By Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General and member of the West African Commission on Drugs

A recent estimate by the United Kingdom’s Office for National Statistics that the market for illegal drugs adds £4.4 billion ($7.6 billion) annually to the country’s economy gives a sense of the astonishing scale of the illicit narcotics trade. For regions such as West Africa, with economies that are neither as large nor as developed as the UK’s, the impact of such activity can be even more corrosive.

West Africa finds itself increasingly enmeshed in the global drug trade. Its location makes it vulnerable to being exploited as a transit point between the Latin American and Asian production centers and consumer markets in Europe and the United States.

But, as the experience of Central America shows, transit countries do not serve only as a corridor for drugs. Illegal drugs and the money that surround them invade and destabilize their societies. This disturbing development – a byproduct of the failed “global war on drugs” – threatens to reverse recent economic and social gains in our region.

So far, West Africa has avoided the worst of the endemic and routine violence that accompanies the passage of drugs through Central America. But, with the stakes so high, there is no room for complacency. The scale of the cocaine trade alone in West Africa dwarfs the combined government budgets of several countries in the region.

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West Africa’s misguided war on drugs

Health professionals began distributing clean needles to heroin addicts in five Colombian cities, after the launch of a new program to reduce the spread of HIV and Hepatitis.

The nationwide program began on the streets of Medellin, Bogota, Cali, Cucuta, and Armenia Wednesday, as Ministry of Health employees searched for hangouts popular to heroin users, according to Colombia’s El Tiempo newspaper.

The Ministry of Health has so far allotted 100,000 clean syringe kits for distribution among addicts, while used needles will be collected and destroyed by trained personnel.

According to a North American Congress on Latin America report, a 2010 study showed that 3.8% among a sample of 231 heroin addicts in Medellin were HIV-positive, while a 2011 study of 141 heroin users in Cucuta and Pamplona showed a 9% rate of HIV infection. Most recently, Bogota’s health secretary reported a 23% increase of HIV cases in 2013; of the total number of people know to be infected, 325 died of the illness.

While the director of the Center for Drug and Safety Studies at the University of the Andes says the program is aimed at only controlling the spread of AIDS and Hepatitis B and C and not about reducing drug consumption, the Ministry of Health hopes that the delivery of kits will bring some addicts into the health system with access to treatment.

Colombia kicks off 1st clean needle programme for drug users

The leafy plant khat, which acts as a stimulant when chewed, is about to become a banned class C drug in the UK. But how big a problem is it and why are ministers making it illegal?

It could be a scene from a market in Mogadishu. Dozens of Somali men are throwing cardboard boxes at each other across a dusty warehouse floor.

Money is exchanging hands amid all the noise and hustle. In fact, this is happening on an industrial estate near London Heathrow and by Tuesday all this activity will be illegal.

That is because of what is inside the boxes that have just been delivered to this depot.

It is a plant called khat or miraa or - more mystically - "Tea of the Arabs". Users chew the bitter leaves of this natural stimulant. It is supposed to make them more alert and raise energy levels, which is why supporters of khat say it is as harmless as coffee or tea.

Khat ban: Why is it being made illegal?

Doctors of the World Canada is proud to announce the launch of its very first mobile medical clinic in Montreal, an initiative that is unique in North America. With this state-of-the-art vehicle, the volunteer doctors and the nurses employed by the organization will be able to provide healthcare services to marginalized people in several downtown districts.

"Doctors of the World's mobile clinic will enable us to make healthcare more accessible since we'll be able to go where the needs are and reach out to the most marginalized Montrealers," explained Dr. Nicolas Bergeron, president of Doctors of the World Canada. "In addition to providing basic care, the mobile clinic will make it easier to integrate excluded populations into the public health and social services network."

The Doctors of the World mobile clinic is divided into two main areas: one for patient reception and nursing care, and a second, more spacious area with an examination table and the doctor's workstation. In addition to the volunteer doctor, the team will comprise a driver, a nurse and volunteers. The vehicle will also be equipped with TELUS Health technology for registering patients in the healthcare system.

