A recent string of drug busts in Southeast Asia — 55 million methamphetamine pills and 1.5 tonnes of crystal meth in Laos in October, and this year at least a billion pills, 6 tonnes of heroin and 4.4 tonnes of crystal meth — have led some international agencies to conclude that the production of illicit narcotics in the region is booming. The reason, Jeremy Douglas from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Bangkok told Reuters as far back as Oct. 28, is “the breakdown” of “security and governance” in Myanmar’s Shan State following the coup a year ago. Then, on Dec. 12, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation quoted Douglas as saying that “right now, the [Myanmar] police are fighting an insurgency or dealing with ethnic unrest, so they have other issues on their mind, and there is free space for others [drug smugglers] to do their business.” More recently, on Feb. 1, Douglas told Reuters: “Meth production increased last year from already extreme levels in northern Myanmar and there is no sign it will slow down.”

Critics, however, see the problem in a completely different light. Apart from being disconcerted by Douglas’ offensive choice of words — “other issues on their mind” can only be interpreted as a reference to the police gunning down peaceful demonstrators — they are pointing out that there can be many reasons for the increase in drug busts, and that it does not necessarily mean that production is skyrocketing. The Transnational Institute (TNI), a Netherlands-based research and advocacy organization, stated in a report published in December: “Sweeping assertions that Myanmar has become one of the world’s largest ATS [Amphetamine-Type Stimulants] producers — if not the largest — and reports about sudden huge increases in production should…be treated with great caution. It is important to note that increases in seizures could be because of other reasons, and these do not automatically mean that there is an increased equivalent in production.”

UN contributing to Myanmar’s drug problem

By Gaea Katreena Cabico, Philstar Global

— The European Parliament has approved a fresh resolution condemning "drug war" killings and the red-tagging of activists and journalists in the Philippines as it warned of possible trade sanctions if calls remain unheeded.

The resolution called on the Philippine government to immediately end violence and human rights violations targeting suspected drug offenders and to stop labeling human rights and environmental defenders, journalists and trade union activists as supporters and allies of communist rebels.

"In this regard, [the European Parliament] calls for the abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) in charge of carrying out red-tagging," the resolution read, which also urged the government to amend the controversial Anti-Terrorism Act and its implementing rules and regulations.

Red-tagged rights alliance Karapatan welcomed the adoption of the resolution, and thanked the members of the European Parliament who voted pass it.

"We also laud the European Parliament, which categorically stated through the said resolution its position for the abolition of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, as it denounced the practice of red-tagging by government officials against activists, journalists and critics, exposing them to potential harm," the group also said.

European Parliament calls for end to red-tagging, killings in Philippines

UNAIDS urges protection and continuity of health and HIV services for people living with and affected by HIV in Ukraine

GENEVA, 25 February 2022—Amidst the ongoing military offensive against Ukraine, UNAIDS is calling for the protection of health workers and uninterrupted continuation of HIV and health services for all people, including people living with and affected by HIV. Ukraine has the second largest AIDS epidemic in the region. It is estimated that there are 250 000 people living with HIV in Ukraine, 156 000 of whom are on antiretroviral therapy, medication that needs to be taken daily for people to remain alive and well.

“People living with HIV in Ukraine only have a few weeks of antiretroviral therapy remaining with them, and without continuous access their lives are at risk,” said Winnie Byanyima, UNAIDS Executive Director. “The hundreds of thousands of people living with and affected by HIV in Ukraine must have unbroken access to life-saving HIV services, including HIV prevention, testing and treatment.”

To date, the Government of Ukraine, together with civil society and international organizations, has implemented one of the largest and most effective HIV responses in eastern Europe and central Asia. However, with the ongoing military offensive, the efforts and gains made in responding to HIV are in serious risk of being reversed, putting even more lives in danger.

The right to health and access to HIV services must always be protected, and health workers, representatives of civil society and their clients must never be targets in a conflict. The ongoing military conflict has affected everyone in Ukraine but is likely to be particularly hard for people living with HIV and key populations, including people who use drugs, sex workers, gay men and other men who have sex with men and transgender people.

As highlighted by the United Nations Secretary-General, the United Nations is committed to support people in Ukraine, who have already suffered from “so much death, destruction and displacement” from the military offensive, in their time of need.

With the support of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and UNAIDS, the Government of Ukraine and civil society partners have delivered HIV prevention and treatment services for people living with HIV and key populations across Ukraine for many years and stand ready to give further support during the ongoing crisis.

