The United States’ opioid epidemic worsened significantly during the pandemic, with overdose deaths recorded in the 12 months leading up to April 2021 up 28.5% from the year before, show data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.1

Health systems across the country reported 97 990 overdose deaths during that period. Accounting for reporting delays, the CDC estimated that the final figure will be 100 306 lives lost to overdoses, of which 75 673 were opioid overdoses.

Of these, 64 178 deaths involved synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, a drug which has flooded the country in recent years.

A record 100 000 people in the United States died from overdoses in 12 months of the pandemic, says CDC

The NZ Drug Foundation is celebrating the passing of the Drug and Substance Checking Legislation Bill (No 2) today, which provides a new permanent legal framework for drug checking services at festivals and clinics.

Executive Director, Sarah Helm, says it is a huge moment in the history of preventing drug harm in New Zealand.

“This is truly a moment to celebrate. It has been over three decades since the last significant gain was made, the creation of the needle exchanges in the late 1980s,” says Helm.

“For years, pioneering drug checking provider KnowYourStuff has been delivering this service with our support, working in the margins of the law at great risk to themselves to prevent harm to others. Today, it’s important we acknowledge the tireless and brave work of these volunteers, particularly Wendy Allison.

Helm says drug checking has proven to be a hugely effective harm reduction tool that saves lives by providing people with accurate information to make safer decisions. She is keen to see access expanded beyond festivalgoers.

“This new law provides a great opportunity to expand availability of services to more vulnerable communities,” she says.

New Zealand: Passage of drug checking law a moment to celebrate

By István Gábor Takács / Rights Reporter Foundation

Organisations in Lebanon providing Opioid Agonist Treatment ask for international help to maintain the programs. Watch our short video and take action!

OAT, Opioid Agonist Treatment Program was legalized and launched in Lebanon in 2012 within the Harm Reduction Program, after years of advocacy from harm reduction actors in the country.

In light of the compounded and ongoing crises that have hit Lebanon since 2019, today organisations are facing the risk of yet another health crisis with the imminent shortage of Opioid Agonist Treatment medication. Organizations providing the treatment in Lebanon have learnt of the upcoming shortage of OAT medication which leaves the lives of over 1200 individuals hanging in the balance.

Watch this short video with Elie Aaraj, Executive Director of the Middle East and North Africa Harm Reduction Association, explaining the problem:

Opioid agonist treatment shortage in Lebanon – Call for support!

The leaders of Germany’s incoming governing parties announced on Wednesday that they have a formal agreement to legalize marijuana and promote broader drug policy harm reduction measures when they take power.

News of a tentative agreement on cannabis first broke last week, but the coalition pact has now been made official.

“We are introducing the controlled supply of cannabis to adults for consumption in licensed stores,” the parties said in a new 118-page agreement, according to a translation. “This controls the quality [of marijuana], prevents the transfer of contaminated substances and guarantees the protection of minors.”

Germany will legalise marijuana and promote drug harm reduction, governing party coalition officially announces

Vitaly Milonov, a Russian government politician notorious for anti-gay and antisemitic remarks, has found a new enemy: The Andrey Rylkov Foundation, a harm reduction organisation in Moscow.

Vitaly Milonov, a representative of Putin’s United Russia party in the State Duma, and the chairman of its Committee on Family, Women, and Children, said in an interview with Gazeta.ru that he was ready to personally intervene to jail the staff members of the Andrey Rylkov Foundation (ARF). His remarks were made after ARF announced the launch of its new project to organise a support group for sex workers in Moscow.

“This is the first step towards imprisoning the staff of this foundation. This is not a foundation, as it calls itself, but a gang, a gang. A group of persons united by the commission of criminal activity, as it is actually described by Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Therefore, I strongly recommend that these foreign agents finish this activity. Because I will personally take care of putting them all to hell. The organisation of prostitution is a criminal offence, if they openly say that they are going to organise and participate in prostitution, then they hang themselves through prostitution of an organised criminal group,” said the deputy.