As is already the case with Doctors of the World Canada's Montreal Project, which has been helping vulnerable people in Montreal for 15 years, the mobile clinic's medical staff will provide care in partnership with some 15 community organizations. In 2013-2014, the Montreal Project's nurses performed more than 3,400 medical procedures on 916 patients.

Doctors of the World launches first mobile medical clinic in the streets of Montreal 

Afghanistan produces 92 percent of the world's opium, fueling both the global heroin trade and the Taliban insurgency. Since 2001, and especially from 2009 to 2013, NATO has made cutting down on this illicit market a major part of its strategy in Afghanistan. The United States alone has spent over seven billion dollars on counter-narcotics efforts since 2002.

For all that effort, only one percent of opium produced in Afghanistan has been seized. And there's been no meaningful dent in production, which is actually higher than it was before 2001. America's drug war in Afghanistan is a total failure.

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan (SIGAR), the US government group tasked with auditing the war effort there, put together UN data on drug interdiction in Afghanistan. It found that, from 2008 to 2013, the US only seized 354,712 kilograms of opium — out of the total 33,200,000 kilograms produced. When you chart that, the bars representing opium seized barely show up compared to the total produced:

According to SIGAR, eradication has also been a total failure. From 2008 to 2013, when the US anti-opium campaign hit its apex, the US only managed to eradicate 3.7 percent of the land devoted to poppy cultivation. The total amount of land devoted to poppy cultivation was a third higher in 2013 than in 2008.

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Two charts that prove the Afghan drug war is a total failure

At the semi-annual summit of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which concluded in Antigua this weekend, CARICOM leaders agreed to establish a commission to review marijuana policy in the region in order to assess the need for reforms to marijuana laws.

The communiqué issued at the conclusion of the meeting stated that “Heads of Government agreed to establish a Regional Commission on Marijuana to conduct a rigorous enquiry into the social, economic, health and legal issues surrounding marijuana use in the Region and to advise whether there should be a change in the current drug classification of marijuana, thereby making the drug more accessible for a range of users.”

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines – who was instrumental in getting the issue on the agenda during his chairmanship of CARICOM – expects the commission to study reforms taking place around the world on marijuana policy, including Jamaica, the United States, Sweden and Uruguay. “It seems to me counterproductive to ignore the potential of an industry in respect of medical marijuana and to continue to expend police, national security, court resources on persons who consume a minuscule amount of marijuana in the privacy of their homes,” Prime Minister Gonsalves said.

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

Caribbean leaders agree to establish a commission to review regional marijuana policy

On 7th July, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a medical marijuana bill into law, making New York the twenty-third state to allow legal access to medical marijuana for seriously ill patients. Patients, caregivers and healthcare providers are attending the bill signing ceremony at The New York Academy of Medicine, along with the bill sponsors, Assemblyman Dick Gottfried and Senator Diane Savino.

After years of advocacy and intense last minute negotiations between lawmakers, the bill passed on the final day of the legislative session with extraordinarily strong bipartisan support. New York is the second largest state in the nation with a medical marijuana law.

“Thanks to the bill sponsors and the Governor’s actions today, New York has joined twenty-two other states in creating safe and legal access to medical marijuana for seriously ill patients,” said Holly Anderson Executive Director of the Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester. “Patients in New York have been fighting for this for eighteen years, and they have waited long enough. I urge the Governor to do everything within his power to insure that patients in New York can access medical marijuana as soon as possible."

The final bill was not as comprehensive as patients had hoped but, if implemented swiftly and effectively, it will nevertheless provide relief for thousands of New York patients suffering from serious and debilitating conditions by allowing the use of medical marijuana under the supervision of their physician. The conditions covered under the law include cancer, HIV/AIDS, ALS, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, certain spinal cord injuries, irritable bowel syndrome, epilepsy, neuropathy, and Huntington’s disease. The bill gives the Governor broad control of the program, including the ability to add conditions.

