Colombia's government and the Farc, the country's largest rebel group, have agreed on a plan to deal with the illegal drug trade.

Both parties agreed to eliminate all illicit drug production in Colombia should a final deal be reached.

The Farc, which controls large patches of rural Colombia, is believed to be partly funded by money generated by the illegal drug trade.

This was the third on a six-point peace agenda being negotiated in Cuba.

The civil war in Colombia has killed an estimated 220,000 people in the last five decades.

Last year, government officials and the left-wing Farc (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) agreed on land reform and political participation.

Colombia's government and the Farc agreed to eliminate all illicit drug production in Colombia should a final deal be reached.

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Colombia and FARC rebels agree on drug trade plan

We gather in Melbourne, the traditional meeting place of the Wurundjeri, Boonerwrung, Taungurong, Djajawurrung and the Wathaurung people, the original and enduring custodians of the lands that make up the Kulin Nation, to assess progress on the global HIV response and its future direction, at the 20th International AIDS Conference, AIDS 2014.

We, the signatories and endorsers of this Declaration, affirm that non-discrimination is fundamental to an evidence-based, rights-based and gender transformative response to HIV and effective public health programmes.

To defeat HIV and achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support – nobody should be criminalized or discriminated against because of their gender, age, race, ethnicity, disability, religious or spiritual beliefs, country of origin, national status, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a sex worker, prisoner or detainee, because they use or have used illicit drugs or because they are living with HIV.

The 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne will gather several stakeholders to assess progress on the global HIV response and its future direction.

AIDS 2014 Melbourne Declaration

That Punjab is in the grip of drug epidemic is well known, but how little the state administration cares about the issue becomes evident from the way the drug de-addiction centres are managed here. A survey has revealed that many of these centres have become a place for mental and physical torture in the name of de-addiction.

"A number of private drug de-addiction centres are violating norms and pursuing their own policies. There are no nurses and counsellors. These centres are rarely inspected by the authorities which add to the woes of inmates," he said. Some of the violations found during the study, conducted at three private and seven government centres, were confinement of people dependent on drugs for a period of six months or more, incidents of mental and physical torture, and abuse of human rights.

Relatives of those staying in such facilities have often complained about the 'inhuman treatment' meted out to their kin. The survival and success rate of these centres, sources said, is not beyond 20 per cent.

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

People dependent on drugs reveal shocking tales of torture in Punjab, India private rehab clinics

Ugandan lawmakers on Tuesday passed a bill criminalizing the “willful and intentional” transmission of HIV.

The bill imposes jail sentences of up to 10 years for those found guilty and also requires pregnant women and their partners to get tested for the virus.

Parliamentarian Peter Aleper told local television last week that people who knowingly transmit HIV are dangerous to others.

Health workers and civil society groups have spoken out against the bill, saying it will do nothing to curb Uganda’s rising infection rate. Many argue the bill will further stigmatize people who are HIV positive.

According to Margaret Happy of the National Forum of People Living With HIV AIDS Networks in Uganda, the risk of criminalization is likely keep people from getting tested.

The legislation follows Uganda's recent enactment of a tough new law that imposes life sentences in prison for committing some homosexual acts.

In recent years, a number of other African countries have passed laws against transmitting HIV, including Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Other countries, and some American states, also have such laws. Other countries, including some European nations, have prosecuted people for transmitting HIV under different laws against harming others.

The Ugandan bill needs President Yoweri Museveni's signature to become law.

Networks of Women Living with HIV issued a press release condemning the passage of the HIV Prevention and AIDS Control Bill 2010 by the Uganda 9th Parliament. The Bill endangers the lives of Ugandans, women living with HIV and further undermines Uganda’s already backsliding response to HIV. Download the press release below.

Uganda criminalises 'willful' HIV transmission

Minnesota lawmakers struck a deal Thursday to legalize medical marijuana, handing a major victory to severely ill children and adults whose emotional appeals for help propelled a major policy change that once appeared dead for the session.

Gov. Mark Dayton said he would sign the legislation, which was closer to the House's more restrictive bill than the Senate's. Some patients lamented that the agreement doesn't allow them to use actual plant material — they instead can use the drug in oil, pill and vapor form — but others were overjoyed.

"This will change my daughter's life and thousands of lives around Minnesota," said Angie Weaver of Hibbing, whose 8-year-old daughter is afflicted by a rare form of epilepsy.

The compromise bill allows for two manufacturing facilities and eight dispensaries statewide, more than the House bill called for. But it covers fewer conditions than the Senate favored. Its prohibition against using plant material disappointed some advocates, who said vaporizing the leaf or smoking the drug were the only ways some patients could get relief from their maladies.

One sign of the difficulty advocates had in winning over lawmakers is that Minnesota is the only state to explicitly ban smoking of medical marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Other states simply don't include smoking among approved methods for delivering the drug.

Eight medical conditions would qualify for treatment, including cancer, glaucoma and AIDS, with a possible ninth if the health commissioner acts on a House amendment requesting that "intractable pain" be considered as a justification.

