South Africa which is safe, healthy, and inclusive. A society where no person is criminalized for their drug use. Our country’s response to drug use is rooted in compassion, evidence, health, human rights, and social justice. Decriminalisation of all drugs for private purposes is a move towards an ethical and constitutional imperative that reduces public harm, increases access to health and social services and may ease the burden on our criminal justice system. Together, with government, civil society, private sector, and the people most affected, we can endeavour to dismantle stigma, prevent disease, and redirect public resources to affirm public health, human rights and safety.”

This vision reflects a growing body of evidence demonstrating that criminalisation often exacerbates the very harms it purports to address. The Coalition’s vision further recognises decriminalisation as a public health, social and human right intervention. By removing criminalisation penalties for personal drug use and possession, resources can be redirected toward health services, harm reduction services, treatment, social support and community wellbeing.

The Coalition emerges at a time of significant policy discussion within South Africa. Over the past decade, there has been increasing acknowledgement that punitive approaches have not achieved their intended objectives. Despite continued criminalisation, drug markets remain resilient, drug-related arrests continue to place pressure on the criminal justice system, and many people who use drugs continue to face barriers to accessing healthcare, harm reduction services, housing, employment and social support.

At the same time, harm reduction interventions in South Africa have demonstrated positive outcomes in a number of settings, while civil society organisations, academic institutions, and affected communities have continued to advance evidence-informed approaches to drug use. Discussions around the National Drug Master Plan, alternatives to incarceration, public health-centered responses and broader criminal justice reform have further contributed to an environment in which decriminalisation is increasingly recognised as a legitimate policy option worthy of serious consideration.

Against this backdrop, the Coalition seeks to provide a platform through which diverse stakeholders can engage collectively on questions relating to decriminalisation and drug policy reform.

The launch is also significant because it takes place within a regional context where discussions on drug decriminalisation remain relatively limited compared to other parts of the world. Across Africa, countries continue to grapple with the social, economic and health consequences associated with punitive drug control approaches. However, there are increasing signs of change. Harm reduction services have expanded in several countries. Courts have begun to engage with the questions of proportionality, rights and personal autonomy. Regional bodies and civil society networks have increasingly highlighted the need for evidence-based and human rights centred approaches to drug policy.

The 26th June is the United Nations International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, an occasion that has historically been used to ‘celebrate’ repressive responses. However, for more than a decade now, the global 

 to directly challenge the dominant narrative that punishment is an effective response to drug use. The campaign has helped elevate conversations around health, human rights, social justice and community wellbeing in countries across the world.

The decision to launch the Drug Decriminalisation Coalition on 26th June is therefore intentional. It situates South Africa’s efforts within this wider international movement while also recognising the need for locally grounded responses that reflect African realities, histories and policy contexts.

While drug policy debates are often shaped by global trends, reform efforts ultimately succeed or fail at the national and community levels. The Coalition therefore represents an attempt to bridge international evidence and experience with the specific social, legal and political realities of South Africa. Importantly, it also seeks to ensure that people who use drugs are not merely subjects of policy discussions but active participants in shaping them.

The launch of the Drug Decriminalisation Coalition marks an important movement for South Africa’s drug policy reform movement and a notable development for the African region. Its establishment reflects the growing maturity of drug policy discussions within the country, the strengthening of alliances across sectors and an increasing willingness to engage with alternatives to punitive approaches.

As conversations on drug policy continue to evolve across Africa, the emergence of a broad-based coalition dedicated to advancing dialogue on decriminalisation offers an important example of how diverse stakeholders can come together to explore more effective, humane and evidence-informed responses to drugs.

Support Don’t Punish Global Day of Action

, South Africa joins a growing global movement seeking to reimagine drug policy through the lenses of health, human rights and social justice, while contributing a distinctly Africa voice to that conversation.

South Africa launches Africa’s first national Drug Decriminalisation Coalition

 17 June 2026, 13:00 - 14:00 (Pretoria, South Africa)

This Wise Wednesday webinar will provide an introductory discussion on the decriminalisation of drug use in South Africa. The session will explore what decriminalisation for personal use could mean in practice, and how reform can support public health, human rights and more effective responses to drug use.

, Students for Sensible Drug Policy International

, School of Public Health, University of Cape Town

A beginner’s guide to the decriminalisation of drug use in South Africa - Wise Wednesday series

The co-submitting civil society organisations welcome the upcoming report of the Expert Mechanism on ‘Systemic racism against Africans and people of African descent in the enforcement of drug laws and policies’, which will be presented at the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council.

