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Dear reader,
In recent years, the global discussion around drug policies has become increasingly polarised. While Canadians celebrate a hard-earned victory in the recent passing of Bill C-45 on cannabis regulation, people in Bangladesh, the Philippines, and many other parts of the world remain in fear or in pain as a result of repressive drug policies. Recent election results in Colombia and the reintroduction of aerial spraying of coca fields (with drones) have triggered concerns regarding the future of peace and drug policy reform in the country, while supporters of Mexico’s left-wing presidential candidate Andrés Manuel López Obrador hope that his recent landslide victory will open the door for more creative drug policy there.
From denial of access to medicines to mass incarceration and extra-judicial killings, human rights abuses are being carried out around the world in the name of drug control at the same time as an increasing number of countries are taking tentative steps towards humanising drug policy from harm reduction and alternative development approaches to legally regulated drug markets.
Want to learn more? Below are our three most important stories this month.
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| Human rights and drug policy |
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 Transnational Institute’s Drugs & Democracy Programme Team
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The international human rights system and the UN drug control regime are two complex systems of international treaties and agreements with potentially profound effects on the daily lives of people around the world. However, as then UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Paul Hunt, once said, it is imperative that these two systems “cease to behave as if they exist in parallel universes”. It is clear that drug control should respect human rights, and, in the words of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mr. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein “people do not lose their human rights because they use drugs”. However, human rights abuses in the name of drug control are all too common. What is being done, and what can be done, to bring these two systems into better alignment and ensure that drug policy doesn’t compromise human rights?
Learn more from our recently updated primer.
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| Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) on ‘Drugs, drug use, drug policy and health’ |
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Each year, on 26th June, governments around the world commemorate their decades-long support of the global war on drugs, as marked by the UN International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Engaged civil society organisations have found alternative ways to commemorate this day, shedding light on the harms and costs of the global war on drugs.
Read more about the course
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| World Drug Day 2018: TNI participates in Support. Don’t Punish campaign |
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Each year, on 26th June, governments around the world commemorate their decades-long support of the global war on drugs, as marked by the UN International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Engaged civil society organisations have found alternative ways to commemorate this day, shedding light on the harms and costs of the global war on drugs.
Learn more about the Support. Don’t Punish campaign
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Formed in 1996, the TNI Drugs & Democracy programme explores the underlying causes of drug production and consumption and advocates for evidence-based policies that respect the human rights of producers and consumers.
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