Publications by Drugs and Democracy

  • Objections to Bolivia's reservation to allow coca chewing in the UN conventions
    January 2013
    Tom Blickman

    Sweden joined the United States and the United Kingdom in objecting to the re-accession of Bolivia to the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Italy and Canada also objected, but the objection of Sweden is particularly disturbing.

  • Drugs on the agenda of Colombian peace talks
    December 2012
    Drugs and Democracy

    Inclusion of the drug issue on the agenda of the peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC, which are being held in Havana, Cuba, is a smart move.

  • Cannabis pass, si cambia?
    November 2012
    Tom Blickman

    Nell’accordo, è abolito il cannabis pass, necessario per entrare nei coffeeshops.

  • Portugal progresses toward integrated cannabis regulation
    October 2012
    Martín Barriuso Alonso

    The “Portuguese model” of drugs decriminalisation has clearly demonstrated that greater tolerance to drug users does not lead to an increase in consumption. Nevertheless it is a model with immense loopholes and contradictions.

  • The Dutch election result and the coffeeshops
    October 2012
    Tom Blickman

    The Dutch elections were hailed as decisive for the future of the coffeeshops. The result however is inconclusive given that a coalition government has to be formed.

  • Some space for open debate
    September 2012
    Ann Fordham

    Thailand has become the unfortunate poster child for punitive drugcontrol policies that have failed to reduce or eliminate drug use, and instead resulted in negative and damaging consequences. The willingness of the Thai Ministry of Justice to co-host the high-level seminar with IDPC and TNI shows that there are parties in Thailand concerned with the existing policies and keen to bring international experiences into the national debate.

  • Crises and radical thinking on drug policy
    August 2012
    Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch

    Drug policy reform has always been a “two-steps forward, one-step back” undertaking and while creativity is being sought in the Americas, Europe is losing some of its pioneering spirit.

  • Far but near: Marijuana reform in Mexico?
    August 2012
    Jorge Hernández Tinajero

    The world-wide debate over cannabis reform appears to be gaining uncommon speed and unexpectedly it is in Latin America that the winds of change have greatest force. So where is Mexico in this panorama?

  • AIDS 2012 – Time for courage if we are going to turn the tide
    August 2012
    Ann Fordham

    As a participant at last week’s 19th International HIV/AIDS Conference, I was reminded of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s and UNDP Administrator Helen Clark’s call to arms earlier in July that there is a new prescription for the AIDS response: ‘courage is needed’.

  • Cannabis regulation in Uruguay
    July 2012
    Martin Jelsma
     John Walsh

    Uruguay may be poised to become the first country to opt for a state controlled and legally regulated cannabis market for medical as well as recreational purposes, including cultivation and distribution.