Following more than a century of prohibition and decades of the so-called war on drugs, the global drug market is more robust, dynamic and diverse than ever, levels of drug use have consistently increased, and supply has not been disrupted in any meaningful or lasting way. Even more problematically, punitive drug control has produced an unmitigated human rights disaster.

To date, UN Member States have been highly reluctant to address racial discrimination in global drug control, and this is not an oversight. It is because racial discrimination in drug policy is not a side effect; it is part of its very foundation.

From the very beginning, global drug control systems were shaped by racialised fears, colonial interests, and efforts to control certain populations. Substances became criminalised not solely because of their harms, but because of who was associated with them.

These narratives were codified into laws and exported globally through colonial and geopolitical power. This system underpins and upholds structural racism across the world.

We encourage EMLER to highlight the following conclusions and recommendations in its upcoming report:

Recognise that racial disparities in drug law enforcement are the product of systems that were designed – or have evolved – to produce these outcomes. Addressing racial discrimination in drug law enforcement therefore requires far-reaching 

Prior consultation in drug policy decision-making: 

Any drug policy measure affecting ethnic territories – including eradication, interdiction, or enforcement operations – must be subject to free, prior and informed consent processes with Afro-descendant and Indigenous communities. EMLER should urge States to ensure that drug policy reforms are designed and implemented in full consultation with the communities most affected by both illicit economies and punitive enforcement

Question and condemn the “narcoterrorism” narrative 

as an attempt at imposing exceptional regimes that erode human rights and the rule of law, with disproportionate impacts on Africans and people of African descent.

 of drug use and related activities is a key step towards preventing the over-policing and overcriminalisation of Africans and people of African descent for drug offences. However, it must be accompanied by explicit anti-discrimination safeguards, independent oversight and mandatory collection of data disaggregated by race and ethnicity to avoid racialised enforcement under a new label (whereby police discretion and the imposition of fine might continue to overwhelmingly target Africans and people of African descent).

 is also an essential step towards redressing some of the worst harms of prohibition, and is now a policy option promoted by OHCHR, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health. However, here again, any reform must be designed with racial equity as an explicit goal, rather than as an afterthought. Evidence of jurisdictions where cannabis has already been legalised shows that, as legal cannabis markets open up, large commercial actors — often majority-white owned businesses — have tended to consolidate market share at the expense of those who have paid the heaviest price under prohibition: crowding out small farmers and community producers who have cultivated these plants for generations, while sidelining those in socio-economic vulnerability traditionally involved in low-level dealing before regulation. Furthermore, the failure to expunge criminal records for activities now legally regulated has automatically excluded those most harshly affected by punitive drug policy from the legal market. Racial equity in legal regulation means actively preventing these outcomes — through licensing frameworks, market access provisions, and reparative economic policies that prioritise most affected communities.

Sentence review and conviction expungement

 for past drug offences must be understood as a racial justice imperative, not a technical legal question.

As the UN drug control system is undergoing a review

 by a panel of independent experts (established by CND Resolution 68/6), we urge EMLER to seek a formal engagement with the panel. This multidisciplinary body, composed of 19 experts, has been tasked with producing actionable recommendations to strengthen the international drug control system and its implementation. If that review is to have any credibility, it must grapple seriously with the racialised foundations and outcomes of the very system it is examining. A formal dialogue between EMLER and the panel would send a powerful signal of UN system coherence, and ensure that racial justice is not once again sidelined at the critical moment when the drug control system is being asked to account for itself.

Tackling systemic racism in drug law enforcement - Civil society contribution to the UN EMLER

South Africa enters the new year still absorbing the revelations of the Madlanga Commission and the uncomfortable clarity it provided about criminal networks, policing failures and the erosion of public trust. And while our own institutions grapple with questions of accountability, the world has been jolted by the US’ military intervention in Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolás Maduro, under the guise of the War on Drugs.

We are justifiably shocked and scandalised and the public conversation has landed on a familiar and deeply misleading place: “drugs” are the problem, and harsher criminal justice responses are posed as the solution. Provocatively, we are asked to reconsider this popular, simplistic narrative: cartels are not infiltrating the state because drugs exist, they are infiltrating the state because prohibition creates a lucrative, unregulated economy, which criminal networks exploit.

