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Publications by Drugs and Democracy

  • Systems Overload: Drug Laws and Prisons in Latin America
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    December 2010

    Study reveals alarming pattern in imprisonment for drug crimes in Latin America

  • Report: GTZ-TNI Southeast Asia Informal Drug Policy Dialogue, Bangkok
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    August 2010

    Final report on the Southeast Asian Informal Drug Policy Dialogue, an initiative of TNI and the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), that took place in Bangkok, 2010.

  • Legislative Innovation in Drug Policy
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    November 2009
    Martin Jelsma

    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.

  • Mexico: The Law Against Small-Scale Drug Dealing
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    October 2009
    Jorge Hernández Tinajero y Carlos Zamudio Angles

    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 its successful application.

  • Drug Policy and the Courts: A Brazilian experience
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    August 2009
    José Henrique Rodrigues Torres

    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.

  • Burma: Neither War Nor Peace
    Neither War nor Peace report cover
    July 2009

    Whilst a twenty year ceasefire still holds, there is unlikely to be peace and democracy in Burma without a political settlement that addresses ethnic minority needs and goals.

  • Pardon for Mules in Ecuador
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    February 2009
    Pien Metaal

    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.

  • Withdrawal Symptoms in the Golden Triangle
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    January 2009

    Drug control agencies have called the significant decline in opium production in Southeast Asia over the past decade a 'success story'. This report casts serious doubts on the claim noting that Southeast Asia suffers from a variety of 'withdrawal symptoms' that leave little reason for optimism.

  • 10 years review
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    July 2008
    Drugs and Democracy

    This report summarises the lessons of TNI's 10 years of work in the field of international drug policy, emphasising drug controls that respect human rights: the rights of farmers caught in the illicit economy to a life in dignity; decriminalisation of drug use; and the promotion of harm reduction approaches where they are proven to save lives.

  • Reluctant Recruits: The US Military and the War on Drugs
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    August 1997
    Peter Zirnite

    Despite spending some $20 billion over the past decade on international drug control and interdiction efforts, illegal drugs from Latin America still flood the United States - a fact that concerns many within the military itself.