Have you read the 21st Amendment of the United States Constitution lately? With the gaining momentum of efforts to reform drug policies here and around the world, it’s an instructive, interesting, and very quick read.

In 1933, for the twenty-first time, America revised the document that anchors its legal and political systems and expresses the democratic and social aspirations of its people. In this instance, Americans called for an end to the disastrous 14-year experiment with mandatory alcohol prohibition.

When Congress proposed repeal of the 18th Amendment, which banned the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol, it did two unusual things. For the first and only time, Congress decided 

 to entrust approval of a proposed constitutional amendment to the state legislatures. Instead, Congress chose the alternative method of ratifying a constitutional amendment: state ratifying conventions specially elected for that single purpose by voters in each state.

In other words, Congress was saying to each state: You decide whether you want to keep booze illegal or not within your state; the federal government won’t get involved, except to protect dry states from outside interference.

The U.S. Department of Justice has committed—at least for now—to essentially the same path for marijuana. Late last month, the Obama Administration announced federal law enforcement policy that would permit states to regulate marijuana production and distribution for adults.

In a remarkable memo to United States Attorneys across the country, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole explained the Obama Administration’s solution to differences in state and federal marijuana laws.

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

The end of marijuana prohibition in the USA?

A new study published in the journal North Korea Review says that parts of North Korea are experiencing a crystal meth “epidemic,” with an “upsurge” of recreational meth use and accompanying addiction in the country’s northern provinces.

“Almost every adult in that area [of North Korea] has experienced using ice and not just once,” a study co-author told the Wall Street Journal. “I estimate that at least 40% to 50% are seriously addicted to the drug.”

North Korea faces high increase in methamphetamine use 

Legislators in Puerto Rico are preparing to debate a bill that would allow people to use marijuana for medicinal purposes in this conservative U.S. territory, officials said Thursday.

The measure would create a system to legally produce the substance and allow state health officials to regulate it, said Rep. Jose Baez, one of the bill's two authors.

It calls for a classification of medical conditions and requirements that would allow patients to smoke marijuana in their homes. Conditions would range from cancer to glaucoma to anxiety.

The measure also would allow the island's health department to award special permits to patients to grow their own pot if they couldn't afford to buy it at an authorized clinic or if they lived too far from the clinics.

Last year, Colorado and Washington became the first U.S. states to legalize marijuana use for those over 21. The law, however, bans the public use of marijuana.

Eighteen other states and Washington, D.C., allow medical use of marijuana.

Puerto Rico to debate medical use of cannabis

More than 120 groups from across the political spectrum and around the globe, including the ACLU, Witness for Peace, Drug Policy Alliance, and the International Drug Policy Consortium (a global network of 106 NGOs) sent a letter to Congress today, calling on key legislators from the House and Senate Judiciary and Oversight Committees to hold hearings on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

“For too long Congress has given the DEA a free pass,” said Bill Piper, director of national affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance. “Our hope is that Congress does its job and provides oversight because this agency has a deeply troubling track record of unregulated and out of control behavior. The DEA must be reined in and held accountable.”

The catalyst for the letter is a series of investigative articles from early August and September by Reuters and the 

. The Reuters articles outline how the DEA has used certain CIA and NSA programs to pursue drug convictions in the United States. The revelations have added to the current controversy surrounding NSA programs. Defenders of NSA programs have hitherto claimed that their sole use was to prevent terrorist attacks, not domestic spying on nearly all Americans. Perhaps more worryingly, the letter notes that “DEA agents are actively creating and encouraging other agencies to create fake investigative trails to disguise where the information originated, a scheme that prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and others are arguing has robbed defendants of their right to a fair trial.”

 published a story detailing how, over several years, the DEA has had unlimited access to an AT&T database of all calls that pass through its phones and switches. Under the Hemisphere Project, the U.S. government pays AT&T to place its employees inside the DEA, so that the DEA can use these experts to gain access to decades of detailed records of U.S. citizens’ phone calls.

Both stories expose what is merely the latest in a long line of controversial incidents involving the DEA. Among some of the other episodes of concern cited by the signatories are:

The case of Daniel Chong, a San Diego student who was left unattended and unfed in a holding cell by the DEA for five days, and who subsequently sued and settled for $.4.1 million in July of this year.

