Pregnancy holds a special space in most societies; it is a biological necessity for species preservation and represents the promise of future generations. Pregnancy is thought by many to bestow upon women an extra layer of societal protection and care. Social conventions dictate that pregnant women be given priority seating on buses, trains and other forms of transport and in lines for rest rooms and priority rescue during natural disasters. We believe ourselves to be solicitous and helpful to pregnant women and accord them an extra measure of respect.

But in many ways in the United States the treatment of pregnant women has been and continues to be class specific. Poor and working-class women often find pregnancy a difficult time, especially if they have jobs that don't offer health care benefits, sick time or maternity leave. Those challenges can make pregnancy difficult enough without the extra worry of health care providers and/or aggressive prosecutors looking over your shoulders and sometimes even examining your urine to make sure you aren't engaging in activities they consider 'harmful' to your fetus. In the aftermath of the crack cocaine media hysteria of the 1980s, laws that were enacted to give more protection to women who were physically assaulted while pregnant - began to be used against pregnant women. Punitive prosecutors and anti-choice advocates promoted the idea that the most dangerous place for certain children is their mother's womb. It appears that we are seeing a similar response to the increasing use of opiates by pregnant women.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Policing pregnancy is bad for public health

Ruth Dreifuss, Chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy and former President of Switzerland, is on a brief visit to Thailand to meet with the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Deputy Minister of the Interior and the Governor of Bangkok, to exchange views and experiences on drug policy.

After having also visited the Ozone Foundation and listened to members of other non-governmental organizations that offer treatment and harm reduction measures, Ruth Dreifuss met today with members of the press at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand. At this event, she presented the recent report of the Global Commission, Advancing Drug Policy Reform: a new approach to drug decriminalization, and expressed her hope that Thailand would make important steps toward implementing such an approach.

Early this year, the government of Thailand decided to reform its drug laws, by lowering the penalties for drug use and possession and opening a debate on ending compulsory treatment for people who use drugs, as well as more effective ways to address methamphetamines.

Ruth Dreifuss said, “Drug policy in Thailand is, on the one hand, a model for the way it developed alternative economic perspectives for farmers, resulting in a peaceful eradication of the illicit cultivation of poppies. On the other, it has employed repressive policies that have had negative consequences for people who use drugs and their communities, producing prison overcrowding and spreading the HIV/AIDS epidemic, without reducing the presence of drugs. The Global Commission fully supports the Government of Thailand’s initiative to open the debate and consider more effective measures in preventing social and health harms, measures aligned with the principles of proportionality, dignity and human rights.”

The report Advancing Drug Policy Reform: a new approach to drug decriminalization details the destructive and harmful consequences of the punitive approach to drug policy. It shows how ending punishment does not mean encouraging or condoning the use of drugs, but rather it empowers individuals and communities, promotes better prevention and easier access to treatment, and builds confidence between the State and the citizens.

“On this visit, I hope to contribute, by sharing my experiences and those of my colleagues at the Global Commission, to the current debate on defining appropriate drug policies that are adapted to the particular environment and needs of Thailand,” said Madam Dreifuss.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

Thailand on its way to a less punitive and more human rights and health-centred drug policy

Members of the newly formed Eastern African Harm Reduction Network (EAHRN) regrouping the following countries: Kenya, Burundi, Seychelles, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Uganda & Mauritius, and of which 

 is a board member, met in Nairobi to develop its mission, vision, and strategic objectives. The team is expected to meet soon to finalise the various documents needed to register the network, and recruit a coordinator.

Eastern African Harm Reduction Network Meeting, Nairobi March 2017

Promessa de campanha do Partido Liberal do Canadá, legalização da cannabis pode acontecer em julho do ano que vem. O uso recreativo ainda é proibido do país. Mais informação em inglês está disponível abaixo.

Registe-se para recever as Alertas mensais do IDPC e obter informação sobre questões relacionadas com as políticas de drogas.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government is reportedly planning to announce legislation that will legalise recreational marijuana use across the country.

Under the proposals, producers would be licensed and the national age limit to buy it would be set at 18, although some provinces would be allowed to set it higher.

Canadians who want to grow their own marijuana would be limited to four plants per household.

Canadá pode legalizar maconha em 2018

The Western Cape High Court has made a landmark ruling, declaring that it is an infringement to ban the use of dagga by adults in private homes.

In making the ruling on Friday, it has allowed for the possession, cultivation and use dagga at home, for private use.

It has also ruled that Parliament must change sections of the Drug Trafficking Act, as well as the Medicines Control Act.

South Africa: Cannabis can be used in the home, Western Cape High Court rules

Drugs offences in Malaysia will no longer be hit with an automatic death sentence, as the country’s government plans to give more power of discretion to the courts system.

The country’s cabinet took the decision after a review of the country’s drug legislation and the recommendation of attorney general Mohamed Apandi Ali to loosen the punishments.

