European countries are starting to legalise cannabis for recreational use – or at least discussing the option of doing so. However, it is important to recognise that the pace of change has slowed in some countries, with Italy’s decision to ban sales of ‘cannabis light’ products with up to 0.2% THC in May 2019 a notable example.

And we should not assume that Europe and North America will follow similar legislative timelines. It took Canada almost 20 years to legalise recreational use after allowing medicinal, whereas in Europe, countries that have only recently legalised medicinal use are now steaming ahead with plans for recreational use. Once Luxembourg successfully becomes the first European country to legalise recreational cannabis use, it won’t be long before other European countries follow suit.

Recreational cannabis legalisation in Europe – Countries to watch

Manila, Philippines - A day after she was stripped of her post as head of the Philippines' anti-drugs council, Vice President Leni Robredo came out fighting.

"They may have taken away my position but they cannot take away my determination to stop the killings, hold the responsible to account and win the campaign against illegal drugs," Robredo told the media.

"If they think this is the end, they don't know me very well. I am just beginning," she added.

Robredo said she plans to reveal her findings from the 19 days she spent as one of two people leading ICAD, the inter-agency committee managing and coordinating the government's centrepiece policy to crack down on illegal drugs.

"When I took on this post, I asked, 'Are you ready for me?' Now, my question is, 'What are you afraid I will find out? What are you afraid the people will know?'"

'Are you afraid?': Philippines' Robredo defiant over drugs war

Aleksander Levin, Co-chair of the EHRA Steering Committee: “Public officials who define the drug policy wear cardboard crowns from the Burger King and think that they rule the world. In the old tale, just one phrase of a small boy about the emperor with no clothes was enough for everybody to wake up”.

EHRA presents a series of interviews with people whose names and roles in harm reduction are well known in the CEECA region and beyond. They will share the best that they have with us: their experience, ideas and memories.

Aleksander (Sasha) Levin is a Co-chair of the Steering Committee of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA), Specialist on Drug Policy & Information Officer at the Eurasian Network of People Who Use Drugs (ENPUD) and DUNews team member. He graduated from the Journalism Department of the Moscow State University. After graduation, he worked as a journalist in Russian mass media for over a decade. He has been involved in harm reduction since 2002. He held workshops and implemented informational activities in international and Russian CSOs, including the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network (now the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association), Russian Harm Reduction Network, UNAIDS, etc. In 2007, Sasha started working on awareness raising and advocacy in a Russian self-organization of drug users called Kolodets. In 2007–2008, he guided the development and drafting of the manifesto of drug users from the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia “Nothing for us without us”. He also worked in Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice (ARF) as an outreach worker in Harm Reduction Moscow project. For five years, he was a school social psychologist. In 2017, he returned into harm reduction and became a member of the ENPUD Secretariat.

Sasha, you came into harm reduction after ten years of working in mass media. How did it happen and why?

– Firstly, there is no past. You cannot touch the past, put it in your wardrobe or take it to the dry cleaner’s. There is only a track of the past in our memory, in the memories of other people, in videos and photos, etc. However, there is no past on its own.

– Secondly, there is always a million ways to explain the turning points in our lives, and they are all basically right. They are like outfits, which one can put on depending on the occasion and situation. I will repeat again that all those ways are right. Provided that you do not have a goal to lie in order to sugarcoat your life or trick someone. There is no one line in life. It is not a train from a kids’ cartoon, which strictly follows its pre-determined route to get from point A to point B, with various stories happening with it on its way. Everything is much more complicated. Our life consists of many coincidences in each particular point and is basically a chain of events not related to each other, which finally define the fate of an individual.

– Let’s talk about the love at first sight. Do you believe in it?

– Sure, it exists, but people call it this way to make things easy. In fact, the first sight depends on your mood in this particular moment, in this part of the day, on how far you see, on whether you have a partner, on what you have eaten and drunk, on your body temperature and heart rhythm, on the music playing in your earphones and so on. For instance, you will hardly fall in love listening to a song commemorating the Great Patriotic War, but if you are listening to You’re My Heart, You’re My Soul by Modern Talking – the chances are pretty high. So if one element is missing, there magic will be gone and your life will take a different turn.