The Andrey Rylkov Foundation was established in 2009 and has been one of the few organisations providing harm reduction services for people who use drugs in Moscow. They have so far reached around 3000-4000 injecting drug users with a van on the streets. Amongst other things, they provide clean needles and Naloxone kits. The organisation was listed as a “foreign agent” by the Russian government in 2016, a label they fought at the Moscow City Court. Drugreporter has produced a video about the organisation previously, please watch it below!

Russian politician threatens harm reduction activists with imprisonment

This resource is intended for people who use new psychoactive substances (NPS) and the organizations that help them. It contains useful information on the prevention of HIV infection and other drug-related diseases, on various substances, including synthetic psychostimulants, examples of responses to the challenges of NPS.

Useful information for people who use stimulant drugs - Videos

By Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse (CRISM)

Canada is experiencing an overdose emergency, which killed over 21,000 people between 2016 and 2020. Supervised Consumption Services (SCS) are a core component of Canada’s overdose response.

Supervised consumption services (SCS) are health facilities where people consume drugs and are monitored by staff who provide education on harm reduction and provide emergency medical care for overdose.

SCS also distribute sterile drug use equipment and can act as a pathway to other health services. SCS are authorized by federal or provincial authorities, which protects staff and participants from being charged with possession of illegal drugs while on site.

WHY SCS is a project of the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse (CRISM). The WHY SCS team works with substance use researchers, people with lived and/or living experience of substance use, and healthcare providers to provide accurate information about supervised consumption services (SCS) in Canada.

As a result of the national overdose emergency, Canada has seen rapid scale-up of supervised consumption services (SCS) in the past four years, and the country is now home to 36 federally sanctioned services, with additional sites pending approval. Little research has examined the features or context of emerging SCS models. Additionally, despite concerns about overdose and other drug-related harm across Canada, implementation of SCS to date has been limited to just 5/13 provincial/territorial jurisdictions. The present implementation science project was designed to support further implementation and evaluation of SCS in Canada.

Our study includes four specific initiatives:

The development of a national evidence-based guidance document with companion plain language resources targeting communities and service providers considering implementing SCS.

The development of in-depth, mixed-method case studies of innovative service models.

The creation and distribution of a national-level survey of SCS operators to characterize variation in SCS implementation across Canada.

The collection of mixed-method data to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on SCS use patterns and care provision to people who use drugs.

Outputs of these initiatives will provide prospective SCS operators with access to both technical guidance and knowledge translation products designed to enhance public and policymaker understanding of these services. In addition, this project will produce new knowledge on the state of SCS in Canada.

Why SCS? Information about supervised consumption services in Canada

The Rights Reporter Foundation (Drugreporter) organises two free trainings on Media engagement and Video advocacy. You can apply for both or to each one individually. The deadline for applications is 22 November 2021. For more information, read on!

Working with the media is a must for NGOs in the drugs field. However, very few activists and professionals have the necessary communication skills to do it effectively. With the help of this practical capacity building training, participants will be able to use the traditional methods of communicating with the print and broadcast media, such as writing press releases, organising press conferences, giving television interviews. The first part of the training gives an introduction to the basics of media communication from the perspective of civil society activists/professionals. It refutes some common myths and false preconceptions about the media, outlines the structure, length and content of press releases and press conferences, and explains to participants how to organise communication within an organisation. Useful tips are given about television interviews, trainers and students discuss ethical issues and methods to evaluate communication. In the second, more practical part of the workshop participants can practice what they have learnt. They break up into smaller groups which have to build a media campaign concept, write a press release and give test TV interviews. In the third, plenary part of the workshop we analyse the campaign plans, press releases and TV interviews together and discuss lessons learned.

