By Patricia Chulver Benitez | Acción Semilla Foundation

2018 was a year with significant advances in the regulation of some controlled substances at the international level of drug policy and it is necessary to analyze the trends to understand the steps that Bolivia must take if it wishes to advance with its regulatory policy with a view to the international claim of the coca leaf and the possibilities of export.

As a first success we can mention Uruguay with its Law No. 19172 which regulates the production, distribution and sale of cannabis and whose effectiveness is measured in terms of the rights of people who use drugs by providing an effective health response from public health. It is followed by Canada, the first G7 country to legalize the recreational use of the same plant, and Mexico, which recently presented its proposal for a General Law for the Regulation and Control of Cannabis.

These countries (along with others for 2020 initiatives such as New Zealand) hope to reach trade agreements between parties as the international context allows for new legal alternatives that do not break with the conventions and do not depend on consensus in the larger drug policy decision scenarios. The first alternative is the “Inter Se” treaties and the second is based on requesting a critical review from the World Health Organization (WHO).

Bolivia, the coca leaf and the new horizons of plants banned from international markets

While the Hungarian politicians, similarly to other populist forces in Europe, falsely claim that migrants brings disease, they ignore the evidence about what really works in stopping disease.

In an interview to a pro-government newspaper, Bence Rétvári, the Secretary of State for Public Administration of the Hungarian government, declared that “mass migration does not only pose risk in regard to terrorism, public security, the preservation of our culture or overburdening social care, but also for the whole public health system.” He backed this claim with two arguments. His first argument was that migration brings “huge extra expenditure” to the public health care system. His second argument was that migrants “endanger” Europe by bringing disease and infections. Both arguments are often used by populist politicians because they seem to be compelling to people who don’t know much about the subject. The only problem with these arguments is that they are not only unsubstantiated by epidemiological research, but are deemed to be wrong and dangerous beliefs by researchers.

A recent example is a scientific commission comprised of leading health experts, convened by the world’s most prestigious public health journal, The Lancet. The UCL-Lancet Commission published its report about the public health impact of migration in December last year. “We come to the conclusion that there is no evidence migrants are contributing to any harmful effects on the health of the countries. If anything, they are adding a lot of value,” said a member of this Commission to the press. According to the report, it is primarily the young and healthy people who undertake a risky journey to start a new life in another country and they have lower mortality and morbidity rates than the host societies in Europe. That means net benefits for the public health system in the ageing Europe. Most of the health damage migrants suffer from can be linked to stigma and discrimination; politicians should focus on breaking down these barriers instead of scaremongering.

Hungary: Migrants are not responsible for spreading disease – but bad policies are

Uganda Harm Reduction Network calls for a quick intervention in the human rights violations against people who use drugs and other psychotropic substances.

This follows the brutal arrest humiliation and detention of 17 drug users including foreign signatories by police on allegations of using drugs in different bars on 5th/01/2019 in Kabalagala Suburbs of Kampala. UHRN works to advocate for practical interventions aimed at supporting and addressing issues of human rights violations among people who use drugs.

We are deeply concerned by the deteriorating circumstances in which punitive enforcement of laws including; inhuman treatment and torture of drug users undermines their public health While there are no express provisions in the constitution protecting drug users` rights, there are basic protections that are enshrined in the constitution and in the laws of Uganda which protect the rights of all persons.

For instance; The right to freedom from inhuman and degrading treatment: the constitution in Article 24 requires respect for human dignity and provides that no person shall be subjected to any form of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. This provision finds particular application in the context of arrests of drug users

Article 20 (1) of the convention on Psychotropic Substance of 1971 requires all state parties to take all practical measures for the prevention of abuse and psychotropic substances and for the early identification, treatment and education after care rehabilitation and social reintegration of all persons who use drugs.

The Uganda Harm Reduction Network is concerned that the criminalization and increased brutal arrests and degrading treatment of drug users will continue to push people who use drugs into the shadows since the government has positioned drug use as a criminal justice issue rather than a health issue.

We call for: Respect of the rights of people who use drugs; A human rights and public health approach in dealing with drug use; and Adoption of harm reduction interventions for people who use drugs

UHRN: A press release on the condemnation of the human rights violations against people who use drugs by state operatives in Uganda

State and territory leaders will face a national campaign calling for pill-testing led by young people, the group that might argue it has the most to lose from governments baulking at the idea.

