The Venezuelan economy has halved since 2013. Amidst a deep economic crisis, there have been clashes between government and opposition forces and the recent power-struggle has escalated internationally, with multiple Western states introducing extensive economic sanctions. As the propaganda war reaches its peak, we have invited experts to answer some of the most pressing questions.
The seventh meeting of the Informal Drug Policy Dialogue series, a joint initiative of the Andreas Papandreou Foundation and the Transnational Institute was co-hosted by the Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The two-day dialogue focused on several themes: law enforcement, human rights and proportionality of sentences; the classification of controlled substances; current developments of the Dutch drugs policy; and various UN-level drug policy developments and preparations for the upcoming CND.
Prior to the Dialogue an Expert Seminar on the Classification of Controlled Substances was held. The issues under discussion were the UN treaty schedules – inconsistencies and options for reform; National classification systems – comparing the UK and Dutch models; and Conclusions - achieving more consistency and rationality.
The head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Costa, recently visited Amsterdam on 24 April. Accompanied by some officials of the Netherlands Ministry of Health and of the City of Amsterdam and UNODC staff, he dropped in on the coffeeshop De Dampkring (the Atmosphere) and a user room (for inhalation and injection of heroin and cocaine). He wrote his personal account for his blog Costa’s corner but it was never published. Apparently it proved to be too controversial with his Dutch host. It now has popped up on the Transform drug policy blog and the ENCOD website.
The seventh meeting of the Informal Drug Policy Dialogue (IDPD) series, a joint initiative of the Andreas Papandreou Foundation and the Transnational Institute, took place from 10-12 December in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
The seventh meeting of the Informal Drug Policy Dialogue series, a joint initiative of the Andreas Papandreou Foundation and the Transnational Institute was co-hosted by the Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sports and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The two-day dialogue focused on several themes: law enforcement, human rights and proportionality of sentences; the classification of controlled substances; current developments of the Dutch drugs policy; and various UN-level drug policy developments and preparations for the upcoming CND.
