It’s a stat the needs to be repeated: although making up just 15% of New Zealand’s populace, Māori are 51% of the prison population, and 40% of those are incarcerated for drug offences. While politicians avoid drug law reform, the police have effectively been given a mandate to decriminalise cannabis in practice. But the current arrangement isn’t close to working for New Zealand’s indigenous population, who face racial discrimination in the police’s subjective application of the law. Māori are again hugely overrepresented in convictions for possession or use of cannabis.

As a senior lecturer in criminal law at AUT, Khylee Quince has examined the effects of police discrimination against Māori. As Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Porou, she has seen the same discrimination against her family and community. But even three years ago she wasn’t sure what was the right way to change outcomes for Māori.

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Why cannabis reform needs to be done with Māori, for Māori

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's instruction last week to law enforcers to shoot drug traffickers to combat what he called a narcotics emergency facing the nation, has drawn sharp criticism from rights activists.

Some have suggested that the president should take his cues from more sources than only the country's all-powerful National Narcotics Agency (BNN) to formulate a more humane drug policy.

Usman Hamid, Indonesia country director for the United Kingdom-based rights group Amnesty International, likened Jokowi's "shoot-on-sight" order to Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's alleged tactic in his war on drugs. "Duterte's war on drugs is the wrong kind of approach for a democratic country. Indonesia must look for a better approach or best practices from other countries," Usman told the Jakarta Globe on July 23.

Indonesia: More humane drug policy should put public health first, punitive actions second

An Indian minister has called for the legalisation of cannabis for medical purposes, as legislators consider approaches to reducing drug misuse in the country.

Maneka Gandhi, Minister for Women and Child Development, declared that “marijuana should be legalised for medical purposes, especially as it serves a purpose in [treating] cancer”. Gandhi was speaking during a ministerial discussion on India's National Drug Demand Reduction Policy - a regularly-revised government document which aims to reduce demand for both illegal and pharmaceutical drugs.

There are mentions of cannabis in historical and sacred Indian texts from over 3,000 years ago, however the drug was prohibited across the country in 1985 following pressure from the US’ Reagan administration. Ironically, the US is now one of the countries at the forefront of the movement for cannabis law reform.

Indian minister calls for medical cannabis legalisation: Could it help reduce the heroin crisis?

As of 3 years ago, Serbia stopped being eligible for funding from the Global Fund, which resulted in the closure of harm reduction programs around the country. Our movie gives you a glimpse of the desperate situation faced by injecting drug users in Serbia, and also explores the consequences of the closure of needle exchange programs in Belgrade, whilst trying to assess the current situation in the country.

Without shift: Harm reduction after the Global Fund in Serbia

Office for National Statistics (ONS) data released today shows 3,744 drug-related deaths registered in 2016 in England and Wales and a 44% increase on 2012 figures. It is the fourth year in a row that the ONS has registered an increase. 2016 is now the year with the highest number of registered drug-related deaths since records began. Increased mortality rates have been reported across all the main substances of use.

Deaths related to MDMA and cocaine are the highest since records began with 63 and 371 fatalities, recorded respectively. MDMA deaths have increased by 103% per cent and cocaine deaths by 167%, since 2012.

Number of drug-related deaths in England and Wales rises to highest on record, Government must declare public health emergency 

The International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) is a global network of NGOs that aims to promote objective and open debate on the effectiveness, direction and content of drug policies at the national, regional and international levels. We have over 170 member organisations worldwide, and the IDPC Secretariat is based in London and Bangkok.

We are looking to appoint a Team Assistant to contribute to the smooth running of our secretariat operations based in London, and to provide essential administrative and accounting support to a small but dynamic team.

The successful candidate will have proven administrative and accounting experience, and must be highly motivated, flexible, and capable of working both independently and as part of a team. Previous experience and/or interest in health, human rights or drug policy is not essential, but the successful candidate will possess a willingness to combine administrative work with tasks that require more autonomy. Excellent English communication skills are essential, as is experience with financial administration. Competency in other languages is desirable (especially Spanish and/or French), as is previous experience working with the Xero accounting software.

The successful candidate will join our highly motivated team, and must be a team player with excellent interpersonal skills. This position is based full time in London, and applicants must have the right to live and work in the United Kingdom.

Please click to access the job description.

If you wish to apply for this post, please send a CV (maximum two pages) and a cover letter (maximum one page) to 

17:00 (UK time) on Friday 25th August 2017

. Shortlisted candidates will need to be available for interviews on the 13th, 14th or 15th September in London. We regret that we cannot respond directly to unsuccessful applicants.

IDPC recruits Team Assistant

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has directed police to shoot suspected drug dealers, citing the need to be "firm" in the face of a national "narcotics emergency".

Widodo's statement, echoing earlier remarks from National Police chief Tito Karnavian, has elicited criticism from human rights groups, and drawn parallels to the stance of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, whose brutal anti-drug crackdown has resulted in more than 7,000 deaths. Duterte's campaign of extra-judicial and vigilante executions has been strongly condemned by the United Nations.