'Public officials who define the drug policy wear cardboard crowns from Burger King and think they rule the world' - Interview with Aleksander Levin

ESTONIA HAS a lot going for it. The tiny Baltic state of 1.3m people has been touted as the most advanced digital society in the world; it boasts an adult literacy rate of 99.8%; it is sporty too, with more Olympic medals per person than any country bar neighbouring Finland. But Estonia also comes top in another, less cheerful statistic: a higher proportion of its citizens die from drug overdoses than in any other European country. Illegally acquired prescription drugs—chiefly fentanyl and other opioids—are the principal cause of these deaths.

According to the latest European Drug Report, published by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, an EU agency, Estonia suffered 110 drug-induced deaths in 2017 (the most recent data available), equivalent to 130 deaths for every 1m people aged 15 to 64. Sweden and Norway came second and third, with 92 and 74 deaths per million, respectively. The average was 23 across the EU, which means that Estonians are nearly six times as likely to die from drug overdoses as their European counterparts. (America’s opioid blight is far worse even than Estonia’s: its toll was 210 per million; in Scotland the figure is estimated at 218 per million.)

Estonia’s drug of choice, fentanyl, is a synthetic opioid, typically used to treat cancer patients suffering from severe pain. It is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. It is also cheap. The drug costs less to make, distribute—and thus buy—than heroin. Frequently cut with other substances, such as cocaine and heroin, often without the user’s knowledge, each hit can be like a game of Russian roulette.

Estonia is still fighting the epidemic. After peaking in 2012, deadly overdoses began to fall, possibly owing to increased use of naloxone, a medication that reverses the effects of opioid overdoses. But since 2015 deaths have crept up once more (see chart). Why Estonia’s death toll is so much higher than the rest of Europe’s, and why northern Europe is worse afflicted than the south, is unclear. Estonia’s opioid-prescription rate is among the lowest in OECD countries; Spain prescribes more opioids than several northern countries with far higher death rates.

How Estonia became the drug-overdose capital of Europe

Events in Uganda this week highlight how drug policies continue to be used as a mechanism for social control and the criminalisation of marginalised communities.

Shortly after midnight on November 11th, 127 people were arrested at Ram Bar, one of the few LGBTQIA+ friendly bars in Kampala. The arrests were made by the Ugandan police, army officials, and Local Defense Units who rounded off everyone and took them to the central police station. At the time of writing over 60 people are still confirmed to be in police custody.

The official justification for this mass arrest was for the use of banned substances, specifically the smoking of shisha and opium. In an interview with VOA, Patrick Onyango, the Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, said police received intelligence that Ram Bar is a hub for the illicit use of controlled substances; the people arrested will be charged under the Tobacco Control Act (2015). Those found guilty for using shisha or opium can be fined $130 or imprisoned for up to six months.

However many on the ground including Frank Mugisha, the Executive Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda, argue that this is clearly an attack on the LGBTQIA+ community, with drug laws being utilised as a means to criminalise and intimidate. In an interview with VOA, he noted that Ram Bar is one of the few public spaces to do outreach with the LGBTQIA+ community and at the time of arrest, a health meeting and celebration was taking place.

An anonymous source desribes their experience of the arrest: "The whole time it was incredibly abusive, verbally and physically. I got slapped around, kicked and so did a bunch of others. They were saying very homophobic things – we are going to eradicate people like you, how dare you, you're making us look bad", Alice McCool reports.

Drug policies used to criminalise the LGBTQIA+ community in Uganda

The objective of this consultation is to gather stakeholders’ feedback on the EU Drugs Strategy 2013-2020 and the EU Action Plan on Drugs 2017-2020, as they are approaching the end of their cycle.
The consultation addresses all main policy areas of the Drugs Strategy, including drug demand and drug supply reduction and three cross-cutting themes, namely coordination, international cooperation and information, research and evaluation. Similar to the entire evaluation exercise, the consultation looks at the effectiveness, efficiency, relevance and coherence of the actions undertaken to cover the areas mentioned, as well as at the achieved EU added value.
A synopsis of the responses received will be included in the Staff Working Document that will be produced to summarise the findings of the evaluation. The final results of the evaluation will be used by the European Commission, the European Parliament, the Council and Member States in the future decision-making process regarding drug policy.

