Voters in Colombia's referendum have narrowly rejected a peace accord between the government and the Marxist group, FARC.

The outcome of Sunday's vote endangers a deal expected to end 52 years of war and allow FARC fighters to re-enter society and form a political party.

Results from 99 percent of polling stations showed the "no" vote (50.24 percent) slightly ahead of the "yes" vote (49.75), according to Colombia's election authority.

Al Jazeera's Latin America Editor Lucia Newman, reporting from Bogota, said the "no" vote was ahead by 50,000 ballots.

"A very surprising vote indeed," she said. "Every single poll until now had given the 'yes' vote a lead."

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

Colombia referendum: Peace deal with FARC rejected

Over the past months, thousands of people who use drugs and people suspected of using and/or selling drugs have been killed in the Philippines. The Filipino President, Rodrigo Duterte, is responsible: he has repeatedly encouraged the police and the general public to murder people suspected of being drug users and/or of dealing drugs. As a result, people who use drugs no longer have the right to life in the Philippines.

The President of the Philippines has promoted, incited, and actively endorsed the extrajudicial killings. He has vocally ridiculed statements by the United Nations to respect life, human rights, wellbeing, and welfare of the most marginalised within Filipino society as “very stupid”. Efforts of United Nations agencies to date have been ineffectual and insufficient. Indeed, they have been dismissed outright by Duterte. President Duterte has revoked the human, civil, and political rights of people who use drugs, who continue to be tortured and butchered in the streets. These crimes are being committed with utter impunity.

Monday 10th October 2016 will kick off a week of sustained actions targeting the Filipino president and government through peaceful demonstrations at embassies and consulates of the Philippines around the world.

The Asian Network of People who Use Drugs (ANPUD) and the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD) will be joined by other drug user networks and activists, as well as human rights and drug policy agencies, to urgently demand a halt to the killing of people who use drugs in the Philippines.

People who use drugs are human beings. Our actions will emphasise that we are mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, and grandparents. We care for our families and communities, and our contribution to society is just as valuable and important as that of all other citizens. Our deaths cause untold suffering and pain among us and our communities, to our families, and to Filipino society as a whole.

It is vital that we mobilise together and in solidarity to call a halt to the killings.

Global week of action: Crisis for people who use drugs in the Philippines

Suppose a pilot study on a new smoking-cessation program found that 80 percent of the subjects had quit successfully, most of them without much struggle.

In a sane world — considering that some 400,000 Americans die each year from smoking-related diseases — a dozen labs would have moved quickly, with federal funding, to test that finding, and further success would have generated a quick move toward large-scale trials.

But when Matthew Johnson and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins reported precisely that result in 2012 — in a study with 15 participants, all of whom had previously failed to quit smoking more than once — that rapid follow-up didn’t happen. The treatment involved the use of psilocybin, the active agent in psychedelic "magic mushrooms."

Of course, the Hopkins result may turn out to be a flash in the pan. It had a small sample and no control group, and was not "blind" (that is, subjects and experimenters all knew the material involved was psilocybin, so expectation effects might have influenced the results). But 80 percent success in treating stubborn nicotine addiction is unheard of and worth following up.

Four years later, the only follow-up currently in progress is another study by the same team: a randomized (but still not blind) trial of psilocybin against the nicotine patch. That work is funded by two small foundations, the Heffter Research Institute and the Beckley Foundation. Both Heffter and Beckley focus on the psychedelics; the much larger private and public funders focused on smoking and health aren’t yet interested. That lack of enthusiasm, among both funders and the broader scientific community, speaks volumes about how edgy the whole topic of psychedelics as therapy remains.

Still and all, as we come up on a half-century since the Summer of Love created national awareness of the "psychedelic culture," ideas around these drugs are changing. The psychedelics are attracting fresh attention, in an entirely different key.

Psychedelic experiences might "cure" smoking and OCD. Should we allow them?

A recent decision in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) could have significant implications for an upcoming challenge against Russia’s ban on opioid substitution therapy (OST).

In ruling issued earlier this month, the ECHR deemed that Germany’s obstruction of OST to Wolfgang Wenner, a man with a history of opioid dependence dating back to 1973, violated Article 3 of theEuropean Convention on Human Rights (CHR): “No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.

