Recommendations for improving access to substitution treatment in Polish prisons have been signed. This step forward was made in early December at a conference co-hosted by the Penitentiary Service, the Social AIDS Committee and Open Society Institute’s Global Drug Policy program.
The Canadian federal government is again proposing mandatory sentences and stiff penalties for certain drug offences. But evidence shows that they only worsen an already dire situation. Incarcerating people who inject drugs or those who are vulnerable to such a practice contributes to Canada’s worsening HIV/HCV epidemic. Along with over 62 witnesses who made submissions or testified before the Standing Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network made its case before the Senate with this submission.
With the support of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the International AIDS Society (IAS) has established a research fellowship programme, with the goal of contributing to advances in the scientific understanding of drug use and HIV, while fostering multinational research. Applications from a wide range of disciplines including social, behavioral, political, clinical, biomedical, mathematical sciences or others are accepted.
Academic editorial contributors are being sought for the Encyclopedia of Drug Policy, a new 2-volume reference to be published in 2011 by SAGE Publications.
The Security Council, on 8 December, focused on the issue of drug trafficking as a threat to international peace and security. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned in his speech that "drug trafficking is evolving into an ever graver threat that is affecting all regions of the world".
Hungary is to adopt a progressive national drug strategy in December 2009, but the opposition is using the UN Political Declaration to prevent its adoption.
The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has urged Poland to scale up access to antiretroviral therapy for drug users living with HIV and to increase the availability of substitute drug dependence treatment, especially for people in detention.
The International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy was lauched on Human Rights Day 2009 (10th December). The Centre is dedicated to developing and promoting innovative and high quality legal and human rights scholarship on issues related to drug laws, policy and enforcement.
A call for papers that bring the experiences of children and young people of the drug war. The editor is looking for original, well-written and engaging essays. They may be based on existing research, interviews, personal experiences or they may be more narrative or journalistic in style. The deadline for proposals is Friday 29th January 2010.
The web portal is a tool for activists, community organizations, researchers, policy-makers, journalists, health workers and anyone who seeks quick and easy access to a wide range of resources about HIV, human rights and the law.
The European network Correlation is currently drafting a manual on harm reduction methodologies. Correlation is therefore seeking projects and organisations in Europe and abroad with experience in the field of outreach/early intervention AND/OR peer support for drug users.