On Dec. 18, Congress passed a $1.1 trillion omnibus spending bill filled with numerous additions and addendums, including, somewhat surprisingly, a rider that might be really important to drug addicts. It restores the possibility of federal funding for needle exchange programs. For both drug users and those who advocate for them, this is a huge step—but there’s still more to be done.

The first ban on federal funding for needle exchanges was implemented back in the late 1980s. We’ve been relying on stigma to dictate our public health policies for almost three decades. In 2009, legislators briefly relented and lifted the ban, only to reinstate it with a spending bill in December 2011.

It’s well-documented that needle exchanges reduce HIV and hepatitis transmission rates among IV drug users. This 1998 study found that one needle exchange in Connecticut reduced the HIV infection rate among participants by 33%. Also, it’s worth noting that a 2000 study–conducted by the same two scientists—found that needle exchanges did not correlate with any increase in crime. In other words, they’re not making your neighborhood unsafe. And from a public health perspective, they’re actually making it safer.

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

The best way to truly help people experiencing problem drug use is to help them use drugs safely

Colombia's president has signed a decree fully legalising medical marijuana in a shift away from preventing drug crop production.

Juan Manuel Santos said the move put Colombia "in the group of countries that are at the forefront...in the use of natural resources to fight disease".

But, he said, the country would still fight illegal drug production.

Up until now, marijuana production in Colombia had fallen into a legal grey area.

While a 1986 law allowed for the manufacture, export, sale and medical and scientific use of marijuana, the practice was, until Tuesday, never formally regulated.

Anyone wishing to grow marijuana must now apply to the National Narcotics Council for a licence. Medical marijuana is used for medical ailments such as Crohn's disease, seizures, HIV and nausea.

Last year, Mr Santos, who has admitted smoking cannabis while a student in Kansas in the 1970s, said legalisation would take drug production out of the hands of drug traffickers.

Thumbnail Flickr CC Ministerio TIC Colombia

Colombia fully legalises medical marijuana

What do drug experts in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the United States have in common? They all recognize that the war on drugs has failed, and that it’s time for a change.

It’s been 17 years since world leaders assembled at the 1998 special session of the United Nations to discuss the global drug problem. The slogan of that meeting was, “A Drug-Free World: We Can Do It.” But they couldn’t do it. The effort to eliminate all drug production and impose a zero-tolerance approach to drug use didn’t work. In fact, these efforts have done more harm than good the world over.

In April 2016, the world will gather at the UN once again to revisit the problem. This time, the secretary-general and the nations of the world must listen to voices of experience: those from the streets of Rio to the parliaments of Europe, from West Africa to New York, who are looking at the impacts of drug policy and calling for a rethink.

Seventeen years after setting the wrong goal, the UN aims to get drug policy right

Opponents of marijuana legalization often cite the "skyrocketing" number of people seeking treatment for marijuana addiction in their arguments. Project SAM, the nation's leading anti-legalization group, notes with some alarm that "data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that in 1993, marijuana comprised approximately 8 percent of ALL treatment admissions, but by 2009 that number had increased to 18 percent."

But new data out this month from the Department of Health and Human Services provides some important context behind those numbers. In 2013, more than half of marijuana users in treatment were sent there by the courts or the criminal justice system. That's more than the share of court-ordered referrals for any other drug, including far more deadly ones like alcohol and heroin.

Overall, fewer than 1 in 5 marijuana treatment seekers checked themselves in voluntarily. That too is a lower share than for any other drug.

Courts are forcing marijuana users to get drug treatment they probably don’t need

31 December 2015: Apply for Speaking Roles

31 December 2015: Apply for Moderator Role

13 January 2016: General registration of Participants

The General Assembly, in its resolution 67/193 of 20 December 2012, has decided to convene, in early 2016, a special session to review the progress made in the implementation of the Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to Counter the World Drug Problem, including an assessment of the achievements and challenges in countering the world drug problem, within the framework of the three international drug control conventions and other relevant United Nations instruments.

Furthermore, the General Assembly decided in resolution 69/200, that the special session shall have an inclusive preparatory process that includes extensive substantive consultations, allowing organs, entities and specialized agencies of the United Nations system, relevant international and regional organizations, civil society and other relevant stakeholders to fully contribute to the process, in accordance with relevant rules of procedure and established practice.

Informal Interactive Stakeholder Consultation

 for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS 2016) on 

 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The Consultation is an opportunity for all relevant stakeholders to contribute further to the ongoing preparatory process for UNGASS 2016 by sharing practical expertise and experiences from their work on the ground as an input for consideration by Member States in the negotiations of the outcome document. It presents also an opportunity for stakeholders to prepare for their contributions to the interactive multi-stakeholder round tables at UNGASS.

