In February 2016, Macedonia legalised medicinal cannabis but the law is far from ideal. Healthy Options Project Skopje – HOPS – carried out an analysis of the law.
The U.N. Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights have sharply criticised President Duterte's approach to drug policy and Philippine extra-judicial killings
The war on drugs drives mass incarceration leading to overcrowding and some of the worst prison conditions seen in the world - a "human rights disaster".
The policy forum brought together international and local experts and policymakers and stressed anti-drug policy must shift from punishment to treatment, emphasising the need to introduce harm reduction policies.
São Paulo’s pioneering harm reduction programme for people who use crack cocaine faces an uncertain future following the recent election of a new mayor who claims he will shut it down.
Myanmar's drug policy has historically focused "mainly on supply reduction and law enforcement [leading] to limited results." Myanmar has now decided to "develop a balanced and comprehensive drug control policy ... including prevention, treatment and rehabilitation".
A BMJ report suggests that current abstinence-based drug policies have failed and the continued deviation from a drug policy with harm reduction at its core will only lead to more deaths
Despite efforts by the Russian Government to target harm reduction & HIV prevention organisations, the Moscow City Court has refused to bring charges against the Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice - the largest provider of such services in Moscow.
Whilst over half of countries with IV drug use have some form of harm reduction programmes, the total spend in low and middle income countries on harm reduction totals only $160m. Much work remains to be done.