UNAIDS staff remain on the ground in Ukraine, working to ensure that people living with HIV and key populations in Ukraine have continued access to life-saving services, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable civilians. UNAIDS will continue to support HIV prevention, testing, treatment, care and support for people across Ukraine affected by the crisis.

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons, Sydney Morning Herald

Rebecca has seen and lived the dark side of drug addiction. She grew up in a violent home with a stepmother who was a heavy cannabis user.

By the age of eight, Rebecca was smoking cigarettes. By 12, she was living on the streets and using alcohol and cannabis. By her late 20s, she was addicted to methamphetamine, also known as ice, and that’s when life became “really unmanageable”.

“It went on for about two years and I ended up homeless, lost my children, and fleeing a domestic violence relationship, all the chaos of deep addiction,” she says.

Rebecca, who lives in the inner west of Sydney and works in community services, got help to quit and has been clean for eight years. She requested her last name be withheld.

Rebecca is convinced, both from her personal and professional experience, that drug addiction should be treated as a health issue.

‘The stigma holds you back’: Public mood shifts on illegal drugs in Australia

ROME, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Italy's Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected a request to hold a referendum on legalising the cultivation of cannabis, provoking the ire of promoters who called the decision a blow to democracy.

The referendum proposal sought to legalise the growing of weed for personal use and ease sanctions on other cannabis-related crimes, with offenders no longer risking prison sentences for selling small amounts of the drug.

Giuliano Amato, the Constitutional Court president, said the referendum included other narcotics considered to be hard drugs, which could not be liberalised.

"This is enough to make us violate multiple international obligations," Amato, a former prime minister, told a news conference.

Lawmaker Riccardo Magi, one of the referendum's leading advocates, told Reuters the court's decision was "a terrible blow to democracy," after hundreds of thousands of people had signed up to the proposal.

Italy's Constitutional Court vetoes referendum to liberalise cannabis

Edited by Istvan Gabor Takacs / Reporter: Peter Sarosi

We are glad to present our new movie on why is it important to involve civil society in drug policy decision making, featuring the members of the EU’s Civil Society Forum on Drugs!

The Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD) is an expert group to the European Commission. Its membership comprises 45 civil society organisations coming from across Europe and representing a variety of fields of drug policy, and a variety of stances within those fields. We produced this video by interviewing its members about the valuable contribution civil society is doing in the field of drug policies in Europe. The movie was produced with the support of the EC JUST Drug Policy Grant.

The right to sit at the table – The Civil Society Forum on Drugs

By Colette Fogarty and Matvej Dubianskij, Master's students at the Graduate Institute Geneva

For decades, the global approach to the drugs-war nexus has been defined by heavily securitised policies, encompassing everything from forced crop eradication to militarised confrontations with drug cultivators and traffickers. In this podcast, Colette and Matvej seek to address the question of whether counter-narcotic policies, under the mantle of the War on Drugs, have been conducive to sustainable and inclusive peace-building efforts and processes in conflict contexts, specifically in the cases of Afghanistan, Colombia and Myanmar.

Colette Fogarty & Matvej Dubianskij · “The Cure Has Been Worse Than the Disease”: Punitive Drug Policies and Peacebuilding

'The cure has been worse than the disease': Punitive drug policies and peacebuilding

The Charitable Fund Humanitarian Action in Saint Petersburg is fighting back against the crackdown on harm reduction organisations: a court recently annulled the government decision to include them in the infamous foreign agent list. We interviewed Alexei Lahov, Director of Development of the NGO.

Your organisation was created more than 20 years ago to support people living with HIV, people who use drugs, and sex workers. How many clients do you have and what kind of services do you provide to them?

Alexei Lahov: Every year, we have more than 5,000 clients. We provide them with the whole HIV prevention package approved by World Health Organisation (apart from opiate substitution treatment (OST), of course, as it’s prohibited in Russia) – needle and syringes distribution, access to ART, viral hepatitis, Tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases (STI) prevention, rapid testing for HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and syphilis, referral to drug treatment centres, overdose prevention with Naloxone, and even mobile X-ray for people who use drugs (PWUD).

What is the current situation with HIV infections and overdoses among people who use drugs in Russia? Is the situation getting any better?

According to the official data, in the year 2020, 18,013 people overdosed on illicit drugs and 7,366 died as a consequence. This is a 16.1 percent increase compared to 2019, so the overdose situation is getting worse. There are fewer people (381,505) who are officially registered as drug dependent, and the estimated number of people (165,184) who inject drugs has decreased as well. It seems that the number of people dependent on opioid drugs has decreased but stimulant use is on the rise. The prevalence of HIV among people who inject drugs is still very high but it continues to decrease, from 56.1 percent in 2012 to 31.1 percent in 2020.

