A decade ago, Myanmar seemed on course to wipe out the opium fields and heroin jungle labs along its eastern border, the notorious Golden Triangle. Today, valley after valley in these mist-shrouded mountains is covered with resplendent opium poppies, tended by farmers who perch on steep hillsides to harvest the plant’s sticky, intoxicating sap.

Poppy cultivation in Myanmar has nearly tripled since 2006, reaching close to 150,000 acres, according to surveys carried out by the United Nations. Yet even that steep rise fails to capture the full extent of Myanmar’s resurgence as a major player in the global heroin business. Over the last few years, an increasing number of farmers here have produced two opium crops a year, experts say; the second crop is not included in the United Nations surveys. Growing opium poppies is illegal in Myanmar, but farmers in this remote and desperately poor region say they have few viable options.

Until the 1980s, Myanmar was the world’s largest supplier of heroin. Afghan production surged around the turn of the century, and supplies from the Golden Triangle plummeted when China pressured Myanmar ethnic groups along its border to stop growing poppy. Instead of disappearing, opium production migrated south, away from the Chinese border, into areas of Myanmar controlled by a patchwork of ethnic groups, some of them allied with the government, some of them hostile. Although the government controls the big towns, upland areas are the fiefs of militias and ethnic armies, and the new center of the opium-growing business.

Myanmar’s return to drug trafficking, which also includes a thriving trade in methamphetamine, comes as the country opens up to the world and sheds the shackles of five decades of isolation and dictatorship. With the government preoccupied with the challenges of a budding democracy, opium money is lining the pockets of officials charged with cracking down on the illegal trade.

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

Myanmar returns to what sells: Heroin 

Rape has been in the headlines lately. That’s partly thanks to a 

expose last month detailing a gang rape of a first-year student at a frat party at the University of Virginia. The story went viral and sparked campus protests. Then discrepancies emerged in the account the victim told the reporter. Amid a flurry of stories slamming 

for setting back sexual assault victim advocacy efforts, the magazine issued an apology.

Despite this problematic incident, the recent coverage has sparked much-needed discussion. Aside from the UVA story, there have been a number of interesting developments regarding sexual assault and sexual harassment, such as California’s controversial affirmative consent rule, the report by the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault and Senate draft legislation that would create tougher penalties for colleges that mishandle sexual assault cases.

Some talk has focused on the interplay between alcohol and sexual assault (including so-called date rape drugs). Although estimates vary widely, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism suggests that half of all sexual assaults involve alcohol use by one or both parties.

Yet there has been almost no mention at all about (other) drug use. One might easily conclude that drug users are simply never assaulted. I mean, surely we would be talking about it if they were, right?

Of course, people who use drugs are raped every day, but “drug addicts”—and, by implication, any drug users—are a group that few people are willing to defend.

Think about what the narrative would be like if among the other discrepancies in the 

article, it was revealed that the victim had used drugs like heroin, hallucinogens, meth, or even cocaine. Her story would still have been discredited, but instead of criticisms being directed at 

 would bear the brunt (along with a fair number of insults).

People who use drugs are the forgotten victims of rape

On January 17, 2014 the Foundation received an invitation from United Nations office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to form part of a Technical Coordinating Group” known as the National Coordinating Committees (NCC)”. Institutions that are involved in this National Coordinating Committees are:

United Nations office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), secretary to the committees.

Liberia Drugs Enforcement Agency (LDEA), Chair-person.

Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHWS), Co-hair.

Foundation Against Illicit Drugs and Child Abuse (FADCA), member.

National Aids Commission of Liberia, member.

Research Department, University of Liberia, member.

The Technical Coordinating Group is responsible for the identification of national public policy issues, developing national strategies and initiatives to combat the illicit use of drugs, organized crime and support national efforts, namely the Government on the nature, scope and impact of drugs and substances abuse as well as organized crime in the country. It provides a national forum where the interest and concern of stakeholders can be brought to the attention of people who deal with law, health, and social welfare. In keeping with its mandate, the Group is expected to meet once in every month but has since met three times.

In the spirit of good coordination among national institutions, FADCA presented several copies of the West Africa Commission on Drugs Report to each member of the Group. The report calls on regional governments to develop drug policy reforms.

