With regard to all the drugs, the reality is that Brazil, like other countries, is losing the fight against drug addiction. Current policies created in the context of the idea of the drug war have been insufficient to reduce consumption and dependence. And have exacerbated other problems. The prohibition as has been practiced is not giving the required effect on the problem size and creating two other problems: the drug war, with their victims; and the sentencing of young users, treated as criminals, whom after prisoners are socially condemned many times definitively. As the drug war policy has focused primarily on strengthening police repression mechanisms, the whole society ends up being affected.

Mounting a heavily armed police state and a major consumer of weapons and their components ends just putting pressure on the government machinery and the way in which the state relates to the application of repressive laws and society. The testimony of Colonel Jorge da Silva, former chief of the Military Police of Rio de Janeiro, in the hearing held on last August 11, was very clear in this respect, showing that the logic of war causes imbalance in democracy and has a strong correlation with mortality of black and poor young people on the outskirts of cities.

Other consequences of this are known. On one hand, the drugs are used in small doses for reducing stress, fun, filling existential voids. But in large doses, the overwhelming cost of violence, directly or by accidents, cause human degradation, lack of social and economic integration, focus on depression, and relate to different forms of suicide and serious diseases, both physical and mental. Added to this drug-trafficking violence, police violence, corruption and the consequences of imprisonment of young users. Nevertheless, the social problem of drug and the individual right to its use have not been discussed at the level they should.

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

Brazilian Senate debates drug policy reform

The UNGASS on drugs in 2016 will be an important moment in the international drug policy debate. The preparations for this crucial meeting have been much discussed by UN member states, starting with the negotiations of CND resolution 57/5 in March 2014.

The negotiations of the ‘omnibus resolution’ in the Third Committee of the General Assembly over the past few weeks have been the latest forum for agreeing the ‘modalities’ of the UNGASS and as these negotiations draw to a close, two of the most contentious procedural issues have now been provisionally agreed. Ahead of the Special CND Segment on preparations for UNGASS, scheduled for 3rd December 2014, the current state of play on these two issues are summarised in this document.

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

IDPC Advocacy Note - Review of issues for the CND Intersessional and the Special CND Segment on preparations for the 2016 UNGASS in December 2014

This report provides an overview of the organisation and working methods of drug consumption rooms (DCRs) in Europe. It offers information about the functioning of DCRs as well as on the organisation and structure of such facilities and aims to benefit various groups of stakeholders. Chapter 1 will commence with the definition, background and a brief history of DCRs in Europe, followed by the methodology of this study in chapter 2. In the third chapter of this report, some general aims and objectives and a breakdown into a number of specific objectives (Hedrich et al, 2011), the text continues with an elaboration on how the DCRs work on an environment for safer drug use (chapter 4) and improving the health status of drug users (chapter 5).

Moreover, in line with the survey tool employed in a previous survey among Dutch DCRs (Havinga & Van der Poel, 2011), which was adapted for use in the present study, this report elaborates on several other crucial aspects of the organisation and working methods of DCRs. The general services on offer at DCRs (chapter 6) will be discussed, particularly those addressing non-health related issues, and focusing more on the social status or well-being of drug users. Details on the differences in staff functions and the trainings offered to the staff (chapter 7) and the way facilities involve peers in various organisational elements of the DCR (chapter 8) are also examined.

After this European overview with insights into the way DCRs organise and structure their facilities and services, the final chapter pays some attention to the future of DCRs, and elaborates briefly on what those currently involved in the running of DCRs consider to be important when setting up a new facility (chapter 9). Our overview study concludes with some relevant remarks when considering the foundation of a new DCR service.

All in all this report, in its discussion of aims, objectives, services, organisational structure and points of importance, is primarily directed at all who are involved in DCRs in Europe and beyond, or those who wish to set up a DCR in a new location. However, it may also be of interest to anyone concerned with the provision of basic services to drug users in Europe.

Drug consumption rooms in Europe: Organisational overview

The United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules), adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 21 December 2010, is the first international instrument which provides specific and detailed guidelines on responding to the gender specific needs of women in the criminal justice system, as well as of children of such women. The Government of Thailand, led by HRH Princess Bajrakitiyabha, initiated and played a key role in the development, promotion and adoption of the Bangkok Rules. The establishment of the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ) by the government of Thailand in 2011 was prompted by the adoption of the Bangkok Rules, the promotion and implementation of which will be central to its work programme. In addition, TIJ aims to serve as a centre of excellence for justice research for the ASEAN Community and beyond, while also contributing to the strengthening of the rule of law, in line with United Nations standards and norms, by supporting and facilitating reform in the fields of law enforcement, criminal justice, and corrections.