A drug war operation in Honduras in which the DEA took part, and which led to the killing of four innocent civilians. The incident has never been properly investigated by authorities.

DEA’s role in the “Fast and Furious” scandal, where the agency smuggled and laundered millions of dollars in drug war profits for Mexican drug cartels as part of an ill-conceived sting operation.

DEA administrator Michele Leonhart’s role in overruling the DEA’s own administrative judges after they made decisions based on medical science.

Defense attorneys in Arizona are claiming government misconduct because the DEA has rehired Andrew Chambers, a government informant who was terminated by the Justice Department years ago amid accusations of serial perjury.

The letter calls on Congress “to investigate the DEA and hold it accountable for its actions,” noting that although it has been 40 years since President Nixon established the DEA, “Congress has rarely held hearings on the DEA, its actions, and its efficacy.”

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

Broad spectrum of groups call on US congress to hold hearings on the DEA

The international (undergraduate) writing competition called Global Debate and Public Policy Challenge (GDPPC) asks students to critically engage with issues of public policy that are of pressing relevance to the global community. We hope that you could forward this to your contacts and encourage as many undergraduate students to participate in this year's topic “Rethinking Drugs”.


GDPPC is an ongoing written and oral policy competition for undergraduate students from around the world. It provides a platform which embraces the concept of open society, bringing together outstanding undergraduate students from across the globe in an effort to foster a rich and lively exchange of ideas through critical thinking and well informed debates. This year’s challenge theme “Rethinking Drugs” invites participants to explore the policy questions raised in the area of international drug policy.

Students are asked to explore what policies governments should adopt to address the current challenges drugs, and drug-related crime and violence pose on a social and political level. This encourages students to think critically about the war on drugs, the implications of current drug policies on security, health, justice and human rights. Students are asked to submit two written papers on different scenarios, the first one due 30 October 2013. Outstanding students have a chance to present their ideas at a final forum in Budapest with the chance of earning one of the 5 up to $10.000 scholarships and grants.


The Global Public Policy Institute has partnered with the International Debate Education Association (UK), the IDEA Central Foundation, the European Council of Foreign Relations as well as the School of Public Policy at Central European University to organize the third round of the Global Public Policy and Debate Challenge (GDPPC). The Challenge is sponsored by the Open Society Foundations.

We hope that many undergraduate students will take up the challenge. It would be great if you could help us promote this program by distributing the attached flyer to students, professors and university contacts in your network. Please also refer them to our website www.gdppc.ideabte.org, which contains all the relevant information in more detail.

Global debate and public policy challenge: 2013-2014 topic is "rethinking drugs"

On the 29th and 30th of August 2013 a committee of academics, politicians and civil society (NGOs, USAID, UNODC, e.g.) took part at the 2-days-long 11th National Conference on Drugs Policy in Buenos Aires, sponsored by the National Senate, the Ichan School of Medicine of U.S.A. and the Open Society Foundation and inaugurated by the Argentinean Ministry of Education, Mr. Alberto Sileoni.

Started in 2003, the Conference has become a platform for discussion and improvements. The aims of the 11th edition are starting a social debate to promote non-punitive polices that are scientifically based and try to respond to several kind of problem associated with drugs; and generating a national exchange between academics and politicians in order to have updated information about policies, interventions, consumption and problems related to drugs.

In this Conference 15 proposals have been discussed with the purpose to formulate a better legislation for the country. Mr. Julio Calzada Mazzei, the General Secretary National Drug Board of Uruguay, participated to this Conference supporting the 15 points and explaining the new Uruguayan law about marijuana legalisation in his country.

Proposals for a new Argentina's drugs law

To mark International Overdose Day, Youth RISE has created two educational video's to improve knowledge around what can cause an overdose, how to spot an overdose and some simple tips to avoid an overdose. There are now subtitles available in all major languages.

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

International Overdose Day: Youth Rise videos 

The Obama administration said this 27th August that it would not challenge laws legalizing marijuana in Colorado and Washington state as long as those states maintain strict rules involving the sale and distribution of the drug.

In a memo to U.S. attorneys in all 50 states, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole said the Justice Department is “committed to using its limited investigative and prosecutorial resources to address the most significant threats in the most effective, consistent and rational way.” He stressed that marijuana remains illegal under federal law.

