Drugs and Democracy

Latijns-Amerika wil af van oorlog tegen drugs

IPS & Danilo Valladares April 2012

Nogal wat landen in Latijns-Amerika willen af van de oorlog tegen drugs. De oorlog, die vooral in Mexico en Centraal-Amerika een zware tol eist, heeft gefaald, zeggen ze. Ze zullen dit weekend op de Top van de Amerika's pleiten voor alternatieven.

Drugs on Latin America summit's agenda

Martin Jelsma

April 2012

A critical rethink of the war on drugs features prominently on the agenda of the Cartagena summit. This provides opportunities to move forward but also faces several risks that could suffocate the remarkable yet incipient political opening of the drugs debate in Latin America.

Tackle Burma's Drugs Problem

Martin Jelsma

Tom Kramer

April 2012

Policy priorities should focus on how best to manage and reduce the many health and social harms associated with the reality of a persistent and ever changing drugs market.

The Limits of Latitude

Martin Jelsma

Dave Bewley-Taylor March 2012

A growing number of nations are developing policies that shift away from the prohibition-oriented failed approach to drugs control. Ultimately however nations will need to reform the overall UN based global drug control framework of which practically all nations are a part.

Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 18

Chewing over Khat prohibition

Martin Jelsma

Pien Metaal

Axel Klein January 2012

Khat has been consumed for thousands of years in the highlands of Eastern Africa and Southern Arabia.Strict bans on khat introduced in Europe ostensibly for the protection of immigrant communities have had severe unintended negative consequences.

Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies

Cannabis social club activists in Spain liberated

Tom Blickman

November 2011

Cultivation and consumption of cannabis is decriminalised to an extent but lack of guidelines causes rogue social clubs to undermine the success of self-regulated social clubs. The result; an unwarranted arrest of three Pannagh activists.

Immediate release for Martin Barriuso and his two fellow activists

Tom Blickman

November 2011

The arrest of Barriuso and two fellow activists of Pannagh is uncalled for. They should be released immediately.

The urgent next steps in ATS and Harm reduction

Tom Blickman

November 2011

Now is the time to implement low cost and simple harm reduction measures for amphetamine-type stimulant users.

In memoriam: Adrian Cowell

Martin Jelsma

Tom Blickman

October 2011

Adrian Cowell, a groundbreaking documentary film maker and good friend, died early October in London.

USAID's Alternative Development policy in Colombia

Ricardo Vargas

October 2011

Alternative Development as practised by USAID and the Colombia government was always guided more by security rather than development considerations. This report examines the key aspects of USAID's alternative development policy and its implementation in Colombia during the last decade. A critical analysis by Ricardo Vargas.

Drug Policy Briefing Nr. 38