Over two decades ago Wenner was first prescribed levomethadone, a synthetic opioid analgesic used in OST to reduce the risk of overdose and contracting blood-borne viruses, and to bring stability to the individual’s life. Despite being engaged in OST for 17 years, Wenner’s prescription was suddenly halted in 2008 when he was arrested and subsequently imprisoned. Germany’s court system struck down numerous appeals to have his OST reinstated.

The ECHR stated in its ruling that “the refusal to provide [Wenner] continuously with drug substitution treatment, despite his manifest opioid addiction, caused him considerable and continuous mental suffering for a long time.”

This recent ruling sets an interesting precedent for a similar case being brought to the ECHR, whereby three Russian plaintiffs are challenging Russia’s long-standing ban of OST.

Alexey Kurmanayevskiy, Irina Abdyusheva Teplinskaya, and Ivan Anoshkin have all long-experienced opioid dependence, and are living with both HIV and Hepatitis C. The three activists state that Russia’s approach to drug dependence - in which “all treatment […] is abstinence oriented” - is insufficient, and argue that the government’s prohibition of OST violates Articles 3, 8 (right to respect for private and family life) and 14 (prohibition of discrimination) of the CHR.

Among the 47 countries that comprise the Council of Europe, Russia is the only state to prohibit OST.

Suscríbase a las Alertas mensuales del IDPC para recibir información sobre cuestiones relacionadas con políticas sobre drogas.

Could European Court of Human Rights Overturn Russia’s Ban on Drugs to Treat Heroin Dependence?

The availability of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in Europe has rapidly increased over the last decade, as seen by the growing numbers of seizures reported to the EU Early Warning System (EWS) and via standard monitoring mechanisms. The number of new substances detected also continues to grow, with 101 new drugs detected in 2014.

In European countries, initial responses to the emergence of NPS have been predominantly regulatory in nature, focused on tackling their supply using legislative tools. Increasingly, however, attention is being paid to developing targeted education and prevention activities, as well as training and awareness-raising activities for professionals.

Information on health responses to NPS use and harms is emerging but, in many cases, remains anecdotal. Data reveal that drug users presenting, or at risk of, NPS-related harms are observed, or may seek help and information in, a variety of settings.

School and family setting: responses to new psychoactive substances

Sexual health settings: responses to new psychoactive substances

Nightlife settings: responses to new psychoactive substances

Specialised treatment: responses to new psychoactive substances

Hospital emergencies: responses to new psychoactive substances

Health responses to NPS (Videos)

The “Final agreement for the termination of the conflict and the construction of a stable and lasting peace”—signed by the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia–People’s Army (FARC–EP) on August 24, 2016—represents not only an end to the armed conflict between the parties, but an important step in the process of Memory, Truth, Justice and historical and social Reparation in a country that has suffered a humanitarian and human rights crisis for the last 50 years.

At this time, it is best to assess the agreement as a whole in light of the long and complex process of negotiations that gave rise to it. Putting an end to the war implies halting the gross and systematic violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law that afflict the Colombian population, and rural communities in particular. At the same time, in terms of access to land and drug policies, the agreement proposes new approaches to historical problems.

In addition, the final agreement establishes a process for strengthening democracy and identifying the best guarantees to ensure the rights of the conflict’s nearly eight million victims, with mechanisms of justice, truth and reparation. These processes are essential for preventing that the violations committed in the country over decades ever be repeated.

In this scenario, our signatory organizations support this historic moment in Colombia and back the Yes vote in the plebiscite that will take place on October 2. Once this agreement is approved it will be possible to activate, specify and oversee the mechanisms that Colombia needs to ensure the principles of justice, truth, reparation and guarantees of non-repetition.

For this reason our organizations also express an interest in supporting the monitoring of this agreement’s implementation in compliance with international human rights law.