Patients would receive an identification number if a doctor, a physician assistant or advanced-practice registered nurse certified a qualifying illness existed. Health-care providers would provide treatment data to the Minnesota Department of Health to enable researchers and policymakers to determine the medical effects of cannabis treatment.

Background checks would be required for those working at the manufacturing sites and dispensaries. Anyone participating in the medical marijuana program caught using cannabis for non-medical purposes would be ousted and subject to criminal penalties.

Minnesota lawmakers agree to limited legalisation of medical marijuana

Much of the writing on HIV prevention is loaded with punitive clichés about gay men that highlight psychological deficits, lack of self control, and prevention fatigue. Perhaps the most repeated one since the onset of the epidemic suggests that the majority of gay men are into drugs and couldn’t care less about becoming infected while enjoying their substances.

While these clichés have persisted throughout the epidemic, a closer look at statistics shows a more nuanced portrait of gay men. The Sex Now survey (Canada’s largest survey of gay and bisexual men) showed that the vast majority of gay men report no risk for HIV in the previous year (70 percent) nor did most report any use of party drugs over the same time period (85 percent), not even once.

One issue of concern emerging from the Sex Now survey, however, is that gay men who do use drugs are nearly twice as likely to report HIV risk. Other researchers have also demonstrated this relationship. But concluding that “drugs = uncontrolled gay men = risky sex ”, and that health professionals should focus their efforts on eradicating drug use among gay men to prevent HIV, ignores the complexity of gay men’s lives and the reasons they engage in both risky sex and substance use.

Rehabilitating our approach to gay men who use drugs

Drugreporter’s new movie, filmed at the the 2nd European Harm Reduction Conference in Basel, Switzerland, gives you an insight into the key issues surrounding harm reduction in Europe.

The turn of the century marked the start of a new, progressive era, in which harm reduction gained legitimacy, and programs were being expanded all over the region. Unfortunately, the global financial crisis had devastating consequences for harm reduction programs in Europe. Pragmatic, non-judgmental social and health services often fell victim to financial austerity measures or rising political populism. The booming market in new psychoactive drugs, the Hepatitis C epidemic, and the rising median age of the injecting drug user population, all pose many new challenges for service providers. In the Eastern part of Europe, where most programs have been funded by international donors, the Global Fund's decision to reduce its financial support has endangered the sustainability of newly-established harm reduction services. National governments do not seem to care, or (worse) have embraced the new wave of abstinence-only, zero-tolerance ideology. In some countries, such as Hungary and Bulgaria, this ideology fuels the criminalisation of drug users and leads, in turn, to more restrictive drug laws. The rise of Russian imperalism poses a clear and present danger for harm reduction in all countries bordering the EU. A good example is the Crimea, where the Russian occupiers have shut down opiate substitution programs, causing more than 800 clients to lose their right to survival.

European harm reduction conference in Basel

A government-appointed task force is recommending the decriminalisation of marijuana in this Overseas British Territory and that the Government should take "immediate action to enable access to medical cannabis with a prescription".

The Cannabis Reform Collaborative (CRC) in its 137-page report notes that the current drug policy is wasting money and resources and harming people's lives since career options become limited once a criminal record is established. It said cannabis prohibition is not working.

National Security Minister Michael Dunkley tabled the report in the Parliament last Friday and among the recommendations are the introduction of a less punitive warning system, an end to racial profiling in the legal system, increasing the legal age for alcohol consumption to 21, and increased spending on cannabis education and prevention.

Caribbean countries have been discussing the idea of decriminalising marijuana for medicinal purposes and a report on the issue is being tabled at the July summit of regional leaders in Antigua.

Bermuda task force recommends decriminalisation of cannabis

Guatemala is examining the possibility of taxing legalized drug crop cultivation, de-penalizing low level drug crimes and offering amnesty to people convicted of small scale drug possession and sale, as it moves further and further away from the US-led prohibition paradigm.

In an interview with Reuters, Guatemala's Interior Minister, Mauricio Lopez Bonilla, said the government was considering legalizing poppy and marijuana production, and using the resultant tax revenues to fund drug prevention programs and social spending.

Lopez admitted that enforcing current laws was impracticable and that poppy eradication programs only destroyed around 10 percent of the total crop.

"If we followed the letter of the law, we would have to send the inhabitants of three municipalities to prison and that is impossible," he said.

The minister also discussed the possibility of ending criminal punishments for minor drug crimes but ruled out a blanket decriminalization of the drug trade.

"We're not talking about the legalization of the drugs trade, of production or the use of drugs," he said. "We are talking about changes to a system that over the last 40 years has proven to be inefficient."

Guatemala considers taxing legal drug crops in planned reforms

Какое воздействие имеют на Вас требования о получении согласия родителей?

PACT — это инициатива Объединенной программы Организации Объединённых Наций по ВИЧ/СПИДу, совместно осуществляемая 25 организациями, являющимися молодежными и предназначенными для молодежи, которые активно занимаются проблемами прав молодых людей, связанных с их сексуальной жизнью и репродуктивным здоровьем, в том числе прав на лечение ВИЧ. В стремлении повысить эффективность своей правозащитной деятельности PACT желает получить более полное понимание того, каким образом требования о получении согласия родителей воздействуют на права молодых людей и их доступ к услугам здравоохранения.