In furtherance of our drug policy advocacy, FADCA remains in collaborative contact with regional partners, including the West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD) and the West Africa Civil Society on Drugs Policy Reform to which FADCA’s Executive Director is the focal person. The Foundation (FADCA) is also in contact with Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) n which the Foundation Executive Director is currently serving as a focus on Liberia.

FADCA was asked to steer the formation of local civil society coalition that will advocate for reform on drug policy and other drug related issues in Liberia. At a meeting called January 15, 2014 by OSIWA National Project Coordinator, civil society organizations agreed that FADCA was well placed to lead the coalition formation and steer its affairs. The coalition was formed in May 2014 and named Coalition Against Illicit Drugs Trafficking and Abuse In Liberia (CADTAL). FADCA represented the coalition at the regional coordination meeting in Dakar, Senegal under the auspices of WACD. At a local meeting of Coalition members held in UNODC office on the 4th of July the FADCA presented copies of the West African Commission on Drugs report to members of the coalition.

Presenting the report, FADCA Executive Director told member organizations of the coalition and government agencies represented at the meeting that civil society organizations in the West African region are working along with the Commission to advocate for reform through publication of materials from international partners. “We must join forces to reform our drug laws, taking public health and human rights into consideration,” Mr. Alphonso Quenneh said. He further noted “we should use interdiction rather than criminalization”.

The report was embraced by UNODC Acting Country Representative, Mr. Yilaa Woltis Se. However some participants at the meeting particularly from the Drugs Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Liberia said that reforming the drug law would lay more emphasis on individual rights and set the pace for more farmers to get involve while youth in particular will practice public smoking of narcotics. For its part the National AIDS Commission accepted the fact that repressive laws help to increase HIV/AIDS, and that reforming drug laws with emphasis on public health is in the interest of Liberia.

At the July 4th meeting, members of the Technical Coordinating Group and the Coalition unanimously agreed to suspend meetings due to the intensity of Ebola outbreak in the country and in observance of government’s ban on public gathering. It was agreed that meetings will resume immediately when Liberia is declared Ebola free.
In July 2014 the Open Society Foundation for Global Drugs Policy initiated a program through the University of Legon Faculty of Law to study capacity building on Drug Policy and Human Rights in which two members of the coalition benefited through certification.

FADCA starts advocating for drug policy reform in Liberia

The US hasn't provided any specific details about what a historic new deal with Cuba means in terms of security and counternarcotics policy -- an area where limited collaboration between the two countries already exists -- but the restored relationship is nonetheless promising on many fronts.

According to a fact sheet released by the White House, meant to accompany President Barack Obama's announcement that the United States has re-established relations with Cuba, the United States will now "work with Cuba on matters of mutual concern and that advance US national interests, such as migration, counternarcotics, environmental protection, and trafficking in persons, among other issues."

In the short term, this could simply mean that pre-existing cooperation between the US and Cuba intensifies when it comes to counternarcotics efforts. The two countries already share information with each other about maritime drug trafficking on a case-by-case basis, as detailed by the US State Department.

A more dramatic move would be if the US should actually begin providing anti-drug aid to the island -- something that is not currently done. Cuba presented a draft counternarcotics agreement to the US in 2011, which has remained under review since then.

What the new US-Cuba deal means for organised crime and security 

The rights of women in Argentinian prisons, where gender inequality, violence and exclusion can flourish, are systematically violated. Gender violence behind bars can often result in attacks on a woman's body.

A study done by Procuración Penitenciaria de la Nacion in Argentina found institutional violence is an increasing problem in jail, given that the number of woman in jail has increased. Several studies examining the situation in which they live have shown that not much is being done to protect women's rights there.

Comunicar igualdad is an Argentine civil organization which focuses on expanding gender issues in the media as an strategy to obtain an equitable society. In a post titled “Woman in Jail“, it analyzed different cases of violence against woman deprived on freedom.

According to the blog Women and prison, prison affects women in a different way than men – since the number of woman in prison is much lower than men, prison facilities for them lack amenities such as sports and leisure activities. Women also endure the lack of contact with their families, the abandonment of their partners, and poor health care. At the same time, if they are foreign they face irregularities such as peculium payment due to the fact of taxing situation.

The lack of interpreters is another problem facing foreign women imprisoned in Argentina. Reyna Maraz, a Bolivian citizen living in the country who doesn't speak Spanish, only Quechua, was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her husband, after three years in jail without being allowed to appear before a judge or having access to an interpreter.