Abogadas y Abogados para la Justicia y los Derechos Humanos - México
Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo - Argentina
Acción Solidaria en VIH/sida - Venezuela
Ágora Espacio Civil - Paraguay
Asistencia Legal por los Derechos Humanos A.C. (ASILEGAL) - México
Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA) - Regional
Asociación Otras Voces - Colombia
Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH) - Perú
Aula Abierta - Venezuela
Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Católica Andrés Bello - Venezuela
Centro de Derechos Reproductivo - Internacional
Centro de Documentación en Derechos Humanos “Segundo Montes Mozo S.J.” (CSMM) - Ecuador
Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS) - Argentina
Centro de Justicia y Paz (Cepaz) - Venezuela
Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho Internacional (CEJIL) - Regional
Centro Regional de Derechos Humanos y Justicia de Género, Corporación Humanas - Chile
CIVILIS Derechos Humanos - Venezuela
Colectivo de Abogados “José Alvear Restrepo” (CCAJAR) - Colombia
Colectivo MECoPa (Migrantes y Exiliados Colombianos por la Paz) - Argentina
Comisión Argentina para Refugiados y Migrantes (CAREF) - Argentina
Comisión Colombiana de Juristas (CCJ) - Colombia
Comisión Ecuménica de Derechos Humanos (CEDHU) - Ecuador
Comision Mexicana de Defensa y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos - México
Comisión para los Derechos Humanos del Estado Zulia (CODHEZ) - Venezuela
Comité de Familiares de las Víctimas (COFAVIC) - Venezuela
Conectas Direitos Humanos - Brasil
Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento (CODHES) - Colombia
Consultorio Jurídico Internacional de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Santo Tomás - Colombia
Convite AC - Venezuela
Coordinadora de Derechos Humanos del Paraguay ( Codehupy) - Paraguay
Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos - Perú
Defensa de Niñas y Niños - Internacional (DNI) - Costa Rica
Dejusticia - Colombia
Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) - Egipto
El Centro para la Paz y los DDHH de la Universidad Central de Venezuela (UCV) - Venezuela
El Programa Venezolano de Educación-Acción en Derechos Humanos (Provea) - Venezuela
Equipo de Reflexión, Investigación y Comunicación de la Compañía de Jesús - Honduras
Espacio Público - Venezuela
Familiares de desaparecidos y detenidos por razones politicas - Argentina
Fundación Memoria Histórica y Social - Argentina
Fundación Myrna Mack - Guatemala
Fundación para el Debido Proceso (DPLf) - Regional
Grupo de Mujeres de San Cristobal Las Casa, A. C - México
Instituto de Estudios Legales y Sociales del Uruguay (IELSUR) - Uruguay
Instituto Internacional de Derecho y Sociedad (IIDS) - Perú
Instituto Internacional sobre Raza, Igualdad y Derechos Humanos - Internacional
Ipas Centro America - Internacional
Kenya Human Rights Commission - Kenya
KontraS - Commission for “the Disappeared” and Victims of Violence - Indonésia
Laboratorio de Paz (LabPaz) - Venezuela
LRC Legal Resources Center - South Africa
Madres de Plaza de Mayo Línea Fundadora - Argentina
Mesa de Víctimas del Conflicto Interno Colombiano en Argentina - Argentina
MNCI Via Campesina - Argentina
Movimiento Autónomo de Mujeres - Nicaragua
Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad de Los Andes - Venezuela
Paz y Esperanza - Perú
Plataforma Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, Democracia y Desarrollo (PIDHDD) - Regional
REDIM Red por los derechos de la infancia en México - México
REDLAMYC Red latinoamericana y caribeña por los derechos de niñas niños y adolescentes - Regional
Seguridad en Democracia (SEDEM) - Guatemala
Sisma Mujer - Colombia
StopVIH - Venezuela
Terra Mater - Ecuador
Transparencia Venezuela - Venezuela
Unión Nacional de Instituciones para el Trabajo de Acción Social (UNITAS) - Bolivia
West African Human Rights Defenders Network (ROADDH /WAHRDN) - Regional
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) - Regional

Colombia: Organizations from across the world say Yes to peace

Peru’s president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (PPK), has proposed a new alternative development plan for the country’s main coca-growing region in the hope of reducing cultivation of the illicit crop. Is success possible in this historically impoverished area?

Just four years ago, Peru had the ignominy of being the world’s largest cultivator of coca, the raw ingredient used in the production of cocaine. However, cultivation levels have dropped sharply from a recent peak of 62,500 hectares in 2011 to 40,300 hectares in 2015, the lowest in 15 years, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

The Apurimac, Ene and Mantaro River Valleys (VRAEM) region – one of Peru’s most isolated and impoverished - has consistently been the highest coca-producing region since 2011 and is the only area where the Shining Path guerrilla group remain active. The region currently accounts for about 45 per cent of all coca cultivated in Peru.

While pursuing aggressive eradication policies elsewhere in the country, the previous administration cut back on targets in the VRAEM in 2014 due to fears that forcibly removing farmers’ livelihoods could drive them into the hands of the Shining Path.