EU drugs strategy 2013-20 - Evaluation

Prominent members of the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) have begun to openly discuss legalizing marijuana in Germany. The move would be a historic policy turn for the conservative party.

Germany's center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) is openly considering a momentous u-turn in the party's attitude to the legalization of cannabis.

"Cannabis could be freed for personal use, of course with controlled production and distribution," CDU interior policy spokesman Marian Wendt told the RND network on Friday. "The resources freed in the police and judiciary should be used to fight the illegal trade."

Wendt's statement came after the German government's drug commissioner, Daniela Ludwig, also signaled a more liberal new drug policy in the conservative party.

Ludwig, of the CDU's Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), told the 

 newspaper earlier this week, "We need to stop with the ideologically charged black-or-white debates, because we won't get any further."

Instead, the new drug commissioner said the focus of drug policy should be on practicality. "At the end of the day, what is the best way to protect the health of people, especially young people, and which path makes the most sense for the situation in this country?"

Angela Merkel's party mulls legalising cannabis in Germany

This brief provides a preliminary synthesis of Canada’s experience with cannabis legalization in the first year of retail sales. The brief focuses on evidence available to indicate progress against the public health and safety objectives of the Cannabis Act.

Canada’s relationship with legal cannabis is evolving. The market is still developing, and the pending introduction of new product formats means that Canada can expect to see considerable changes in both retail and consumer behaviour at least into the next year.

The National Cannabis Survey* indicates that Canadians’ use of cannabis has been fluctuating both before and after legalization among both youth and adult age groups. However, the changes in use have varied by reporting quarter.

More people are trying cannabis following legalization. Since legalization, those trying cannabis for the first time are more likely to be older (e.g., 45 years of age and up) compared to those trying for the first time before legalization.

More information is needed to better understand the nature of any increases in use, including whether the older population is seeking products with higher CBD due to beliefs about possible health benefits.

The National Cannabis Survey also indicated a significant decrease in Canadians accessing cannabis directly from the illegal market or from friends and family following legalization.

Revenues from cannabis sales have been significantly lower than anticipated.

The legislated three-year review of the Cannabis Act provides an opportunity for critical review of the nature and implementation of the regulations, and to make course corrections.

Looking forward, priority areas for education about lower-risk use include the difference between ingested and inhaled products, and the effects of impairment on driving and in the workplace.

The Cannabis Act permitted the sale of cannabis within a legal regulatory system as of October 17, 2018.

The federal government is responsible for issuing production, processing, import/export, testing and research licences.

The provinces and territories are responsible for retail sales and distribution. Each province and territory established a unique approach, with considerable variation among them in terms of public versus private sales, licensing, number and distribution of retail stores, oversight bodies, pricing and taxation, supply, and places of consumption, for example.

Cannabis legalisation in Canada: Year one observations

OTTAWA -- Setting up supervised injection sites at federal institutions is the way to go if the Correctional Service plans to continue making needles available to drug-using inmates, prison guards say.

The Union of Canadian Correctional Officers says one such injection site at Drumheller Institution in Alberta is proving a safer alternative to the service's needle-exchange program, operating at seven federal prisons.

The Correctional Service considers both initiatives important elements of the effort to limit transmission of hepatitis C and HIV in institutions. It has long tried to keep drugs from entering prisons, but recognizes that contraband finds its way to inmates.

The union opposes making needles available to inmates at all, citing the risk of being pricked accidentally or on purpose.

But it says if the prison service wants to continue distributing needles, then the injection site, known as an overdose prevention service, should be the model. It involves giving inmates access to needles so they can use them in a supervised setting with nursing staff.

The needle-exchange program, introduced last year, provides injection kits that eligible inmates can use in their cells.

The prison service does a risk assessment to evaluate security concerns before approving an inmate for the program. To date, there have been 63 applications, of which 10 were rejected, said Veronique Rioux, a Correctional Service spokeswoman.

 Guards say they want supervised injection sites in Canadian federal prisons

Since 2014, Ukraine is at war. This war led to big human losses and to a huge wave of displaced people who had to flee the occupied territories.