Behind prison walls, violence against women is often ignored in Argentina 

There is no appetite in India for a serious conversation on drugs in India. The prime minister’s recent radio talk on the subject confirms that. Yet, drugs and laws to deal with them engage civil liberties, health and justice in a fundamental way that cannot be ignored. The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) is one of the harshest laws in the country. The minimum sentence for drug dealing is rigorous imprisonment for 10 years and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. Contrast this with punishment for rape and human trafficking that, even after the recent enhancement, stands at seven years imprisonment. Bail is rejected at the mere mention that the case involves narcotic or psychotropic substances. The law bars suspension, remission or commutation of any sentence passed, foreclosing all relief. In prison, drug convicts are labelled a “dangerous breed” and treated more harshly than rapists and murderers.

The NDPS Act prescribes capital punishment for a repeat offence of drug trafficking, even though it does not involve violence or killing and, consequently, cannot be categorised as a “most serious crime”, for which the death penalty may be used. There is no persuasive evidence that the death penalty is a greater deterrent than other punishments in reducing drug crimes. When a second conviction for murder does not automatically qualify as a “rarest of rare” case deserving capital punishment, how could a subsequent drug crime justify a death sentence?

The government has defended capital punishment by saying that the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is aware of India’s anti-narcotics programme and has never objected to penalties under the NDPS Act.

The Indian drugs legislation is too harsh to work

Restrictive policies that can sometimes prevent people from keeping their jobs could be compromising the effectiveness of Global Fund-supported opioid substitution therapy programs across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, civil society representatives from around the region told Aidspan.

Without improvements to the quality and effectiveness of these programs, they risk driving away the very people who are most in need of the services - and could undermine the sustainability of these programs once ownership transitions to national governments.

"We want to start talking about OST program challenges, which are not only coverage and finances that are mainly discussed by the donors and NGOs, but also the effectiveness and quality of these programs,” said Andrey Yarovoi, board member for Association of Substitution Treatment Advocates of Ukraine (ASTAU). They consider the fact that OST programs are still pilot, vertical programs that have yet to be integrated into the national health service one of the biggest impediments to their success.

Most doctors who work with people who inject drugs consider OST to be the same drug with different packaging, whereas drug users see it as medical treatment. This disconnect means that program participants are not often treated as patients, and are discriminated against by medical professionals.

Regionally, similar problems with OST therapy have been identified: those enrolled are restricted in their movements due to the need to check in daily to receive their dosage. This means they have a hard time getting or staying in jobs, due to the rigors of being part of the program.

Harm reduction programmes need more flexibility to work properly in Eastern Europe

Thousands of people die unnecessarily from opioid overdose every year. From this survey IDHDP hopes to understand more about where the life saving drug naloxone is and isn’t available as well as its level of accessibility.

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

Global naloxone accessibility survey

Draft legislation to introduce medical injection centres for users of opiates such as heroin may be put to Irish Government early next year, according to Ana Liffey Drug Project director Tony Duffin.

Addressing the audience at Ana Liffey’s 2015-2017 strategy launch in Dublin City Hall, Mr Duffin said that measures are needed to combat the “phenomenal” amount of public injecting going on around Dublin in particular. “We’re currently working with a voluntary assistance scheme of the Bar Council because it would be illegal to deliver a service like that at the moment,” he told The Irish Times prior to the event.

“They’re working on draft legislation, with a senior counsel heading that up. We hope to have draft legislation to bring to Government in the second quarter of next year,” added Mr Duffin, whose organisation is also recommending the implementation of naloxone use in Ireland- a drug that reverses the effects of drug overdoses.

“We’re working with the HSE at the moment on a naloxone pilot, that is part of our strategy. We want to reduce incidents of overdoses as a goal, but within that there’s actions, and one of those actions will be naloxone,” he said of the drug, which has successfully reduced the number of overdose deaths in Scotlandsince its introduction in 2010.

Call for medical injection centres for drug users in Ireland

On November 20, Uganda’s parliament passed the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Bill, also known as the Narcotics Law. A draconian piece of legislation, the law purports to deter drug abuse by imposing inhumanely long prison sentences—a conviction for simple possession can land a person in a cell for 25 years.

The Narcotics Law is the fourth in a disturbing series of laws passed in the last 12 months, all of which defy public health principles and show blatant disregard for dignity and human rights.