In light of past failures, PPK, who took office in July, is aiming to tackle coca cultivation in a different way – through development programs under his proposed Economic Corporation of the VRAEMinitiative. The plan would involve financing infrastructure, education and agriculture projects in the VRAEM, with the aim of offering viable and sustainable alternative livelihoods for coca farmers.

Integral to these plans, which he put forward on the campaign trail, is the proposal to give credit and technical assistance to farmers in order to facilitate a switch to a different crop. PPK hopes to replicate the success in other parts of the country where coca farmers have been helped to form successful coffee cooperatives.

Can Peru bring development the country's notorious coca-growing region?

When night falls on this south-central Colombian town, the hills above light up like a Christmas tree. Clusters of white lights glow in the darkness, marking the crops that have made Corinto synonymous with Colombian marijuana.

Half of all Colombia’s cannabis production is concentrated in the northern part of Cauca province, and 50% of that is grown in Corinto alone. Police estimate 100 hectares of land in the municipality are dedicated to growing weed; local farmers reckon the real number could be twice that.

So when Colombia recently legalised marijuana for medical and scientific purposes, farmers in Corinto figured they had a corner on the cultivation market.

A group of farmers came together in July to create Caucannabis, a cooperative that aims to be a prime supplier to companies hoping to cash in on Colombia’s new legal marijuana business.

“In this region we have been deeply affected by illegal drugs and terrorism. This is an opportunity for us to make a change,” says cooperative leader Héctor Fabio Sánchez, one of 52 members of the cooperative, most of whom have or have had marijuana crops.

Betania Rodríguez, a cooperative member who asked that her real name not be used, says that marijuana and coca – the raw material for cocaine – are just about the only options for farmers to make a living in this isolated area. Her husband tends the bushes next to their home made of thick bamboo and wooden planks, while she works as a day labourer for other growers trimming the buds to prepare them for sale.

Colombia's clandestine cannabis growers keen to come out of the shadows

Development and peace go together, and this is why the United Nations sees as central to the achievement of sustainable development the drastic reduction of all forms of violence, the promotion of the rule of law, and equal access to justice for all.

This day is especially significant for our country since for the last three months, the country has been wracked by seeming government-sponsored violence and lawlessness, by a war the administration has declared, ostensibly against drugs but which has become a war against poor and marginalized Filipinos. Since the election of President Rodrigo Duterte, over 3000 people, practically all of them alleged drug users from the poor sector of Philippine society, have been subjected to extra-judicial execution either by the police or by vigilante groups. While President Duterte’s subordinates invent ever more complex arguments to exonerate him, he has made little attempt to conceal his preference for the extra-judicial execution of suspected drug dealers and users and his impatience with due process. He has also enthusiastically given the green light to vigilantes to shoot pushers and users. And he has made it very clear that he does not believe in rehabilitation, which is the principal policy of all other governments towards users.

End the killings. Uphold human rights. Defend democracy.

In Canada, leaders from around the world, with the UK at the forefront, stepped up to pledge a total of almost $13bn for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

UK civil society applauds the outstanding global health leadership of the UK government who pledged £1.1billion.

 – Today, in a show of commitment to global health and development, world leaders stepped up to meet the funding target of $13 billion set by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria at its Fifth Replenishment Conference hosted by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Montreal, Canada from September 16-17.

Mike Podmore, Director of STOPAIDS and Alternate Board member of the Developed Country NGO Delegation to the Global Fund Board, speaking from the conference hall in Montreal said “Despite very challenging economic and political contexts, the world has seized this critical moment to demonstrate their unwavering commitment to the fight to end AIDS, TB and malaria.”

“STOPAIDS and the rest of UK civil society are united in giving a standing ovation to the incredible £1.1 billion commitment made by the UK Government, who yet again stepped up to demonstrate what leadership in global health looks like. Post-Brexit, this makes a bold statement that the UK will continue to be a global leader focused on supporting the poor and marginalized around the world.”

The UK government pledge of £1.1 Billion included two new components. The first was that £200 million of the £1.1bn is a match fund with the private sector in which the UK would commit £200 million to match £100 million pledged by the private sector for Malaria. The second component was a performance agreement that DFID has signed with the Global Fund to tie 10% of its pledge to the Global Fund delivering on its commitments. It supports an already highly performing organization to have even better impact.

Speaking about the contribution the $13bn makes to the global disease responses, Mike Podmore said:

“The new funding from the UK and other global leaders will not only allow the Global Fund to continue its important work, but also reaffirms the international community’s commitment to meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, while supporting the right to health for the world’s most vulnerable people.”