The memo, which was welcomed by proponents of marijuana legalization, directs federal prosecutors to focus on eight areas of enforcement rather than spending time targeting individual users. Those aims include preventing distribution of marijuana to minors, stopping the growing of marijuana on public land, keeping pot from falling into the hands of cartels and gangs, and preventing the diversion of marijuana to states where it remains illegal.

The Obama Administration will not block state marijuana laws, if distribution is regulated

Hungarian needle and syringe exchange programs are facing financial problems because the government is not budgeting enough money for harm reduction services. Experts predict this could result in dramatically increased prevalence of HIV/AIDS among injection drug users- such as that currently being experienced in Romania.

Hungarian NGOs can bid for three-year state grants (6 million HUF a year) for harm reduction services (“low-threshold programs”). Because a new funding period began in 2012, the government could select a different set of grantee organizations.

Generally speaking, the programs have achieved better geographical coverage. Before 2012, there were only 24 NSPs. Now there are twenty-nine, in five more Hungarian cities (provisional data, NFP). In order to adequately meet current need though, Budapest and Miskolc services need more funding. For instance, a mobile NSP in Miskolc, a city in Northeast-Hungary with serious intravenous drug use (IDU) and Hepatitis C problems had to close its doors last year. In Budapest, a Kék Pont outreach program had to close and ArtEra, the third biggest NSP in Budapest, was shut down for six months. When several NGOs collaborated and were given a “second chance” to apply for state financial support, Kék Pont and ArtEra were able to re-open in June 2012.

Paying the price for harm reduction budget cuts in Hungary

Justice Minister Chaikasem Nitisiri said he is considering the possibility of legalising krathom - 

 - leaves with one of the options being to use the plant as a substitute in drug treatment programmes.

But public opinion would need to be gauged first, he said. The idea could materialise if it is backed by scientific research and gains social acceptance.

Krathom is classified as a drug in the 5th category of the Narcotics Act, alongside cannabis and psychotropic mushroom species, but has lighter penalties than those drugs.

Justice Minister Chaikasem Nitisiri believes legalising krathom would create benefits than if it continues to be banned as an illegal substance. He said krathom could serve as a solution for people suffering from stress or addicts wanting to stop using drugs.

Thai Minister proposes to legalise krathom use

UK prisons are holding hundreds of women from home and abroad for drug-related offences. In June 2013, there were 3,817 women and girls in prison in England and Wales, of whom 553 were imprisoned for drug offences. Of these, 80 were on remand, and 473 sentenced; 14 were under the age of 20. Females imprisoned for drug offences account for 14.5% of the female prison population – the same proportion as the male prison population.

This proportion is much higher for foreign women in UK prisons. A briefing by the Prison Reform Trust on this group of women indicated that in 2011, 46% of the 650 non-UK national females in custody were being held for drug offences. The majority were sentenced for importation of class A drugs, compared with 21% of the UK population. Research by the Sentencing Council indicates that those who are in custody for drug importation are particularly vulnerable to exploitation by those who are using them as drug mules. The financial reward for these women is tiny in comparison with the profits made by those controlling them, and coercion and intimidation are often used. Organisations such as the charity Hibiscus have worked tirelessly to raise awareness in women in countries such as Jamaica and Nigeria of the dangers of bringing drugs into the UK, and where they can get help and support if they are approached to be a drug mule.

Women targeted as drug mules in the UK and abroad

Since the April 2012 military coup d’état that ended civilian rule in Guinea-Bissau, this small, Portuguese-speaking country in West Africa has quietly become what some experts have termed Africa’s first “narco-state,” as cocaine trafficking is now a widely accepted route to power and influence in Bissau-Guinean politics. What’s more, the burgeoning South Atlantic drug trade shows signs of becoming further entwined with violent extremist networks across West Africa and the Sahel—the belt of Africa between the Sahara Desert and the tropical savannahs—helping to finance groups and activities that undermine economic and political development.

These dramatic developments in Guinea-Bissau shed light on the spread of the cocaine trade across the Atlantic and illustrate how this trend threatens security efforts across two continents. The United States and the international community should view the creation of viable economic alternatives in Latin America and Guinea-Bissau as part of a sustainable solution to the proliferation of transatlantic cocaine trafficking. This trade has well-known social and health impacts in the United States, Latin America, Africa, and Europe, perpetuates economic underdevelopment in the producing and transit areas, and contributes to the strength of violent extremist groups on two continents.

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