These laws target individuals who are already marginalized by society and most in need of health services and support: people who sell sex to make ends meet for their families; LGBTI people living in fear of community violence; people hiding their HIV medication from their own families; and people struggling to manage drug dependence and other illnesses. Perhaps most harmful of all, parts of Ugandan society are interpreting these laws to justify violence and exclusion.

Taken together, these four laws amount to a full-fledged assault on public health and, if implemented, will result in rampant misuse of imprisonment.

Uganda’s latest legislative blow to public health, the Narcotics Law penalizes possession of illicit drugs with 10 to 25 years in prison. Trafficking—which encompasses everything from small sales to international export—is punishable with a life sentence. Even those who never come across an illicit substance can find themselves ensnared.

The law goes so far as to levy a five-year prison sentence for failure to disclose prior prescriptions for narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances (including those held for pets and farm animals) when receiving a new prescription. Punitive laws like this push people away from health and social services that are vital to managing drug dependence, preventing transmission of HIV, and supporting people to live full and productive lives.

“Drug use in Uganda is on the rise. We need an open environment in which we can share information and talk about addiction,” said a representative of the Uganda Harm Reduction Network. “By further criminalizing drug use, this law pushes people into the shadows. People are afraid to talk and afraid to seek much-needed medical help because the government has now definitively positioned drug use as a justice issue, rather than a health issue.”

Four laws that are devastating public health in Uganda

The United Nations agency charged with combating illicit drug trafficking should withdraw its support for counter-narcotics police operations in Iran until the death penalty for drug offenses is abolished, six rights groups said in a letter published today. The groups made the plea after Iran’s judiciary hanged 18 alleged drug traffickers within 24 hours on December 3, 2014, bringing the number of drug offenders executed in the country during 2014 to at least 318.

Reprieve, Human Rights Watch, Iran Human Rights, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty, Harm Reduction International and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation said the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) should follow its own human rights guidance and impose “a temporary freeze or withdrawal of support” if “following requests for guarantees and high-level political intervention, executions for drug related offenses continue.” The six organizations warned the UNODC of “the widening gulf between Iran’s rhetoric and the realities of its justice system,” and described the agency’s decision to continue funding supply-side counter-narcotics efforts in the country as “ineffective if not counterproductive.” “As Iran executes alleged drug offenders in ever-greater numbers, it beggars belief that the UN sees fit to continue funding Iranian anti-drug operations,” said Reprieve director Maya Foa. “How many more hangings will it take for the UN to open its eyes to the lethal consequences of its current approach, and make its counter-narcotics support conditional on an end to the death penalty for drug offenses?”

The UN agency’s records show it has given more than $15 million to “supply control” operations by Iran’s Anti-Narcotics Police, funding specialist training, intelligence, trucks, body scanners, night vision goggles, drug detection dogs, bases, and border patrol offices, the groups said. UNODC projects in Iran have come with performance indicators including “an increase in drug seizures and an improved capability of intercepting smugglers,” and an “increase of drug-related sentences.”

The United Kingdom, Ireland and Denmark have all chosen to withdraw their support from Iranian counter-narcotics operations administered by the UNODC because of concerns that this funding was enabling the execution of alleged drug traffickers. When announcing its decision to do so, Denmark publically acknowledged that the donations are leading to executions.

UN: Freeze funding of Iran counter-narcotics efforts: Surge in executions for drug trafficking

Is an individual allowed to possess and consume cannabis? And how about the situation concerning the cultivation of cannabis? What constitutes a small quantity? What does German law stipulate about cannabis? The purpose of this article is to focus attention on the legal status of cannabis in Germany.

The consumption of narcotics is not illegal in Germany. Consumption itself is deemed to be a form of self-harm that is not subject to prosecution. An individual can consume drugs without having acquired them legally. This definition has a very practical significance since a positive drug test result cannot, therefore, amount to an inference of a criminal offence. Nevertheless, in the event of a positive test, an entry in the central register of driving licences cannot be circumvented.

According to the Narcotics Act (BtMG), the cultivation, production, trade, import, export, dispensing, sale, acquisition and possession of all parts of the cannabis plant constitute a punishable offence. According to the Narcotics Act, Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active chemical in cannabis, ranks amongst the list of substances that are not marketable. This excludes industrial hemp which contains just 0.2% THC. Cultivation of industrial hemp is however only authorised by growers who work with special permits and under very strict conditions.

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