All organizations wishing to attend the one-day Consultation will need to register by 

. Applications for general registration for the Consultation are being accepted from 

The one-day Consultation features an Opening Segment, two interactive-round tables and a closing segment.

Stakeholders are invited to apply to speak at the Consultation, by completing the form available here

. The following criteria will be used when selecting speakers:

Must represent an organization actively working in the drug field and be authorized to speak on behalf of that organization. Priority will be given to organizations working at the grassroots level;

Geographical balance and in the case of equal qualification, representatives from the Global South will be prioritised;

Thematic balance in terms of approaches to drug policies to represent the broad spectrum and richness of NGO contributions;

The call is open to ECOSOC and non-ECOSOC accredited NGOs.

 will facilitate each of the two round tables that are a feature of the Consultation. To be considered for the Moderator role, applicants should be knowledgeable about the subject matter, generally good at including as many voices as possible in the discussion and able to steer the discussion. Please use the form at 

A Selection Committee, comprised of members of the Steering Committee Group of the 

 for UNGASS on Drugs, has been established in order to ensure broad and inclusive participation of stakeholders in the Consultation. To learn more about the Civil Society Task Force, please see the 

attached document (PDF) and visit www.cstfondrugs.org.

Moderators, speakers and other participants are strongly encouraged to take into consideration the following guiding questions for the discussion:

What are the main challenges that exist for implementing a health approach to drugs?

Given the recent call for a health approach in drug policy, how should a health focus address the need of the society as a whole, including the marginalized groups and communities, taking into account age and gender perspectives?

Acknowledging the links in illicit drug trade, crime, and development policy, what synergies could be created between relevant stakeholders and Member States addressing alternative development, including within the framework of the SDG’s?

How can Member States and other relevant stakeholders respond effectively to current and emerging threats to health, including hepatitis, HIV/AIDS, untreated pain, and new psychoactive substances (NPS)?

How should relevant stakeholders best support Member States to envision and implement inclusive, people-centred and evidence based drug policies and equal access to justice?

We encourage you to participate in the call for nominations, as well as to share it widely in your networks! The information is also available online here.

For further information on the above, please contact the Civil Society Task Force on Drugs at cstfondrugs@gmail.com

Call for Nomination: Informal Interactive Stakeholder Consultation for the 2016 UNGASS - 10 February 2016 United Nations Headquarters, NY

This survey is part of a global youth consultation conducted by the Civil Society Task Force (CSTF), for next year's United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs.

Earlier this year, the CSTF conducted a Global Civil Society Survey, designed to provide an initial assessment on the civil society work in the field of drugs, as well as to measure the awareness and level of knowledge and interest in participating actively at the UNGASS 2016 initiative at the regional and global levels.

As a next step of the UNGASS 2016 civil society consultation process, in-depth consultations are conducted to further assess more specific areas (thematic and geographical) of the drug field. This consultation aims at assessing civil society work relating to 

Your experience is essential in the UNGASS preparatory process. Please complete the following survey that 

will take no longer than 15-20 minutes of your time.

 Your input will provide us with invaluable information to bring to global policy makers at the United Nations for the UNGASS preparation and beyond.

The deadline for filling in the survey is 31st December 2015.

Participate in the UNGASS survey on youth

After nearly 80 years of war, Colombia is on the cusp of closing a historic peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, FARC), the country’s largest guerrilla group. The parties have set a March 23, 2016 deadline to conclude talks. Drug cultivation and trafficking are crucial aspects of the deal, as drug profits have long enabled the country’s violent conflict.

In a major breakthrough, the Colombian government and the FARC have agreed on a joint counternarcotics strategy. As it should be, developing alternative livelihoods—couched within a larger rural development plan—is core to the policy.

What would a peace deal between the Colombian government and the FARC mean for drug production and routes? Production won’t disappear from the country any time soon, but sustained efforts to improve rural livelihoods can pull Colombians away from coca production in the long run, while well-designed interdiction can reduce some of the harms, including violence, associated with drug trafficking.

How to break free of the drugs-conflict nexus in Colombia

Trained members of the public are to be allowed administer life-saving rescue medicines in emergency situations, under new laws signed by Minister for Health Leo Varadkar.

The change will allow for the wider use of adrenaline epipens to treat people suffering severe allergic reactions, glucagon for low blood-sugar levels experienced by diabetics, and naloxone to treat cases of drug overdose.

Other emergency medicines covered by the new regulations are salbutamol for the treatment of asthma attacks, glyceryl trinitrate for unstable angina, and entonox, a gas mixture of nitrous oxide and oxygen used by mountain rescue teams to manage severe pain.

Mr Varadkar has also expanded the vaccines that can be administered by pharmacists. Both measures have been brought in through statutory instrument.