Women prisoners and the implementation of the Bangkok Rules in Thailand

Appropriate use of language in the field of addiction is important. Inappropriate use of language can negatively impact the way society perceives substance use and the people who are affected by it. Language frames what the public thinks about substance use and recovery, and it can also affect how individuals think about themselves and their own ability to change.

But most importantly, language intentionally and unintentionally propagates stigma: the mark of dishonor, disgrace, and difference that depersonalizes people, depriving them of individual or personal qualities and personal identity. Stigma is harmful, distressing, and marginalizing to the individuals, groups, and populations who bear it. For these reasons, the Editorial Team of Substance Abuse seeks to formally operationalize respect for personhood in our mission, our public relations, and our instructions to authors.

We ask authors, reviewers, and readers to carefully and intentionally consider the language used to describe alcohol and other drug use and disorders, the individuals affected by these conditions, and their related behaviors, comorbidities, treatment, and recovery in our publication.

Specifically, we make an appeal for the use of language that (1) respects the worth and dignity of all persons ("people-first language"); (2) focuses on the medical nature of substance use disorders and treatment; (3) promotes the recovery process; and (4) avoids perpetuating negative stereotypes and biases through the use of slang and idioms. In this paper, we provide a brief overview of each of the above principles, along with examples, as well as some of the nuances and tensions that inherently arise as we give greater attention to the issue of how we talk and write about substance use and addiction.

Confronting inadvertent stigma and pejorative language in addiction research

报告确认安非他明类兴奋剂的使用在东南亚是一个主要的公众健康问题，因此为了防止艾滋病毒和其他血源性病毒的传播，迅速采取行动是必要的。英语版本拥有更多信息，请阅读下文。

随时掌握与药物政策发展相关的最新信息。

A new report commissioned by the Asia-Pacific Drugs and Development Issues Committee (APDDIC) of the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) and prepared by Burnet Institute and the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) at Curtin University, confirms that amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) use is a major public health issue in the Southeast Asia region and swift action is needed to prevent the spread of HIV and other blood-borne viruses.

The report was commissioned to investigate growing concerns that HIV and blood borne virus risk is increasing through the use of amphetamine-type stimulant. It provides a much needed picture of HIV risk among ATS users in the Southeast Asia region and the types of interventions available and was made possible through funding from AusAID and the Australian Government Department of Health.

Amphetamine-type stimulant are the second most widely used drug across the globe, after cannabis, and their use continues to increase. This ANCD report focuses on amphetamine-type stimulant use in the 11 countries in Southeast Asia (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China (including Hong Kong and Macau), Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam) and demonstrates the need for prevention strategies for people who inject drugs to avert the spread of HIV.

安非他明类兴奋剂的使用和血源性病毒在东南亚的传播之间的联系

警方是确定大多数主要受影响人群艾滋病毒环境风险的关键部门 （KAPs), 尤其是性工作者，毒品注射者，和其它边缘化的社区。英语版本拥有更多信息，请阅读下文。

Police are a critical sector in determining the risk environment for HIV for most key affected populations (KAPs), especially sex workers, people who inject drugs, and other marginalized communities. In the global response to HIV, the key importance of the police role has been well recognized and integrated in many developed countries. In most of the developing and transitional world, however, there is a large literature on police as barriers to effective HIV responses, and their role in violations of the human rights of these key populations – but much less about how to work with police to change these situations.

A major barrier to change among police agencies is the perception by police that they have no role in the HIV response, that their role is simply concerned with the criminal justice system. Attempts by agencies whose agenda is HIV prevention or care to involve police are therefore often unsuccessful, as they address the concern of the agency, and are irrelevant to the perceived concerns of police. As well, such attempts are often fragmented, as international agencies each have partial agendas, focusing on one or other community and not co-ordinated. Interventions including one-off training of police cadets and sensitization of police personnel to HIV and human rights are necessary but by themselves inadequate, because the ability of the individual police officer to change their behavior in an unchanging police culture is very limited.

The need therefore is for change in police policies, culture and practices; the most potent strategies for such change (as in any closed culture) will likely include peer education (combined with law and policy reform), and engagement in partnerships with other key stakeholders, to promote awareness of each partner’s perspectives and concerns.

Several agencies globally are supporting activities with police in relation to HIV and to human rights, and an increasing number of community service organisations (CSOs) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are developing collaborative relationships with local police, but there is little or no coordination of effort or message. Over the last few years there has been increasing interest on the part of international agencies in the involvement of police in the HIV response. This is to be welcomed, but comes with a risk of fragmentation of effort and a confusing diversity of approach. There is however accumulating evidence and experience which needs to be collected and shared.