Drugreporter produced an animated movie about one of your former clients, Kostya Proletarsky. How did you and your colleagues like the film?

Kostya was not only our client but our colleague too, he worked for the Fund. It’s a powerful movie that accurately depicts the state of drug treatment services and attitudes toward people who use drugs in the 2000s.

Is there any change in the situation in prisons compared to what we see in the film?

A lot has been done since that time, and though people who use drugs keep dying from HIV and TB in prisons the situation is not as dire as it used to be back then. At least in terms of the number of deaths. But disruptions in treatment still occur, as well as other problems related to medical help provision. To put it bluntly: quite a lot still needs to be done.

Russian harm reduction NGO fights foreign agent status – Interview with Alexei Lahov

By ICASO, Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC), the International AIDS Society (IAS), and the Center for Public Health and Human Rights (CPHHR) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Dr. Robert Carr passed away suddenly at the age of 48 in early 2011, a loss that shocked human rights advocates all over the world. In the months after his death, ICASO worked with partners to establish the Robert Carr Research Award and Memorial Lecture at the biannual International AIDS Conference as a tribute to his legacy. The Award recognizes individuals and organizations that have advanced human rights as part of the global response to AIDS. Robert was particularly passionate about the need for cross-disciplinary research to inform policy and advocacy efforts. It is this passion that ICASO, Caribbean Vulnerable Communities (CVC), the International AIDS Society (IAS), and the Center for Public Health and Human Rights (CPHHR) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health wished to honour by establishing the Robert Carr Research Award.

The Robert Carr Research Award celebrates Robert’s vision of collaboration between community organizations, academic researchers, and advocates to advance human rights-based policies and practices in the AIDS response.

Robert’s commitment to translating findings from research collaborations between community and academic partners into tangible policy development and advocacy efforts is the driving force behind this prize. This year’s winners will be announced at the 24th International AIDS Conference in Montreal, Canada (AIDS2022) in July 2022 during the biannual Robert Carr Memorial Lecture.

The nominations are open to the public. Anyone can submit a nomination.

The deadline for nominations is 31 March 2022

Only nominations submitted through the online form will be accepted

The online nomination form is available HERE.

The Award aims to highlight a research project conducted by a 

 in which all partners were equally involved in designing the study, collecting and analyzing the data and disseminating the results. To be eligible, the nomination must demonstrate how the project 

has led to evidence-based programs and/or influenced policies in the field of HIV

To be eligible for the Award, the research project must meet the following criteria:

The research project has been conducted by a community-academia partnership in which all partners were equally involved in designing the study, collecting and analyzing the data and disseminating the results.

The research project has led to evidence-based programs and/or influenced policies in the field of HIV to guide a human rights-based response to HIV.

For the 2022 edition, preference will be given to projects that address issues of racialization and/or migration and HIV.

The Award consists of the following components:

Coverage of travel expenses and conference registration fees to attend the International AIDS Conference for two awardees (one representative from the community and one representative from academia)

Invitation to deliver the keynote address for the Robert Carr Memorial Lecture and presentation of the Award

ICASO coordinates the Robert Carr Research Award. Any questions about nominating procedures or eligibility may be directed by email. For more information on the Award and lecture, please visit ICASO.

2022 Robert Carr Research Award

All of us are struck by the devastating events in Ukraine. Civilians are being bombed and lost access to the basics – food, water, medicine, place to live.

EHRA opens this crowdfunding campaign to support community of people who use drugs and harm reduction activists in Ukraine who are bravely continuing their work, helping each other and ensuring the continuation of services. Collected funds will be distributed through EHRA member AUCO “Convictus Ukraine” for individual financial assistance and humanitarian aid, priority will be given to the residents of the most affected cities.

EHRA will not take any administrative or other fees, all money will be sent to the communities.

Please donate to the following bank account:

 Charitable donation for community in Ukraine

Reports on the campaign will be regularly published on EHRA web page https://harmreductioneurasia.org/

Підтримка спільноті України!

Усіх нас вразили жорстока військова агресія проти України і її громадян. Цивільних людей бомбардують, вони втрачають доступ до основних засобів для життя – їжі, води, ліків, безпечного житла.

