As drug policy reform faces renewed repression and securitisation worldwide, 2026 will test whether evidence, human rights and community leadership can still reshape a system under strain — and where the next openings for change may emerge.
Schneider et al. argue that criminalising sex work and drug use forces young sex workers into danger, undermining health and rights, and call for decriminalisation, safe supply and peer-led harm reduction.
Ashton et al. find that these devices can reduce health risks for people who smoke crack cocaine, highlighting an overlooked harm reduction intervention with clear public health benefits.
The Commissioner warned that ignoring expert recommendations on harm reduction and safe supply violates human rights while claiming over five lives daily across the province.
Scotland’s "Stop the Deaths" conference highlighted a critical gap where evidence-based policies like safe consumption rooms and same-day treatment struggle to keep pace with a public health emergency, claiming over 1,000 lives annually.
Civil society groups from around the world reject the 'war on drugs' narrative being used to justify pressure, interference, and intervention in Venezuela—warning of militarisation, human rights violations, and dangerous regional precedents.
EHRA provide a comparative assessment of harm reduction across Southeastern Europe, positioning political commitment and financing as critical to closing gaps.
The lack of harm reduction services is accelerating one of the world’s fastest-growing HIV epidemics, underscoring urgent needs for sterile drug use equipment, community-led outreach, and an evidence-based national response.
The joint letter warns that expanding involuntary treatment in British Columbia would violate medical ethics, endanger patients, and deepen human rights harm, calling instead for evidence-based, voluntary, community-led care.
McAdam et al. examine how decriminalisation reduced policing-related barriers to services, revealing important benefits for young people, including Indigenous.
Gunaratne et al. reveal high levels of non-fatal overdose, identifying structural, behavioural, and health-related factors that call for urgent expansion of harm reduction, mental health support, and overdose prevention.