New York officially becomes 23rd US state with medical marijuana 

1,100 – The number of Americans that die each year due to violent crime caused by the drug war


This average death toll of Americans murdered in drug-related crimes is higher than the annual fatality rate of US soldiers in either the Afghanistan or Iraq war. In fact, according to an analytical study of FBI crime statistics, the Vietnam War is the only conflict in the past half-century that has been deadlier for Americans. Disturbingly, this figure doesn’t even take into account the numerous individuals who have been killed by law enforcement in drug-related raids.

$51 billion – The amount that the U.S. government spends each year on the war on drugs


This huge figure, which is $5 billion more than the average annual expenditure on the Afghanistan War, is primarily allocated to arming and training the increasingly militarised law enforcement. According to a report by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), weaponry held by US counter-narcotic agencies for use against American drug suspects includes flashbang grenades, sniper rifles, and submachine guns. There is also an increased prevalence of drug-targeting SWAT teams using armoured personnel carriers – vehicles that were originally created to “transport infantry and provide protection from shrapnel and small arms fire on the battlefield.”

61 percent – The percentage of individuals targeted by drug-related SWAT raids who are people of color


The ACLU investigated the impact rates of SWAT teams in sixteen counties around the US, and in every single one, people of color were disproportionately targeted. In Allentown, PA, Latinos were 29 times more likely than white people to endure a SWAT raid, while Blacks in Burlington, NC, were 47 times more likely than whites to face this violence. This bias treatment is ongoing despite the rates of drug use and selling being comparable across racial lines.

5 startling numbers reveal the militarisation of U.S. drug policy

It is now a crime to use drugs if you are pregnant in Tennessee.

A law signed by Republican Gov. Bill Haslam in April explicitly criminalizing drug abuse while pregnant is the first of its kind in the nation. It was spurred by the skyrocketing number of babies born to women who are abusing heroin or powerful prescription drugs, all part of what many are calling a national epidemic of opiate abuse.

The law, which charges a woman with a misdemeanor if she is found to be using drugs, will remain in effect until July 1, 2016. But that law, the way other states apply existing statutes and a recent court case have opened up a fissure between states and the Obama administration on how to best tackle the growing issue of opiate abuse.

For the past few years, neonatal intensive care units nationwide have been caring for a massive influx of babies born to mothers who abuse opiates. A 2012 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that about 13,500 babies each year - the equivalent of one an hour - are born to mothers who are addicted to opiates. The babies are born dependent on the drugs passed to them through the placenta and must stay in the hospital for weeks while they are weaned off them. The infants may have stiff limbs, diarrhea, seizures, cry excessively, have a fever and other problems while they are withdrawing from the drug.

The problem is particularly acute in Tennessee. In 2013, 921 newborns were born dependent on drugs their mothers used while pregnant; as of June 21 there were 440 cases reported in 2014.

The Tennessee law -- along with a recent court ruling in Alabama that pregnant women can be prosecuted under a law stating they chemically endangered a child and a number of state laws that deem using an illegal drug during pregnancy to be child abuse -- are at odds with the Obama administration's push toward treating, not punishing, low-level, non-violent drug users.

The Obama administration does not approve of a law making it a crime to use drugs while pregnant

Recently released figures suggest that the Polish government's figures showing a drop in HIV and Hepatitis C rates among drug users in the countries could be a gross misrepresentation of the reality.

On June 26, the Social AIDS Committee (SKA for its Polish acronym) and Harm Reduction Foundation (FRS for its Polish acronym) released the results of a study on the prevalence of HIV and Hepatitis C (Hep C) among injecting drug users (IDUs) in Warsaw, Poland.

Research participants were recruited using the snowball sampling method, and offered free and anonymous Hep C and HIV testing. Ninety-six IDUs from Warsaw and its surrounding area participated. For most of them this was their first screening for blood-borne viruses.

Results show that 14.5 percent of those tested were HIV-positive, and over 70 percent were Hep C carriers. These numbers are massive when compared to data from government reports that claim that the HIV prevalence among IDUs is at an all-time low, with only 39 cases reported in 2012 (estimates put the figure at around 100 drug-related infections for that year). When compared to data from the SKA and FRS report, this would mean that Warsaw and its surrounding area account for about 20 percent of all HIV infections among IDUs in Poland despite having just 5-6 percent of Poland’s population. This is highly debatable given that data from other major cities also reports the infection rate among local IDUs at around 15-20 percent.