Євразійська асоціація зменшення шкоди відкриває цю кампанію зі збору коштів для підтримки спільноти людей, які вживають наркотики, та активістів зменшення шкоди в Україні, які сміливо продовжують свою роботу, допомагають один одному та забезпечують продовження послуг. Зібрані кошти будуть розподілятися через члена EАСВ благодійну організацію «Convictus Ukraine» на індивідуальну фінансову та гуманітарну допомогу людям, перш за все жителям найбільш постраждалих міст.

ЕАСВ не братиме жодних адміністративних чи інших зборів із зібраних коштів, усі гроші будуть надіслані напряму громадам, які цього потребують найбільше.

Будь ласка, надсилайте кошти на цей банківський рахунок:

Ім’я власника рахунку: Eurazijos žalos mažinimo asociacija

Мета: Благодійна пожертва для української спільноти

Назва банку: AB Šiaulių bankas

Звіти про кампанію регулярно публікуватимуться на веб-сторінці EHRA https://harmreductioneurasia.org

Support Ukraine's community of people who use drugs

VIENNA, 28 February 2022 - The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is deeply concerned over the emerging humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. With reports of over 300,000 Ukrainians having already fled their homes, with many crossing into neighbouring countries, the acute and growing humanitarian needs resulting from this emergency situation require urgent action to ensure unimpeded access to medications, including medicines containing internationally controlled narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

INCB reminds all Governments that in acute emergencies it is possible to utilize simplified control procedures for the export, transportation, and provision of medicinal products containing controlled substances.

Competent national authorities may permit the export of medicines containing narcotic drugs and/or psychotropic substances to the areas in the absence of the corresponding import authorizations and/or estimates. Urgent deliveries do not need to be included in the estimates of the receiving country.

Competent national authorities may find further information in the Guidelines for the International Provision of Controlled Medicines for Emergency Medical Care and Lessons from countries and humanitarian aid organizations in facilitating the Timely Supply of Controlled Substances during Emergency Situations.

INCB statement on ensuring availability of and access to controlled medicines in Ukraine and neighbouring countries

On February 1, 2019, a 63 years old woman, a native of the province of Salta, Argentina, was traveling in a long-distance bus coming from the city of Bariloche bound for the Chilean town of Osorno. We will call her 

. to respect her privacy. When the bus arrived at the border crossing with Chile, the National Gendarmerie Squadron 34 “Bariloche,” which was carrying out a routine control check, discovered that she was carrying 2.7 kilograms (6 pounds) of cocaine, arranged in four packages that were attached to her body. She was arrested and charged with “attempted smuggling for export, aggravated by the fact that it involved narcotics.” It later emerged that 

 took this risk as a single mother in need of money to pay for surgery for her son.

According to the investigation, 20 days before, she had crossed from the town of Salvador Maza, Salta, to the Bolivian city of Yacuiba, where she presumably was supplied with the drugs. After analyzing her cell phone communications, the investigators concluded that she “was transporting the narcotic substance in compliance with an obligation imposed by a third party.” Eventually, the prosecutor withdrew the charges and she was absolved by the Argentine court.

A case that ended very differently is that of Claudia S.E, a 33-year-old Bolivian woman who crossed the border into Argentina while pregnant, carrying a little over a kilo (2 pounds) of cocaine in exchange for US$500 that she needed to pay for treatment for her 13-year-old son who was suffering from a femur tumor. Claudia was detained in October 2018 and charged with the crime of transporting substances, which carries a punishment of up to 15 years in prison. She was jailed under pre-trial detention, even though she did not pose a danger of absconding or hindering the case, and was fined 20,000 Argentine pesos (about US$540 at the time). When her son, Fernandito, found out that his mother was in prison, he abandoned his treatment for 3 months and fell into depression. Claudia asked to see her son before he died and did everything possible to get an answer from the Court of Appeals of Salta. After six months of waiting for a resolution, Judge Hansen allowed Claudia to travel to Bolivia and be with her son for 30 days. She would then have to return to prison and await trial. She and her son were together for almost five days until the child succumbed to his illness and died.

These two cases illustrate the disproportionate impact of the “war on drugs” on women, and, in particular, on women in situations of vulnerability. Both of these cases involved single mothers with children in need of medical care that they could not afford. As a last resort, they turned to transporting illegal drugs to earn money. Like so many women engaged in high-risk drug-related activities, they were caught—but with two very different outcomes. In stark contrast to how such cases are routinely handled by the Argentine criminal justice system, the government ultimately dropped the charges against 

 and the judge absolved her. The government’s rationale for dropping its case against 

 and the judge’s ruling in agreement could have significant implications for other Argentines in situations of vulnerability who are charged with committing low-level drug offenses, and potentially opening the door for debate on much-needed drug law reforms.

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