A day after the New South Wales coroner announced it would investigate five recent deaths at music festivals, Students for Sensible Drug Policy Australia will launch the Be Heard Not Harmed campaign at Melbourne’s Revolver nightclub.

“Young people are going to be the ones to make this change happen,” said Nick Kent, the national director of Students for Sensible Drug Policy. “We’re going around in circles with this debate and it’s remarkable to hear people talking about it whilst excluding those who are most affected.”

 Australian students launch national campaign to pressure MPs to allow pill-testing


Under Pennsylvania’s drug delivery resulting in death statute, a man faces up to 40 years in prison for sharing heroin with a woman who overdosed.
On Nov. 2, 2016, Shannon Fashian died inside the home of Glenn Perella in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, from a heroin overdose. Fashian’s overdose was treated like a crime scene by the police who searched Perella’s home while medical personnel attempted to revive the 28-year-old.
Even though Perella, 54, tried to save Fashian’s life by administering opioid reversal drug naloxone, calling 911, and remaining by her side until help arrived, the Bethel Park Police Department charged him with felony drug delivery resulting in death. Police said Perella bought heroin for Fashian, who then shared half the purchase with him.
Under Pennsylvania’s drug delivery resulting in death statute, Perella faces up to 40 years in state prison if convicted. In order to be charged with the crime, which is considered a criminal homicide, a defendant has to only provide or sell drugs to another person who used them, overdosed, and died. There is no requirement that the individual who sold or shared drugs ever intended to cause the death.

USA: Man charged with homicide for sharing drugs with woman who later died

A new study from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shines a light on the escalating opioid crisis. Last year, more than 70,000 people died because of drug overdoses in the United States. Opioids were responsible for nearly 50,000 of those deaths. Those numbers, which are the highest on record, are behind a three-year decline in the country’s life expectancy.

Still, few major foundations work on substance abuse while top philanthropists have been reluctant to get involved in combating the crisis. Michael Bloomberg recently emerged as an exception to that rule.

Bloomberg Philanthropies has pledged $50 million to fighting the epidemic. Vital Strategies, the Pew Charitable Trust, Johns Hopkins University and the CDC join Bloomberg on the endeavor, which will span 10 states, starting with Pennsylvania.

USA: Finally, a leading mega-giver steps up for the opioid crisis as the death toll rises

The Government has passed its medicinal cannabis bill, which will establish a regulated scheme within a year and give those close to death a legal defence before then.

After a long road to third reading the bill passed on Tuesday afternoon with the support of Labour, the Greens, and NZ First.

Both the Greens and NZ First won some concessions to the bill, which has been criticised by medicinal marijuana advocates for not going far enough - and by National as "decriminalisation by stealth".

New Zealand: Medicinal cannabis bill passes, with regulated market promised within a year and a legal defence until then

Bangkok (14 January 2019) – The Asian Network of People who Use Drugs (ANPUD) has released 11 short films that are developed around issues of people who use drugs, particularly in the countries in South and Southeast Asian regions. The short films were submitted by filmmakers who have been part of the event “ANPUD Short Films Competition 2018”. The competition was launched in July 2018 in celebration of the 10th anniversary of ANPUD.

One of the viewers of ANPUD’s YouTube channel commented on a short film from the Philippines saying,

“While watching, the only way to not get my heart shattered into million pieces is to pretend I don’t have one…. pretending to be heartless, as heartless as President Duterte!!!”.

The short films depict the environmental (or contextual) realities in which drug using communities have been compelled to suffer from many forms of human rights abuses. These realities have been told in many platforms and are only one small aspect of the lives of people who use drugs. Each short film that ANPUD has released will tell or reveal truths about various aspects of their lives that have either been generally ignored or painted as evil and inhuman with moral/political inks.

Visit ANPUD's website to access all 11 short films.

“Our stories have a lot more to offer than how we have been painted for decades”: ANPUD releases 11 short films that can change your perspective on people who use drugs

The Malaysian Law Minister, Liew Vui Keong, has urged the government to review the country's Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 to ensure that law enforcement efforts focus on drug supply, rather than punishing people with addiction.

An unofficial translation of the press release published today, on 17 January, follows:

At a meeting of the Cabinet Committee to Combat Drugs, chaired by the Honourable Deputy Prime Minister, Dato 'Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Binti Dr. Wan Ismail, and held this morning in Putrajaya, discussions took place on matters raised during a previous meeting of the Committee.