New data on IDUs and HIV in Poland put official figures in doubt

This week, the U.N. reported that coca cultivation in Bolivia fell nine percent last year, and a massive 26 percent in the past three years.

Two mid-altitude regions – Yungas de La Paz and the Cochabamba Tropics – account for nearly all cultivation in Bolivia and both areas saw significant reductions in 2013. Remarkably, illegal cultivation in Bolivia’s national parks was cut in half, to only one thousand hectares.

The nationwide decrease, to an area of only 23,00 hectares, or 12 miles, is widely regarded as a laudable achievement, but overlooked is the fact that Bolivia’s success has come on its own terms – not Washington’s – and with vital cooperation from many of the country’s small coca farmers.

“Bolivia reduced the crop through eradication efforts, but also with the participation of coca growers and farmers,”Antonino de Leo, U.N. Office for Drugs and Crime’s representative in Bolivia, told IPS.

Bolivia charts its own path on coca

“We began outreach at 7:30pm. As always, it was cold and windy in the outreach area. Right away, a guy came up smiling and asked for alcohol swabs and a pack of insulin syringes. Those who came later weren’t so modest. Everybody wanted ointments, but we had little of them. Once they asked me for condoms and lamented that we didn’t have Contex – we only had something called “Love”. Anyway, they took those. Three people asked about naloxone with two of them telling us how it had helped them save people from overdoses – three people saved at once. They asked for our contact details to get some consultations on treatment, including for HIV. One girl talked to Max for a long time telling him about her tribulations with treatment and drug clinics; he gave her some advice. Overall we had about 15 people approach us this time. In general, in spite of the foul weather outreach work went well…”

This is a description of a regular workday of the Harm Reduction Moscow project’s outreach team. The project is implemented by the Andrey Rylkov Foundation. The goal of this project is to help people using injectable drugs - who for various reasons are not ready to quit immediately- reduce all kinds of harmful consequences of drug use such as overdoses or vein problems. It helps them obtain necessary health and social support to impact the spread of infectious diseases such as hepatitis C and HIV infection. Our outreach teams work practically every day in various areas of the city. Our services are in great demand – just in the period between July 1 and December 31, 2013, 938 requests for services were registered. However, the project can cover only a small part of those who need its services in a mega-city. And unfortunately there are few such projects in Russia. They are usually implemented by non-governmental and non-profit organizations (NGOS), while the government does not support them at all.

The Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice (or ARF) was established in June 2009. Its mission is to promote and develop humane drug policy based on tolerance, protection of health, dignity and human rights. The Foundation’s activities rely on voluntary support from representatives of the drug users’ community in the implementation of its projects. Through their involvement the Foundation builds the PUD community’s capacity to engage in advocacy and service provision.

- See more at: http://hivadvocates.net/advocacy-stories/harm-reduction-moscow-successes-and-challenges#sthash.rSRbCcsp.dpuf“We began outreach at 7:30pm. As always, it was cold and windy in the outreach area. Right away, a guy came up smiling and asked for alcohol swabs and a pack of insulin syringes. Those who came later weren’t so modest. Everybody wanted ointments, but we had little of them. Once they asked me for condoms and lamented that we didn’t have Contex – we only had something called “Love”. Anyway, they took those. Three people asked about naloxone with two of them telling us how it had helped them save people from overdoses – three people saved at once. They asked for our contact details to get some consultations on treatment, including for HIV. One girl talked to Max for a long time telling him about her tribulations with treatment and drug clinics; he gave her some advice. Overall we had about 15 people approach us this time. In general, in spite of the foul weather outreach work went well…” - See more at: http://hivadvocates.net/advocacy-stories/harm-reduction-moscow-successes-and-challenges#sthash.rSRbCcsp.dpuf

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