The family of Emma Sloan, who died on Dublin’s O’Connell Street in December 2013 after suffering an allergic reaction, has been campaigning for epipens to be made more widely available.

The 14-year-old girl died after mistaking satay sauce for curry sauce in a Chinese restaurant, causing her body to react to the peanuts. Her mother, Caroline, ran to the nearest pharmacy to get the epipen injection that would have saved her life but was refused because she didn’t have a prescription with her. The pharmacist later said he didn’t realise the epipen was for Mrs Sloan’s daughter.

Public to be allowed administer more emergency medicines

On 13 December 2015, our region lost one of the most ardent activists of harm reduction programs, the leader of an organization of sex workers and the community of people who use drugs and a friend who inspired others. Lena Tsukerman died suddenly of heart failure at the age of 44.

We knew Lena as a harm reduction activist since 2004. She helped develop information and communications at the All-Ukrainian Charitable Foundation Drop In Center and filled the online newspaper Motilek (motilek.com.ua) with interesting materials.

Since 2011, Elena devoted her strength and vitality to developing the Ukrainian organization of sex workers and helping ensure the establishment and operations of the charitable organization "The All-Ukrainian League LEGALIFE".

It was a great honor for EHRN to elect Lena Tsukerman to the Steering Committee for the sub-region Belarus-Ukraine-Moldova. Her understanding of the needs of people who use drugs and her expertise in the development of harm reduction programs were invaluable to our network.

Elena’s death is a shock for our team. Our region lost an individual whose example inspired others and whose advocacy efforts truly changed the world for the better.

We mourn and sincerely condole with Lena’s family and friends.

It hurts to lose activists. We mourn Lena Tsukerman

Last month, more than 1,500 people from 71 countries gathered in the suburbs of Washington D.C. with one common goal: to end the War on Drugs. Attendees included diverse groups of people with strikingly different perspectives on drug policy; doctors, lawyers, Rastafarians, war veterans, and formerly incarcerated people amongst others. The diversity of this dynamic group reflects both the widespread impact of drug laws, and the urgent need for their reform.

There is growing consensus that the prohibitionist policies propagated by the U.S. have failed. Not only have they failed to decrease drug use and production, they have also led to a multitude of human rights violations worldwide.

The global drug regime has long been characterized by punishment and repression. The use, possession, cultivation, distribution, or trafficking of any narcotic drug invites criminal charges and lengthy prison sentences. After more than five decades of this approach, individuals and governments are beginning to acknowledge what those in the drug policy reform movement have been saying for years -- prohibition doesn't work. The goal of a 'drug free society' is unrealistic, as it fails to take into account human tendencies, cultural context, and the medical importance of the outlawed substances.

The focus on punishment has not decreased drug use or trade. Instead, the drug trade is more dangerous and profitable than ever and drug laws are used as tools of oppression against racial and ethnic minorities. Communities of color are consistently punished disproportionately for drug offences in the West. In the U.S., for example, though African-Americans constitute 13 percent of drug users in the country, they make up 37 percent of those arrested for drug use. Sentencing can also vary greatly based on which community is perceived to use a particular drug. As per the U.S "Fair Sentencing Act," 'crack' cocaine, a drug associated with the African-American/economically disadvantaged communities, is punished 18 times more severely than powder cocaine, a drug used by wealthy white folk. Higher arrests and incarceration rates for people of color have led to mass incarceration and a fractured criminal justice system. American politicians are finally making a pledge to decrease their prison population, beginning with the release of many non-violent drug offenders.

Drug policy reform is the new human rights movement on the block

Around the world, more governments are beginning to openly question the effectiveness of enforcing repressive drug control policies. Overwhelmingly in Asia, however, the use and supply of controlled drugs are still seen as a social evil that must be eradicated; justifying the implementation of severe, disproportionate punishment ranging from compulsory detention for people who use drugs to the death penalty for trafficking.

As rapidly expanding drug markets emphasise the failure of current drug policy approaches, along with their negative consequences for people who use drugs (e.g. high rates of HIV and Hepatitis C amongst people who inject drugs) and broader society (e.g. growing rates of arrest and imprisonment for low-level drug offences), and the UN General Assembly Special Session on the world drug problem scheduled for April 2016 approaches, what are the prospects for drug policy reform in Asia?

Gloria Lai is a senior policy officer for the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC). Based in Thailand, she leads IDPC's Asia regional programme. She previously worked as a senior policy advisor on law enforcement and drugs, and as a lawyer for the Australian government.

A human rights case for drug policy reform in Asia

A film to explain why families around the world are campaigning for reform of international drug laws. This contains five stories - each with a different perspective - but all demonstrating how drug laws cause more harm than drugs themselves. The families are asking for donations so they can go the U.N. next year to tell their stories. Something that has never been done before.

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