Malaysia will still carry the death penalty for other serious offences such as murder and gun crime.

Malaysia loosens drug stance with removal of mandatory death sentence

An expert panel of doctors will tomorrow begin to draw up guidelines on how medicinal cannabis can be prescribed in Ireland.

Describing it as “a pivotal step”, Health Minister Simon Harris said the expert reference group, chaired by Dr Mairín Ryan of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), would start drafting guidelines on how the drug can be dispensed.

Patients and clinicians will also have a say on the guidelines which are to become the main building blocks of the Cannabis Access Programme (CAP) which Harris announced at the start of the year.

Ireland moves one step closer to allowing doctors prescribe medicinal cannabis

In the United States, where an epidemic of overdoses from heroin and other opioids is front-page news, it is becoming more widely accepted that people who use drugs and their communities should have access to naloxone, an overdose antidote, in case of an emergency.

Indeed, by 2014, U.S. harm reduction programs—which focus on offering drug users choices that can help them protect their health—had given more than 152,000 laypeople naloxone kits, resulting in more than 26,000 overdose reversals. However, this simple harm reduction intervention has been slow to gain traction in many other countries. Obstacles include laws that prohibit ordinary people from providing injections, as well as a reluctance to put these tools directly in the hands of drug users—often over fears this will lead to riskier behavior.

Learning from Italy’s lead on naloxone

Other than a wall at the border with Mexico, Donald Trump promised little to address drug trafficking in the Americas during last year’s U.S. presidential campaign. Two months into his presidency, it is clear that the Trump administration’s disengaged and military-first approach to the drug trade could bring more volatility to the region.

On March 13, the White House released “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again,” which raises more questions and concerns than solutions on many issues, including the drug trade. It notably recommends a $54 billion increase in military spending, proposes reduced funding to the “UN and affiliated agencies,” and requests a $10.1 billion budget cut for the Department of State and USAID—a 28 percent decrease from current levels. In his introductory message to Congress, Trump declared that, “It is time to prioritize the security and well-being of Americans, and to ask the rest of the world to step up and pay its fair share.”

What does the Trump era mean for drug policy in Latin America?

Argentina gave final legislative approval on Wednesday to a bill legalizing cannabis oil for medicinal use and permitting the federal government to grow marijuana for research and therapeutic purposes.

The measure will become law once it is signed by President Mauricio Macri, whose Cambiemos party sponsored the bill.

"Thirty percent of epileptics do not respond to traditional medicine," medical doctor Ana María García Nicora, who heads the Medical Cannabis Argentina group, told local television after the Senate's final vote on the measure.

"My daughter has had epilepsy for 24 years and this is an option for her," she said.

Chile and Colombia have adopted similar laws and neighboring Uruguay has gone as far as to legalize smoking marijuana, seeking to wrest the business from criminals in the small South American nation.

A bill approving the use of cannabis oil is pending in Peru's Congress. In January, healthcare regulators in Brazil issued the country's first license for sale of an oral spray derived from marijuana used to treat multiple sclerosis.

Argentina lawmakers approve cannabis oil for medicinal use

Lawmakers in the Philippines are being urged by the UN Special Rapporteurs on extrajudicial executions and torture* to reject a proposed Death Penalty Bill which is under consideration in Manila.

The proposed “Death Penalty Bill” which would reintroduce capital punishment for drug-related offences, defined in the text as “heinous crimes”, would replace the Republic Act which prohibits the imposition of capital punishment in the Philippines.

The measure was approved by the House of Representatives on 7 March and has now moved to the Senate for approval. Discussions there have been suspended at sub-Committee level to allow for consideration of the Philippines’ international legal obligations.

UN experts urge Filipino legislators to reject death penalty bill

Indonesia’s National Narcotics Board (BNN) together with the Health Ministry recently made a swift move to criminalize synthetic cannabinoids called “super tobacco”, also known as “Gorilla tobacco”, as part of their anti-narcotics efforts. However, synthetic cannabinoids will continue to spread as long as cannabis remains illegal. A better approach would be to develop a regulatory framework for the use and production of natural cannabis

Synthetic cannabinoids have gained popularity in Indonesia shortly after President Joko Widodo pledged to intensify the war on drugs in the archipelago. Since then, cannabis seizures and eradication programs have increased. Amid shrinking supply, many users have turned to online markets for synthetic cannabinoids, sold as tobacco products with psychoactive effects similar to cannabis.

On Jan. 9, “Gorilla tobacco” - chemically identified as AB-CHMINACA - was included in the strictest Schedule I of Indonesia’s 2009 anti-narcotics law, along with 27 other substances. By taking this approach, the BNN neglects the possible “balloon effect” of adding this new layer of prohibition. Criminalizing one type of synthetic cannabinoids (or synthetic drugs and NPS in general) will simply encourage producers to adapt and find new or modified substances; allowing other (and possibly more dangerous) varieties to emerge.

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