Drug policy and policing

News and information about policies on psychoactive drug use, including education, support for people with drug dependence disorders, the criminalisation of drug use, law enforcement, decriminalisation and legalisation.

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Drug policy and policing: latest news

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  • ‘A national crisis’: Drug-related deaths in Scotland at highest ever level

    Almost 1,200 people in Scotland suffered a drug-related death last year, the highest number ever recorded, official statisitcs have revealed.

    17 July 2019 | The Scotsman

  • Bolsonaro Cuts Harm Reduction, Escalates Drug War

    Largely unreported in English-language news media, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has pulled the plug on government support for harm reduction, instead calling for the promotion of abstinence and a crackdown on people who use and sell drugs.

    15 May 2019 | Filter

  • If Canada can open 50 drug consumption rooms to save lives, why not Scotland?

    It is no secret that Canada has been opening new supervised drug consumption rooms (DCRs). But you may be surprised to discover that in around 2 years the number has soared – with over 50 open, or being developed.

    09 May 2019 | Transform

  • 329 NGOs call on world leaders to address the global health and human rights crisis among people who use drugs on the occasion of the 26th International Harm Reduction Conference

    As civil society and global experts gather in Porto for the 26thInternational Harm Reduction Conference, 329 NGOs are calling on the international community to address the ongoing global health and human rights crisis among people who use drugs. The latest numbers on the HIV epidemic, just released by UNAIDS, are alarming. While global HIV incidence declined by 25% between 2010 and 2017, it is rising among people who inject drugs. Outside of Sub-Saharan Africa, people who inject drugs and their sexual partners continue to account for roughly one quarter of all people contracting HIV. Globally, six in ten people who use drugs are living with hepatitis C, while 168,000 people who use drugs were reported to have died of an overdose in 2015 alone.

    01 May 2019 | International Drug Policy Consortium

  • People Before Politics: 4 Key Points in HR19’s Opening Ceremony

    The Harm Reduction International Conference 2019 (HR19) has begun in Porto, with several influential speakers delivering inspiring and poignant remarks at the opening ceremony. HR19 comes at a crucial moment in the development of drug policies across the globe. Many countries find themselves at a drug policy crossroads; do they pursue health and human rights-oriented approaches that reduce potential drug harms, or maintain policies of criminalisation and repression that have long-characterised the global drug war?

    29 April 2019 | Talking Drugs

  • New UN guidelines to mainstream human rights in the global drugs debate

    In early March, the Chief Executives Board of the United Nations, representing 31 UN agencies – including the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime – adopted a common position on drug policy. Among the actions agreed is was a commitment to “support the development and implementation of policies that put people, health and human rights at the centre … and to promote a rebalancing of drug policies and interventions towards public health approaches”.

    19 March 2019 | The Conversation

  • Overdue for a Change: Scaling Up Supervised Consumption Services in Canada

    This report documents a research project that was undertaken in 2018 to explore the current state of supervised consumption services (SCS) in Canada, to monitor legal and policy changes affecting SCS, and to identify facilitators and barriers faced by current and future SCS operators.

    19 February 2019 | Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network

  • Safe consumption sites: Study identifies policy change strategies and challenges

    A new qualitative study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health identifies several key lessons from early efforts to establish sanctioned safe consumption sites in five US communities. The results offer insights on one approach some localities are exploring to address the escalating drug overdose crisis in the US.

    15 February 2019 | Eurekalert Medicine & Health

  • Safe Injection Site for Opioid Users Faces Trump Administration Crackdown

    A Philadelphia group was set to open the facility to help prevent overdose deaths. But the Justice Department says it would “normalize” the use of deadly drugs.

    07 February 2019 | New York Times

  • 8 Lessons Learned at the European Harm Reduction Conference

    The 4th European Harm Reduction Conference took place in Bucharest on 21-23 November, 2018. Please watch the video report we made at the event – and read about some of the messages we could take home.

    04 December 2018 | Drug Reporter
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Community Consensus Statement on Access to HIV Treatment and its Use for Prevention

Together, we can make it happen

We can end HIV soon if people have equal access to HIV drugs as treatment and as PrEP, and have free choice over whether to take them.

Launched today, the Community Consensus Statement is a basic set of principles aimed at making sure that happens.

The Community Consensus Statement is a joint initiative of AVAC, EATG, MSMGF, GNP+, HIV i-Base, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, ITPC and NAM/aidsmap
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