Indonesia: Why Jokowi's war on drugs is doing more harm than good

This is "El Campamento", the busiest and most built-up of a handful of hidden-away injection sites along a half-mile stretch of freight track between 2nd Street and Kensington Avenue. For more than 20 years homeless people and drug users have sought refuge in this gulch, and today there are about 70 people living along the tracks and up to 200 passing through every day to shoot up. As nightmarish as it feels, users here say it's a safe place, away from the police and the rest of the public, where people look out for each other and outreach workers visit regularly. Narcan - a nasal spray that reverses overdoses - is never far away.

The city is already predicting a 30% increase in overdoses this year, for the second year running, taking the grim toll from 900 to 1,200 - four times the estimated number of murders. Fentanyl - a tranquiliser 50 to 100 times more powerful than heroin which has been linked to deaths across the country - has taken hold, infecting the supply of heroin that floods into Philadelphia from the ports.

DBHIS is working with city-funded outreach groups like Prevention Point, in an attempt to engage with users before the track clearout. The charity began life 25 years ago as an underground needle exchange and two years ago moved into an old brownstone Methodist church in the heart of Kensington, a few blocks from the tracks. Hundreds of users travel to the building from all corners of the neighbourhood and beyond, for a check-up, a pack of clean needles or just a chat, and for a few hours every day the old church has a congregation of sorts.

There are no safe injection sites in America, yet. As the nation's opioid epidemic spirals, several major cities, including Seattle, San Francisco, and New York, are beginning to consider taking the leap, but there is fierce political resistance to the idea.

USA: As an open-air heroin camp is closed, options narrow

Constitutional Court of Georgia declared unconstitutional the imprisonment for illegal sowing, growing and cultivation of weed up to 266 gr. The judgment (#№1/9/701,722,725) has been delivered on July 14, 2017 in Batumi, Georgia.

Constitutional Court's judgements in shaping drug policy of Georgia is significant at a time when parliament in this fall also considering the reviewing of the draft package in changing the law for decriminalization of all drugs, which has been submitted to parliament by National Drug Policy Platform. Many different cases still are pending in the Constitutional Court for decriminalization of all drugs and the hope for changing the cruel policies in a litigation way, which can be one of the most sustainable changes than the political will or promises of any of the political parties.

Georgia:  Constitutional Court's judgement on sowing, growing and cultivation of cannabis

The peace deal signed late last year between the government and the main rebel group — the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as the FARC — was never just about ending the Americas’ longest-running conflict. The Colombian government also sees peace as its biggest chance in decades to uproot the rebel-controlled drug trade and replace it with crops that are legal, though admittedly less lucrative.

Peace means that soldiers no longer have to shoot their way into rebel-held territory to pull up coca plants or dismantle drug labs. Now the FARC, which formally disarmed last month, is joining forces with the government to wean farmers off coca — one of the first collaborations ever between the old enemies.

Now, as part of its reconstruction plan for Colombia’s war-ravaged countryside, the government is promising money to the first 50,000 coca-growing families that take the offer: a monthly payment of about $325 for the first year that farmers give up coca, followed by subsidies to plant new crops and education on how to grow them.

Thumbnail: Flickr CC Colombia Johana Arias Valle

After decades of war, Colombian farmers face a new test: Peace

Pharmacies in Uruguay started selling marijuana Wednesday under a four-year-old law that has made the small South American country the first in the world to legalize pot from production to sale.

In all, 16 pharmacies have been authorized to sell marijuana under state controls, barely enough to cover a country of 3.5 million people. No major pharmacy chain has agreed to sell the drug.

Many pharmacies have been unwilling to participate in the scheme because of concerns about security and doubts that the small market of registered users is worth the trouble.

Only about 5,000 people, most of them age 30 to 44, have signed up as prospective buyers since Uruguay's state registry opened in early May.

Walk-in sales are not allowed under the law, and only residents of Uruguay can register to buy pot—thereby preventing marijuana tourism.

Uruguay pharmacies start selling cannabis

IDPC and the Eurasian Network of People who Use Drugs (ENPUD) are two of the partners in the global Harm Reduction Consortium that received support from the Robert Carr civil society Networks Fund. This year, ENPUD will be providing a number of small grants to peer groups to support their local advocacy and activism – and the recipient organisations were invited to a three-day drug policy training workshop in the picturesque Odiseu Tourist Complex just outside of Chisinau, Moldova. IDPC were delighted to support this meeting, and Jamie Bridge (IDPC Senior Policy and Operations Manager) attended to speak about the international drug control system, the relevant UN agencies and processes, the Support Don’t Punish campaign, and how these all interact at the international, regional and national levels. The training event was held in English and Russian, and was attended by nearly 20 peer representatives from all across the Eurasia region.

Part I: https://www.facebook.com/eurasianharmreduction/videos/1496074607082544/

Part II: https://www.facebook.com/eurasianharmreduction/videos/1496158103740861/

Part III: https://www.facebook.com/eurasianharmreduction/

SDP presentation: https://www.facebook.com/eurasianharmreduction/videos/1496383160385022/

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