The meeting was attended by the Honourable Minister of Interior, Tan Sri Dato' Haji Muhyiddin Yassin; the Youth and Sports Minister, Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman; the Honourable Minister of Law, Datuk Liew Vui Keong; the Minister of National Unity and Social Wellbeing, National Integrity, Waythamoorthy Ponnusamy; and the National Anti-Drugs Agency and Royal Malaysian Police.



The Law Minister, Datuk Liew Vui Keong, expressed the view that drug use needs to be understood as a health issue and managed by the health sector, rather than the criminal justice system.



He said drug use and addiction were the result of complex biological and social factors, such as genetic predispositions, psychological factors and environmental influences. And, thus, that law enforcement should focus on drug trafficking instead of punishing people who use drugs.



He further added that the dominance of law enforcement on matters of illicit drug use was not only ineffective, but has created adverse health consequences for those affected and led to huge government spending.



This is evident when people who live with addiction are discharged from compulsory drug rehabilitation centres, only to relapse due to a lack of continued support and encouragement to help them fight this illness.



Thus, the Minister said, some sections of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 should be reviewed to amend the current punitive approach.







Datuk Liew Vui Keong



Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law)



Putrajaya

17 January 2019

'Enforcement should be focused on drug smuggling, not punishing people who use drugs' - Malaysian Law Minister

This week the Hawks received all-round praise after 706kg of cocaine was found on a ship in transit from Brazil to India. Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeva, national head of the Hawks, said: "By confiscating this cargo, we have severed the supply chain. But the war on drugs has neither been lost nor won. We are still going to put more effort in targeting the supply of these dangerous dependence producing substances.

But he is wrong, the supply chain has not been severed, and the war on drugs has, by its own measure, been lost. The seizure was big by any standards, but 700kg of seized cocaine will not make an iota of difference to the price or availability of drugs in the local or global market.

Tom Wainwright, in Narconomics, his excellent book describing the way drug cartels operate, explains that demand is so high that attempts to increase the cost of drugs to the end user, through supply reduction, do not work. The total production of cocaine in 2016 (the latest figures available in the UN Office on Drugs and Crime World Drug Report) was up 25% from 2015 figures, and hectares under coca cultivation increased from 156,900 to 213.000 between 2006 and 2017,

Despite international law enforcement spending billions on countering the cultivation of crops of opium poppy, coca and cannabis, there has been no reduction in supply or increase in price, and purity has risen. About 18.2 million people between 16 and 64 used cocaine and a quarter of a billion people used unregulated drugs. That is a lot of demand, a lot of supply, and a lot of money to fund political campaigns, buy protection and Influence law enforcement.

By request a better picture of my article, hopefully it can be read! pic.twitter.com/vffEejWFZ2

— shaun shelly (@shaunshelly) January 14, 2019

The war on drugs is a war on the poor - It's time to rethink policies that don't work

The Israeli Parliament (the "Knesset"), passed the 16th amendment to Dangerous Drugs Ordinance on December 25, that concerns the governance and regulatory aspects of exporting medical cannabis from Israel. Subsequently, Israel is poised to be a top-earning, global hub in the marijuana market.

The Knesset's measure was approved unanimously by 21 votes. Following the vote, the Minister of Internal Security, Gilad Erdan, approved. (Minister Gilad previously disapproved such actions; however, his party is currently up for re-election.)

The bill passed the Knesset's internal affairs committee and two additional votes in the Knesset's grand hall. The legislation authorizes the Israeli Police to conduct supervision of cannabis farms, and grant approvals for cultivating, growing and exporting of cannabis and cannabis-related products. Police involvement clears a legal obstacle necessary for the final approval of export of medical marijuana from the country, during 2019, expectedly.

Israeli parliament passes bill allowing export of medical marijuana

Our actions are aimed to ensure that the following measures are taken in the countries of CEECA: Drug use, possession and purchase of drugs should no longer be a criminal or administrative crime; Drug dependence should no longer be an aggravation but should be considered as a basis for social and medical care provision» – that is how our Position Paper on Drug Policy was formulated after hot and long discussions between EHRA members. It is first time when members are developing joint position needed for developing concrite advocacy steps on regional and national levels.

Criminalization of drugs use and possession costs to society too much, in some countries it could be 5-10 times more expensive then support person in freedom with harm reduction services and unemployment wages – that are conclusions of assessment conducted by EHRA in 26 countries in CEECA region – Criminalization cost.

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