South Africa is home to an estimated half a million people who use illicit drugs (such as methamphetamine and heroin), the majority of whom use occasionally, in a non-problematic pattern and in ways that pose little to no threat to the public. Yet our law continues to treat them as criminals, corralling people who use drugs and low-level drug sellers into the same punitive framework designed for large-scale traffickers and cartel operatives.

The Madlanga Commission’s hearings have exposed what research has shown repeatedly, that criminalisation of drug use creates enormous illicit markets, and illicit markets in turn create incentives for corruption. When a product is illegal but widely used, its regulation shifts from the state to whoever is willing to use violence and bribery to control the trade.

Decriminalising personal possession of drugs will not end drug use. But it has the potential to help end the criminalisation of poverty, free up our courts and alleviate our overcrowded prisons. It also has the potential to redirect resources towards prevention, treatment and harm reduction and, importantly, it has the potential to starve criminal networks of the low-level arrests they rely on to distract the public from high-level corruption.

South Africa: Crime, cartels and corruption — The drug policy debate we refuse to have

In October 2023, I was awarded the “Drug Laws and Access to Justice Fellowship” by the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) as part of the REFORM project, which is a regional partnership supporting people who use drugs, media, legal and civil society allies to end punitive drug laws, abusive enforcement, and stigma. The Programme supports fellows in boosting their capacity to bring about change in a region characterised by some of the most punitive policies against people who use drugs in the world — applying their legal and paralegal skills and knowledge.

But long before the fellowship, my collective — 

 has been practising care beyond the remit of the state. In Cavite, we have been running mutual aid efforts for years through survivor support, food, medical care, and accompaniment — modest but necessary acts of care and survival. In August 2023, Temple Street Los Area Locos, a local gang, reached out to us when one of their members was stabbed by a police asset for refusing to “snitch” on their peers. Later that year, that same young person was arrested on alleged drug charges, abandoned by the legal system, with no support to navigate court proceedings. Faced with this crisis, we asked ourselves: “

What would it look like if we built our own systems of care, rooted in community accountability, instead of waiting for justice from institutions that only criminalise us?”

Weaving Resistances: Building safer communities by and for young people impacted by drug use and allies

 was born. It was neither a non-profit nor a “civil society” organisation, nor a program signed off by a formal agency. It was something else — something 

adrienne maree brown describes emergent strategy as 

“fractal — small patterns that scale into the whole.”

 Our own small patterns took the shape of community meals, neighbourhood conversations, and music events. From these small acts of connection, we were trying to rebuild relationships within our community and scale safety. In doing so, we reclaimed and embodied the harm reduction mantra: 

 For us, this wasn’t just a slogan — it traverses our lives and survival.

Street-based youth like us are often seen as 

. As it happens with other scapegoated groups, narratives of essentialised ‘risk’ are weaponised against us, denying us the very possibility of ‘innocence’. Against this backdrop, sitting together over food became a transformative practice for us, a way to challenge stigma while rebuilding bonds with our neighbours, who had previously written us off. As Ruth Wilson Gilmore says, 

“Abolition is about presence, not absence. It’s about building life-affirming institutions.”

 Sharing food in community meals became one such institution — informal and fragile, but very real.

“Community accountability is not a checklist, it’s a practice of showing up for each other when harm happens and when it doesn’t.”

 Our meals and events were exactly that: showing up even outside of crisis, building relationships that would hold when harm inevitably occurs.

From November 2023 to March 2025, we organised community meals, music shows, film screenings, and open dialogues about drug use and sexual and reproductive health. We amplified the 

 campaign, and started prisoner support networks for our friends behind bars. These weren’t just events — they were abolitionist rehearsals of a different future.

“Transforming harm is not about pretending harm doesn’t exist. It’s about building the skills, practices, and conditions we need so that when harm happens, we don’t turn to police or prisons—we turn to each other.”

 That was the heart of our work: not escaping harm, but transforming how we respond to it.

Our work rippled outward. In 2024, we founded the Philippines chapter of 

, joining a global network of young organisers fighting for humane drug policies. To launch, we mobilised two actions during the 

2024 Support. Don’t Punish Global Day of Action

Starting SSDP Philippines was about giving young people a range of places to belong — that we’re part of a global fight for justice. This is an emergent strategy in motion: starting small, moving at the speed of trust, and letting relationships guide our organising.

 By paying attention to each other, even through small acts of care, we were growing a movement.