This replenishment will help keep us on the right trajectory to reach the targets of ending AIDS, TB and Malaria by 2030 but it is only just enough to do so. $13bn is 80% of what the Global Fund needed to be fully funded and so this can only be the beginning of an ongoing fundraising effort for the global Fund and for the broader global responses to the three diseases

If we don’t continue to increase investment then the epidemics will rebound to hit us twice as hard

Months of extraordinary efforts by the global community came to fruition at the Replenishment Conference, which brought together affected communities, civil society, donor and recipient governments, the private sector, and private foundations to rally support and commitments to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals target to end AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria as epidemics by 2030.

Many governments stepped up to increase their commitment from the previous replenishment, with 20-40% increases from the UK, Japan, Germany, Canada and others.

Since its inception in 2002, The Global Fund has saved 20 million lives through innovative partnerships and programming and has played a crucial role in the treatment and prevention of these three diseases. The US$13 billion pledge will create unique opportunities for millions of the world’s most vulnerable, especially women and girls and empower young people as leaders for social change. It will:

Save up to 8 million lives, for a total of 30-32 million lives saved by 2020

Build on the results achieved and prevent the resurgence of the diseases

Support partners in domestic investment of US$41 billion toward the three diseases

:
In 2013, the UK Government made a commitment of ‘Up to £1bn with a cap of 10% of the final replenishment amount, which meant that the UK gave just over £800 million for the 4th Replenishment.


 is a network of 70 UK-based international NGOs that work on the global HIV response. STOPAIDS convenes UK civil society organisations across the three diseases who have been working for the full replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.


is the Alternate Board Member of the Developed Country NGO Delegation to the Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria and is currently at the Global Fund Replenishment Conference in Montreal.


Mike Podmore
Director of STOPAIDS
Tel: 0044 7734087950
Email: mike@stopaids.org.uk

   The world rallies to “End It. For Good.” 

The GIZ Global Partnership on Drug Policies and Development (GPDPD) and the LSE IDEAS International Drug Policy Project (IDPP) are pleased to announce a pilot for a new 'Innovation Lab on Drug Policies and Human Development'.

“this pilot, the first of its kind globally, represents a truly unique collaboration between a development agency and one of the world’s leading university-affiliated think tanks. It will enable the design of innovative drug-sensitive development policies through ongoing discussions with governments, international organisations and development bodies and ultimately to facilitate policy implementation.”

The immediate objective of the Innovation Lab pilot is to translate the April 2016 UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS) outcome document and recent international debates into smart drugs-related development policies in affected countries.

The GIZ Global Partnership on Drug Policies and Development (GPDPD) is implemented on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and under the political auspices of the Federal Drug Commissioner of the Federal Government of Germany. It seeks to promote a development and health oriented approach to drug policy internationally.

LSD IDEAS and GIZ GPDPD launch pilot 'Innovation lab on drug policies and human development'

The Swedish government has launched an investigation on how to prevent drug-related deaths. Last month, Health Minister Gabriel Wikström announced that he wants needle exchange programmes to be managed by county councils instead of councils. County councils cover larger areas in the country. The report will be delivered in April next year.

"Needle exchange programmes are an important measure towards disease control, which we know from Swedish, as well as international, experiences. The aim of these propositions is to make needle exchange programmes available all over the country. This will give us new opportunities to meet groups that have previously been difficult to get hold of," Wikström said in a press release.

For decades, a majority of Swedish political parties have claimed that harm reduction programmes such as needle exchange programmes and drug consumption rooms "encourage" drug use rather than do good. But according to the 2016 annual report by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Sweden has the second highest death rate from drug use in Europe. Only Estonia has higher drug-related deaths per capita. According to Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare, 48 percent of drug-related deaths in 2014 were caused by an overdose.

In November last year, UN's Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Flavia Pansieri, criticised Sweden's views on drugs. She told public broadcaster SVT that she was "surprised to see that [Sweden] lags behind a number of other countries in terms of its policies on drugs."

Stockholm's needle exchange programme has been available since 2012. The programmes have since become available at several places including Malmö, Jönköping, and Kalmar. And according to the Public Health Agency of Sweden, they're actually working. "For the individual, these efforts can improve the chances to a life without serious or deadly infectious disease. For society as a whole it all comes down to improving the possibilities of equal health," Johan Carlson, director general of the Public Health Agency said in a statement.

News