Требования о получении согласия родителей состоят в том, что молодые люди, не достигшие определенного возраста, перед тем как воспользоваться некоторыми услугами здравоохранения, должны получить согласие родителя или, в некоторых случаях, — опекуна. Иногда эти законодательные положения распространяются только на определенные услуги, связанные с сексуальным и репродуктивным здоровьем, или услуги по снижению вреда. К такого рода услугам в области сексуального и репродуктивного здоровья (СРЗ) относятся: подбор средств контрацепции, анализы на ЗППП и лечение ЗППП, аборт, анализ на ВИЧ и лечение ВИЧ, получение консультации, экстренная контрацепция, наблюдение беременности и послеродовое обслуживание, услуги акушера и гинеколога для женщин и услуги уролога для мужчин.

Щелкните здесь, чтобы получить более подробную информацию.

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PACT Parental Consent Survey

The PACT is a UNAIDS-supported collaboration of 25 youth-led and youth-serving organisations that are passionate about and committed to young people’s sexual and reproductive health rights, including access to HIV services. One of the five goals of our work is to eliminate the legal and policy barriers that young people face in accessing sexual and reproductive health and harm reduction services across the world, starting with parental consent requirements.

The PACT has developed a survey for young people (under 30) to gather their opinions on how parental consent laws impact on access to SRH and harm reduction services and, importantly, collect information on their first-hand experiences. Parental consent requirements require young people under a certain age to have a parent’s or a guardian’s consent before they can access certain health services. Sometimes these laws are applied only in relation to certain sexual and reproductive health or harm reduction services.

French, Arabic, Russian and English. We ask that you circulate it WIDELY to your youth networks, friends, family members and colleagues across the world. The results will be presented at the AIDS 2014 Conference.

In a historic action, 245 politicians from the United States, United Kingdom, and Ireland have expressed their collective support for the Colombian peace process in a letter to both sides in the current negotiations, the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (

Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia

, FARC). The politicians from the U.S. Congress, UK Parliament, Irish Parliament, and Northern Ireland Assembly, many of whom supported the peace process in Northern Ireland and some of whom were directly involved, congratulate the two sides for having engaged in talks. In the letter, the signatories, from 16 political parties, encourage the negotiating parties “to consider the possibility of a ceasefire and take the necessary measures to minimise the human cost of the conflict,” emphasizing that for them “the only route to bring an effective and long-lasting peace to Colombia is through dialogue and compromise.” The letter expresses the hope that measures to guarantee the safety of civil society activists will be taken.

The letter was coordinated by Justice for Colombia (JFC), the British NGO with the support of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), and a cross party group of politicians.

High profile signatories include Congressman George Miller, leading U.S. Democrat on the Labor & Education Committee, the legendary U.S. civil rights leader Congressman John Lewis, and Members of the Congressional Monitoring Group on Labor Rights James McGovern, Sam Farr, Janice Schakowsky, Hank Johnson, Keith Ellison, and Rosa DeLauro. Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minster Martin McGuinness from Sinn Fein, Northern Ireland party leaders Alasdair McDonnell of the SDLP and Naomi Long of the Alliance, and leader of the Republic of Ireland’s governing Labour Party Eamon Gilmore also added their names.

UK Member of Parliament Jeffrey Donaldson from the Democratic Unionist Party, and a former British soldier, who has met both President Santos and the FARC peace negotiators in meetings organized by Justice for Colombia (JFC) said, “It is important that the international community support the efforts of both sides to bring one of the world’s longest running conflict to an end,” adding that, “We would never have achieved peace in Northern Ireland without the non partisan international support that all the parties received.”

Mariela Kohon, Director of Justice for Colombia said “It is of huge significance that there is a growing transatlantic alliance of politicians from all parties showing their support for the Colombian peace process, writing to both sides and supporting civil society’s role.”

Gimena Sanchez, Senior Associate at the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) stated “Afro-Colombian and indigenous civilians continue to suffer daily due to the armed combat activities that generate humanitarian emergencies and displacements; it is vital that the parties to the conflict heed our legislators’ call to end the conflict and while doing so diminish its effects on civilians.”

News

Colombia and FARC rebels agree on drug trade plan

AIDS 2014 Melbourne Declaration

People dependent on drugs reveal shocking tales of torture in Punjab, India private rehab clinics

Uganda criminalises 'willful' HIV transmission

Minnesota lawmakers agree to limited legalisation of medical marijuana

Rehabilitating our approach to gay men who use drugs

European harm reduction conference in Basel

Bermuda task force recommends decriminalisation of cannabis

Guatemala considers taxing legal drug crops in planned reforms

PACT Parental Consent Survey

PACT Parental Consent Survey

Politicians from US, UK, and Ireland support Colombian peace process in landmark letter