IDPC

Publications from IDPC Members

Results 949 to 960 of 1067
23 March 2010

New Zealand Drug Foundation video on drug law review

The New Zealand Drug Foundation has produced a short video from an interview with the authors of the review of New Zealand's 35-year-old Misuse of Drugs Act. The video can be visualised online via the following link: http://vimeo.com/9643269.
24 February 2010

Human Rights Watch: “Skin on the Cable”

In this 93-page report Human Rights Watch documents detainees being beaten, raped, forced to donate blood, and subjected to painful physical punishments such as "rolling like a barrel" and being chained while standing in the sun. Human Rights Watch also reported that a large number of detainees told of receiving rotten or insect-ridden food and symptoms of diseases consistent with nutritional deficiencies.
23 February 2010

TNI Briefing - Countering illicit and unregulated money flows

In this issue of Crime & Globalisation, Tom Blickman tracks the history of the international anti-money laundering (AML) regime. Since its origin in 1989 there has been a growing awareness that the AML regime is not working as well as intended. After two decades of failed efforts, experts still ponder how to implement one that does work. The paper concludes that current initiatives have reached their sale-by date and that a bolder approach is required at the UN level, moving from recommendations to obligations, and fully engaging developing nations, at present left out in the current 'club'-oriented process.
23 February 2010

Human Rights Watch: UN should review role in Cambodian drug detention centres

Human Rights Watch issued a 93-page report, "Skin on the Cable," on January 25, 2010, with reports of widespread beatings, whippings, and electric shock to detainees, including children and individuals with mental disabilities, in seven Cambodian drug detention centers. In response, several United Nations agencies, including the joint UN program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO), have spoken out about the abuses. But the two UN agencies that work most closely with the government in detention centers and on drug policy, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), have been less vocal.
27 January 2010

It's lack of balance that makes skunk cannabis do harm

This article argues that the chemical imbalance in street cannabis (skunk) makes it more harmful. If the recreational cannabis market was regulated to ensure a balanced chemical structure in cannabis it would be safer for users.
25 January 2010

Beckley Briefing paper - Drug use: Knowledge, Culture and Context

This paper contributes to recent debates surrounding the improvement of the UN drug control system’s methods of gathering and analyzing data. It critically examines the current predominance of quantitative evidence, arguing for a greater emphasis on the cultural understanding of drug use and more attention to the taken-for-granted assumptions underpinning policies.
25 January 2010

Beckley Briefing paper - What can we learn from Sweden’s drug policy experience?

Sweden’s drug policies have recently attained symbolic status in international policy debates. This paper examines the country’s policies, their effectiveness or otherwise and the historical and cultural context that underpins them. It considers whether these policies should or could be applied in other countries.
22 December 2009

Redefining Targets: Towards a Realistic Afghan Drug Control Strategy

Afghanistan remains the world’s largest producer of opium and has an under-reported but growing heroin-use problem. Current drug control policies in Afghanistan lack focus and are unrealistic, driven by headlines rather than evidence. They reflect a need for immediate signs of hope rather than a serious analysis of the underlying causes and an effort to achieve long-term solutions.
22 December 2009

Ethan Nadelmann's Opening Speech in New Mexico

Watch the opening speech of the DPA director at the International Drug Policy Reform Conference in New Mexico (November 12 -14, 2009). He said "right now the wind is at our back" - highlighting how the drug policy reform movement has an unprecedented momentum to end the drug war in the United States.