Drug Law Reform: Publications

Sentencing for Drug Offences in England and Wales
Law Reform without Legislative Reform
Genevieve Harris
TNI/IDPC Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 5, June 2010
Sentencing for drug offences in England and Wales has recently undergone a wide-sweeping review and public consultation. The purpose of this report is to examine and evaluate this mechanism for law reform, without the need for legislative reform, and to consider the specific discussion around sentencing for drug offences which it has led to.

Prohibition, a backwards step: The personal dose in Colombia
Diana Esther Guzmán, Rodrigo Uprimny Yepes
TNI/WOLA Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 4, February 2010
In December 2009, the Congress in Colombia passed a reform to the 1991 Constitution, which considered the possession and consumption of certain quantities of drugs for personal use legal, to enact constitutional prohibition. This briefing shows the changes that this constitutional amendment entails and evaluates the principle potential consequences.

Mexico: The Law Against Small-Scale Drug Dealing
A Doubtful Venture
Jorge Hernández Tinajero y Carlos Zamudio Angles
TNI/WOLA Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 3, October 2009
In August 2009, Mexico adopted a new law against small-scale drug dealing, which introduces some significant advances in key subjects, such as the recognising of and distinguishing between user, drug addict and dealer. However it still has significant flaws in continuing to treat demand and supply of drugs as a criminal and market phenomenon that are likely to undermine.

Drug Policy and the Courts: A Brazilian experience
José Henrique Rodrigues Torres
TNI/WOLA Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 2, August 2009
This report is a personal response from the author on the issue of Drug Policy and The Courts. A year ago, in the author’s professional practice, he felt duty-bound to make a decision that overturned Brazilian case-law and ran contrary to domestic legislation as regards possession of controlled substances.

Pardon for Mules in Ecuador, a Sound Proposal
Pien Metaal
TNI/WOLA Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 1, February 2009
At the end of 2008, about 1,500 persons were released who were in Ecuadorian prisons sentenced for drug trafficking. The measure, known as "pardon for mules," singled out a specific group of prisoners who were victims of indiscriminate and disproportionate legislation that was in effect for many years. Although with this measure, the Government of Rafael Correa took an important step in the process of reforming draconian legislation regarding controlled substances in his country, it is still to be completed with new legislation.

Legislative Innovation in Drug Policy
Martin Jelsma
Latin American Initiative on Drugs and Democracy, November 2009
This briefing summarizes good practices in legislative reforms around the world, representing steps away from a repressive zero-tolerance model towards a more evidence-based and humane drug policy.

Drug Policy Reform in Practice
Experiences with alternatives in Europe and the US
Tom Blickman & Martin Jelsma, Nueva Sociedad, July 2009
The academic journal Nueva Sociedad recently released an issue to promote the debate in Latin America on drug policy reform. TNI contributed with the article "Drug policy reform in practice: Experiences with alternatives in Europe and the US". The article aims to give inputs for the Latin American debate providing an overview of European drug policy practices regarding harm reduction, decriminalization of consumption and possession, and more tolerant policies towards cannabis, particularly in The Netherlands and several states in the US.

Assessing US Drug Policy in the Americas (PDF)
Time to Revisit Goals and Strategies
Statement of John M. Walsh (WOLA) before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, October 15, 2009
The growing realization that we and our neighbors in the Americas are not well-served by the status quo U.S. policies presents the opportunity to re-examine old premises and modernize our goals and strategies. Better to make real progress in reducing drug-related harms than to persist with policies that have failed to meet their own basic goals even as they have generated immense collateral damage.