Solidarity across movements: Toward transformative and healing justice

As we grew, we realised our struggle couldn’t be isolated from others. In 2024 and 2025, we joined events organised by the 

Philippine Safe Abortion Network (PINSAN)

Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR)

. Their fight for reproductive justice mirrored ours — both criminalised by the state, both demanding autonomy and dignity.

This wasn’t just coalition-building. It was 

— understanding that the same systems policing drugs are policing bodies, gender, and sexuality. If we want liberation, we have to dismantle all of it together. 

Informality as access to justice and care

What began as “informal” acts of care has become the foundation for a broader political demand. Informality itself became a form of justice: a refusal to wait for permission to care for each other. The state has offered us violence and neglect, so we built our own systems. That’s how we survived. Now those same systems — our networks of care, our ways of looking out for each other — are shaping our fight and practice towards new, liberatory worlds.

Abolition isn’t only about ending prisons — it is about building life. As Ruth Wilson Gilmore reminds us, “Where life is precious, life is precious.” And as Andrea Ritchie writes, “Practicing new worlds is not abstract — it’s in how we cook for each other, how we respond to harm, how we create safety without punishment, every single day.” These everyday gestures are more than survival — they are blueprints for the futures we want to live in.

The fight is far from over. But the streets show us that resistance doesn’t always look like court battles or legislation. Sometimes, it looks like a meal shared among those who have targeted and criminalised identities, a network of care among the abandoned — our refusal to disappear and let others be disappeared. It is in these quiet, persistent practices of care that we reclaim life and dignity.

We carry this commitment both in our daily acts and within formal spaces of advocacy like drug policy reform in the Philippines. On 

Cavite Side Suldados – Temple St. MBPLS

Regional Dialogue on the ASEAN Work Plan on Securing Communities against Illicit Drugs 2016–2025

 in Manila. Facilitated by IDPC, the dialogue brought government, civil society, and directly impacted communities into conversation about the implementation and impacts of the ASEAN Work Plan. Our presence in that space — coming from the streets, from communities often left out of regional and international policy tables — was itself an act of care and resistance, ensuring that those most affected by drug policies are never excluded from shaping them.

consultation focused on developing the ACCEPT Drug Education Modules

. Guided by a community-centred, human rights-based, and health-oriented approach, the modules aim to promote understanding, compassion, and informed conversations about substance use within the community.

We will continue building these worlds, both through our small acts of care and in our collective engagement within drug policy reform spaces in the Philippines. Our survival has always been political, and our care has always been resistance – our refusal to disappear.

Practising liberatory harm reduction: From street-level care to policy reform advocacy

Not enough voices are speaking out against Nigeria's recent approval of the death penalty for drug trafficking. As we gear up for the June 26th Global Day of Action, let's amplify our call for humane and evidence-based drug policies. Join us in condemning this harsh measure and advocating for justice.

Recently, the global conversation surrounding drug policy reform has gained momentum, with many countries advocating for a more humane and evidence-based approach. However, a recent development in Nigeria has sent shockwaves through the international community and threatens to set back progress in the fight against punitive drug policies. On May 9th 2024, the Nigerian Senate amended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act to include the death penalty for drug trafficking offences. This is not only a grave violation of human rights but also a stark reflection of the failure of draconian drug policies.

Condemning Nigeria's amendment of the NDLEA act: A violation of human rights and failed drug policy

 Wednesday, 24th January, 2024 - 12:00 (New York) / 17:00 (GMT)

 GIMPA Green Hill Campus, School of Law, Accra - Ghana / 

 (Room will be open in advance to start on time).

Join this very special workshop where students come together to learn and share ideas about substance use and prevention. We'll be comparing how each country approaches their drug policies. It's a unique opportunity for cross-cultural understanding and collaborative learning.

Drug policy reform: A comparative dialogue between Ghana and the USA

Within the frameworks of the Paradigma Coalition, Youth RISE and Students for Sensible Drug Policy International have partnered up once again to provide a Youth Response to the UNODC's World Drug Report. 

This response is written by youth advocates from across the world. As young people we hold keen insights into youth drug use and as advocates, we represent youth perspectives on drug policies. 

 to learn about our reflections on the 2023 World Drug Report and our recommendations for future publications of this report. 

Also watch out for the release of this Youth Response on Monday 21st August, a week before this launch event and come with your questions and comments! 

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) International

Region

Translations

Related Content