The RRF is ready to train 15 drug policy and harm reduction activists from around the world, who would like to enhance their capacity for media engagement. The applicant must work in the field of harm reduction and drug policy reform advocacy, or be closely affiliated with such an organisation.

Fill out this online application form by November 22, 2021 for the media training.

Video as a tool for change is becoming more and more popular among activists. Since 2007, the video advocacy team of the Rights Reporter Foundation has been producing online advocacy videos that translate the often-complicated issues of human rights, drug policy reform, and harm reduction into easily understandable and interesting video pieces. These videos not only inform, but motivate and mobilise for direct action for change.

It is our strategic goal to train and enable activists to effectively communicate in the language of video, to influence people’s thinking and public policies, and to build vibrant and tolerant communities that value human rights. Since 2009, we have held video advocacy training for more than a hundred activists around the world. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided to hold our next training online.

The RRF is ready to train 15 activists from around the world, who would like to use video in their harm reduction and drug policy reform advocacy work. The applicant must work in the field of harm reduction and drug policy reform advocacy, or be closely affiliated with such an organisation, and the person applying must meet the following requirements:

Understanding of harm reduction/drug policy reform and its human rights dimensions;

Time/capacity to produce videos (preferably not executives or senior staff members who have no time/capacity to make movies);

Good communication skills (ability to make reports, interviews);

Good working relationship with harm reduction/drug policy organisations from the country;

Commitment to make videos about drug policy/harm reduction in the longer term.

Participants should also have some sort of video recording device that they will use at the training. It can be a photo or video camera or even a smartphone.

Fill out this online application form by November 22, 2021 for the video advocacy training.

The training is being offered free of charge for participants, thanks to the support of the “Harm Reduction Consortium”, financed by the Robert Carr Fund for civil society networks. This training is organised by the Rights Reporter Foundation (RFF), in close cooperation with the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC).

Call for applications - 2x training opportunities: Media engagement and Video advocacy

The Global Drug Policy Index is the first tool of its kind to document, measure and compare countries’ drug policies worldwide. The Index assesses both policies on the books and implementation on the ground. Countries are scored on the basis of transparent, up-to-date and reliable data. The higher the score, the more drug policy in that country aligns with the United Nations Common Position on drug policy. The Index's official launch is Monday, 8 November (00:01 Central European Time) at: www.GlobalDrugPolicyIndex.net The Global Drug Policy Index is a project of the Harm Reduction Consortium, which includes the following partners: the European Network of People Who Use Drugs (EuroNPUD), the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA), the Eurasian Network of People who Use Drugs (ENPUD), the Global Drug Policy Observatory (GDPO) / Swansea University, Harm Reduction International (HRI), the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), the Middle East and North Africa Harm Reduction Association (MENAHRA), the West African Drug Policy Network (WADPN), the Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN), and Youth RISE. 

 (English / Spanish)
GDPI Media Relations
Mob. +34 655 792 699
Email: michael.kessler@intoon-media.com
Twitter: @mickessler

Launch of the Global Drug Policy Index

 Harm Reduction International (HRI), the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD) and the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), alongside 27 organisations and networks, urge the Singaporean Government to immediately halt the impending execution of Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam; and call on UN entities, the European Union, and all relevant stakeholders to take urgent action.

Nagaenthran, a 32 years’ old Malaysian citizen, was arrested in 2009, and sentenced to death in 2011 for importing with intent of trafficking 42.72 grams of diamorphine. The Singapore Court of Appeal upheld the sentence in November 2011, and further re-sentencing applications were dismissed. On 26th October, Nagaenthran’s family was informed that he would be executed on 10th November, and was advised to start making travel and funeral arrangements.
Nagaenthran, who was reportedly pushed to import drugs in exchange of RM 500 (USD 120) needed to pay for his father’s upcoming heart surgery, also experiences mental health issues and has an intellectual disability: he was diagnosed with mild ADHD, his I.Q. of 69 meets the international standard for intellectual disability, and his functioning skills (including verbal fluency, abstract reasoning, and problem solving) are impaired. Nevertheless, judges concluded that his impairment was not sufficient to grant re-sentencing, and in 2017 upheld his death sentence.