Women who lived on temporarily occupied areas of Donetsk and Lugansk regions, with the history of drug use and HIV status as well as female clients of opioid substitution treatment programs were among the most vulnerable.

With the armed conflict, humanitarian crisis and mass internal migration, they face poverty and gender-based violence, lack of access to medical and social services, stigmatization and prosecution.

Before the war, Svitanok (“Dawn”) NGO worked in Donetsk providing support to such women.

When the armed conflict started, the NGO team and their clients had to leave Donetsk and other temporarily occupied areas.

Today, Svitanok activists continue their activities in Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine.

Looking for the Dawn. Women of Donbass

It is urgent that all actors involved in drug policy redouble their efforts to address the problem. This is the challenge highlighted by the European Drug Report 2019, which painted a rather discouraging picture of the situation in Europe: increase in drug trafficking and drug-related deaths, emergence of new drugs, more powerful, pure and diversified.

The CSFD, an expert group of the European Commission, held its last meeting in Brussels (Belgium) on 8 and 9 October. The Forum is composed of 45 member organizations from different European countries, which provide a number of prevention, treatment, risk reduction and rehabilitation services for people with substance use disorders. All these entities form a diversified group in terms of vision and experience.

At its last meeting, the CSFD presented a European financing project to obtain additional resources to carry out activities such as organizing seminars and training programmes, carrying out studies, etc. The financing project has been approved.

The agenda for last October’s meeting was also determined by the political situation. After the European Parliament elections in April, a new team of Commissioners has been formed to lead European legislative initiatives. The many changes involved in setting up a new European Parliament and a new team thus provide an opportunity to give the drug problem more importance on the European political agenda.

Several of the processes addressed by the CSFD are already underway, such as the evaluation process of the EU Drugs Strategy and Action Plan, in which civil society should have a role to play – or the changes in the financial frameworks for health and justice issues.

The working groups took the opportunity to plan their activities for the coming years. Dianova has joined the working group on relations with international institutions, which is organizing a seminar at the European Parliament on December 5 to draw Members’ attention to drug policies.

The meeting concluded with a joint session of CSFD members with representatives of the Horizontal Working Party on Drugs of the Council of the European Union, a group of national experts participating in the Brussels Policy Framework. Other stakeholders and experts from the European Commission also participated in the session, such as the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. During the session, civil society representatives asked questions, made specific proposals and requests and shared information on the work of the CSFD.

The Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD), an actor Involved

Sri Lankan President, Maithripala Sirisena, has vowed to hang at least one drug dealer before he leaves office; conditional on the Supreme Court ruling in his favour and repealing the 43-year-old hiatus on the use of the death penalty for drug offences.

In July of this year, Sri Lanka's Supreme Court order temporarily postponed the trial and possible execution of four people until October 30. The court will hear their case the day prior.

Over a hundred human rights organisations have spoken out against Sri Lanka’s return to the death penalty.

Biraj Patnaik, South Asia Director at Amnesty International, stated;

“The taking of a human life by the state is one of the gravest acts a government can commit. The severity of the punishment as a minimum requires complete transparency as a key safeguard of due process.”

Sri Lanka currently has 24,000 people incarcerated, 60 per cent are arrested on drug-related offences. There are 1,229 inmates on death row and 48 are being convicted of drug offences.

"There are cases filed against my decision. But if the court gives a favourable decision, I will surely hang at least one. I am doing them for the future of youth.”

He further stated that Sri Lanka’s future leaders would need to invest more heavily in education; conflating drug use with intelligence.

"All developed countries have invested heavily in education”

Sirisena’s war on drug draws parallels with Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, in January of this year he said to the Philippine president;

“the war against crime and drugs carried out by you [President Duterte] is an example to the whole world, and personally to me. Drug menace is rampant in my country and I feel that we should follow your footsteps to control this hazard.”

The EU has warned against Sri Lanka stating that it may further damage Sri Lanka’s international standing and discourage investors. Sri Lanka is currently a beneficiary of the GSP+ agreement with the EU which enables a preferential trade scheme but is dependent upon Sri Lanka fulfilling its commitments to human rights.