警务和艾滋病的咨询

In May 2014 the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) hosted a workshop, co-funded by NOREF and Christian Aid, designed to facilitate dialogue between scholars working on the political economy of drugs, conflict and development in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The workshop explored how political economy perspectives, derived from long-term empirical research on drugs-affected regions, can enhance understanding of, and policy responses to, drug production and trafficking. This approach, rather than seeing drugs as “exceptional” and “criminal”, seeks to situate the role of illicit economies within broader processes of state formation and agrarian change.

Contributions to the workshop revealed the highly differentiated and context-specific dynamics of drug economies, and how different configurations of institutions and security markets can lead to different kinds of relationships between drugs, statebuilding, agrarian change and development. This research does not lend itself to simple policy narratives or prescriptions, but it does suggest that there can be no universal and de-contextualised solutions to “the drug problem”. Dogmatic and irreconcilable positions, adopted by both those advocating harsher prohibition and those arguing for blanket decriminalisation, fail to reflect sufficiently on the impacts such policies will have on drug-producing countries. A more grounded, comparative perspective is urgently needed in an arena where policies are often anything but evidence based and where data are patchy or politicised. Counter-narcotic (CN) strategies, based on a reification of the perceived linkages between drugs, instability and state fragility, often provide only a partial, and in some cases deeply misleading, insight into the economic and political orders that emerge around drug production.

Political economy provides a corrective to these deeply entrenched biases and blind spots, by incorporating an analysis of aspects of drug economies and counter narcotics (CN) strategies that are frequently treated as residual or circumvented, including the varying levels and types of violence surrounding drug economies; the complex motives of those involved in drug production and trafficking; the linkages between licit and illicit commodities in processes of agrarian transformation; the potential developmental outcomes of drugs economies; the relationship between illicit economies and differing configurations of authority and rule; and a socially differentiated account of who gains and who loses from counter-narcotics policies. In doing so, political economy approaches provide a powerful analytical lens for developing a more contextually attuned public policy on drugs.

Drugs, (dis)order and agrarian change: the political economy of drugs and its relevance to international drug policy

这个案例分析提供了一些面向于在美国的年青人的主要药物政策问题的概述，并且该案例关注毒品政策和伤害减少对于美国年轻人的影响。英语版本拥有更多信息，请阅读下文。

While the United States of America (USA) has become infamous for having the largest prison population in the world as a result of its regressive drug policy, the impacts of its drug policy towards young people who use drugs are rarely discussed. This case study offers an overview of some of the main drug policy issues facing young people in the USA, looking at the impacts of the drug policy and harm reduction on young people, drawing data and evidence from official national statistics and experiences of young people who use drugs themselves. This paper then concludes with a series of recommendations for potential reform areas.

IDPC/Youth RISE案例研究系列：美国的药物政策、危害减少和年轻人

这个简报突出了柬埔寨的量刑比例并讨论一些与那些问题审议相关的国际原则。英语版本拥有更多信息，请阅读下文。

This briefing paper aims to highlight current drug policy issues relevant to proportionality of sentencing in Cambodia, and to discuss some relevant international principles and practices which may be relevant to consideration of those
issues.

The drug market in Cambodia is characterized by transit trafficking flows and consumption. Available data reported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) show the quantities of drugs seized by law enforcement agencies from 2008 to 2012 as being amongst the lowest in Southeast Asia, with increased seizures of crystalline methamphetamine (from 1.9 to 33.5 kg), ecstasy (from 33 to 1,373 kg) and cocaine (from 0.2 to 41 kg), and a drop in seizures of methamphetamine pills, heroin and cannabis during that time period. While data on the prevalence of drug use are not adequate or reliable enough to outline precise trends, both drug policy officials and health experts working with people who use drugs observe rising trends in the use of ATS, such as methamphetamine and crystalline methamphetamine via smoking in addition to prescription drug use, and a corresponding decline in the injecting use of opiate-based drugs. The government estimates there are approximately13,000 people who use drugs in the country, of which about 1,300 are people who inject drugs.

In this context, disproportionate sentencing frameworks compound negative socio-economic conditions and increase the vulnerability of marginalised groups, hence fail to tackle the motivations that drive many to commit drug trafficking offences. There is a need to review existing sentencing framework for drug offences, to ensure that penalties for drug offences are the least intrusive option available, and are appropriate and necessary for meeting the legitimate aim of ensuring the health and welfare of the community. Consideration could also be given to imposing no punishment or reduced or suspended sentences, as well as alternatives to imprisonment, for minor cases where appropriate.

IDPC简报 - 柬埔寨药物政策问题

Consultation on police and HIV

This briefing paper aims to highlight current drug policy issues relevant to proportionality of sentencing in Cambodia, and to discuss some relevant international principles and practices which may be relevant to consideration of those issues.

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