Nagaenthran’s siblings and mother live in Malaysia, and - in addition to the extraordinary mental and emotional toll – are facing significant financial and logistical challenges to travel to Singapore, particularly in light of COVID-19 requirements and restrictions. Once in the country, they will have to comply with the Stay-Home-Notice (SHN) and are strictly prohibited from using public transportation. If they test negative for COVID-19, they will be granted an exception to the SHN to travel to and from the prison, although it is unclear whether they will be able to have any physical contact with Nagaenthran. If the test comes back positive, they will be barred from visiting Nagaenthran, and may be confined to a medical facility.

The use of the death penalty for drug offences is a clear violation of international human rights as well as drug control standards, as reiterated by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Human Rights Council, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). Contrary to the Government’s claims, there is no proof that the death penalty has a unique deterrent effect on drug use or trafficking. Like many capital drug defendants, Nagaenthran was evidently at the low end of the drug supply chain, was tricked – if not coerced – to carry drugs, and did not stand to make a sizeable profit in return for the incredibly high risk activity of carrying drugs across international borders. Rather, the use of death penalty, and punitive drug policies more generally, work to deepen stigma and discrimination against people who use drugs and entrench cycles of poverty and marginalisation. As more countries move away from using the death penalty as a tool of drug control, research by Harm Reduction International shows Singapore is one of few countries that regularly sentence individuals to death for drug offences.

In addition, the imposition of capital punishment against persons with mental or intellectual disabilities is prohibited by international law and a violation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Singapore ratified.

We call on the Government of Singapore to halt Nagaenthran’s execution and to commute his sentence, as a first step towards abolition of the death penalty, and towards drug policies which centre health and human rights – 

Adrian & Adrian, Abogados Consultores (Venezuela)

Anti Death Penalty Asia Network (ADPAN) (Global)

Capital Punishment Justice Project (Australia)

Centre on Drug Policy Evaluation (Canada)

Centro de Convivência É de Lei (Brazil)

Corporación Acción Técnica Social (Colombia)

Drug Policy Network South East Europe (Serbia)

Eleos Justice, Monash University (Australia)

Ensemble Contre le Peine de Mort (ECPM) (Global)

Episteme, Investigación y Acción Social (Spain)

International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research and Service (ICEERS) (Spain)

Mexico Unido Contra la Delincuencia (Mexico)

RESET - Política de Drogas y Derechos Humanos (Argentina)

Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign (Singapore)

Joint statement urging Singapore to halt impending execution of Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam for a drug offence

On a morning Zoom call, a group of Canadian mothers give their full attention to a young man from the Drug User Liberation Front. At 26, Jeremy Kalicum is the age some of their kids would be if they had not died of accidental overdoses.

Kalicum’s tone is urgent as he walks the moms through a PowerPoint presentation explaining why the Liberation Front, known as DULF, wants to protest on International Overdose Awareness Day and hand out illicit drugs. These wouldn’t be the kind that killed their sons and daughters, he assures them; they’d be “safe supply” drugs that have been tested to ensure they’re not laced with lethal fentanyl. “Anyone who wants to find drugs can find drugs,” says Kalicum, reasoning that the best way to save lives is to make sure users are given the safest possible drugs. “The drugs that they’re finding are of unknown quality and unknown potency.”

Then, after 15 minutes of slides and stats, Kalicum and DULF co founder Eris Nyx makes their pitch: they want these mothers, from a group called Moms Stop the Harm, to join them and other activists in their distribution mission, an admittedly risky protest that could land them in jail.

“I’m not a criminal, and obviously, Moms Stop the Harm aren’t criminals,” Kalicum says. “We’re just sick of it. We’re sick of our friends dying.”

Everyone on the call can relate. Each has lost someone to the opioid crisis, which has soared in North America during the pandemic, especially in Canada. In the U.S., deaths rose nearly 30 percent in 2020 to a record 93,000. In Canada, deaths soared 89% over the previous year.

Behind the numbers lies a cruel irony that every parent listening to Kalicum understands, and that drives the “safe supply” movement: Opioids were perfectly legal when their children were becoming addicted to them, promoted by pharmaceutical giants and doled out by physicians who enabled the crisis by accepting drug companies’ claims they were safe.

When the reality became clear, and prescriptions became hard to come by, it was too late. Untold thousands of pain-addled patients had become hooked on what opioids provided, as had many young people who’d begun experimenting with the pills recreationally. They found relief on the streets in the form of heroin, then began dying from illicit drugs either laced with fentanyl or entirely replaced with the compound, which is 50 times more potent than heroin.

That is the arc of the Opioid Crisis: From patient to criminal to, more and more often, early death.

The “safe supply” movement seeks to counter this deadly progression by ensuring the integrity of the dosages that users have been conditioned to crave while providing care that keeps them alive and could wean them off drugs. “It’s not who we are to stand passively by,” says Kalicum. “We’re gonna do something, and we’re willing to take on personal risks to do that. But we can look at ourselves in the mirror and know that we’re doing what’s right.”

Canada: The 'safe supply' movement aims to curb drug deaths linked to the opioid crisis

Adults in Luxembourg will be permitted to grow up to four cannabis plants in their homes or gardens under laws that will make it the first country in Europe to legalise production and consumption of the drug.

Under the legislation, people aged 18 and over will be able to legally grow up to four cannabis plants per household for personal use.

Trade in seeds will also be permitted without any limit on the quantity or levels of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive constituent.

The government said it would be possible to buy seeds in shops, to import them or buy them online.

There is also the intention to allow for the domestic production of seeds for commercial purposes but plans for both a national production chain and state-regulated distribution have been delayed by the Covid pandemic.

For home-growers, the place of cultivation of their four plants will be limited to the usual place of residence, indoors or outdoors, on a balcony, terrace or garden.

A legal prohibition of the consumption and transport of cannabis or cannabis products in public will be maintained and trade in cannabis or cannabis products other than seeds, whether free of charge or in return for payment, remains prohibited.

Under a softening of the law, however, the consumption and transport of a quantity of up to 3 grams will no longer be considered a criminal offence, but classified as misdemeanour.

Fines would be reduced to as little as €25 for possession of under 3 grams, down from €251 to €2,500 today. “Above three grams, nothing changes, you will be considered a dealer,” Tanson said. “Nothing changes for car drivers either: there is still zero tolerance.”

A system of state-regulated production and distribution is planned to ensure product quality with revenues from sales to be invested “primarily in prevention, education and healthcare in the broad field of addiction,” government sources said.

The general framework of the overhaul of the law had been agreed two years ago in a coalition agreement between the Liberals, the Social Democrats and the Greens.

Luxembourg will join Canada, Uruguay and 11 US states in flouting a UN convention on the control of narcotic drugs, which commits signatories to limit “exclusively for medical and scientific purposes the production, manufacture, export, import distribution, trade, employment and possession of drugs” including cannabis.

Uruguay became the world’s first country to create a legal national marijuana marketplace when it legalised the drug in 2013, and Canada followed suit in 2018.

In the Netherlands, possibly the European country most associated with a relaxed attitude toward the use of cannabis, its recreational use, possession and trade is technically illegal. It has a ‘tolerance policy’, or 

, under which recreational use is largely accepted within bounds.

Cannabis remains illegal to possess, grow, distribute, sell or grow in the UK. Those caught with the drug face a maximum of five years in prison, an unlimited fine or both. Several police forces have said they will no longer target recreational users and those with less than an ounce (28 grams) can be given a warning or on-the-spot fine.