News
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Countries should put women at the forefront of the UN drug policy debate
Globally, women make up one-third of all drug users, including around 3.8 million women who inject drugs. Women who use drugs are at higher risk than men of acquiring disease, including HIV. These unique challenges are due to biological differences, social and structural vulnerabilities, and decreased economic opportunities.UN drugs summit…
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The World Needs a Healthier, Rights-based Approach Towards People Who Use Drugs
There is a unique opportunity to begin to treat people who use drugs with dignity and respect, to provide people who use drugs with equal access to health and social services, to greatly reduce the harms of drug use and to take a step towards ending the AIDS epidemic by…
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The war on drugs has failed: time to stop fighting and start thinking
Many countries are exploring different policy and programme solutions. These include alternatives to arrest and incarceration for minor drug offences, harm reduction programmes, decriminalisation of drug users and small farmers and increased access to pain medication. […]
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Plan to increase cannabis penalties to match harder drugs under attack
Plans by the Queensland government to increase penalties for cannabis possession and trafficking to match those for “harder” drugs has been described by drug policy experts as a “retrograde” and “uninformed” step. […]
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A drug-free world is an impossible dream
The vision of a drug-free world has faded. We are instead presented with a nightmare scenario, where a multi-billion dollar black market funds organised crime and terrorist organisations. […]
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We Need A Level Playing Field For Illicit Drugs Policy
The recent unofficial disclosure of positive illicit drug tests for some elite football players has thrown up some interesting responses on the use of illicit drugs in sport. However, it has also served to highlight the inherent discrimination and unfairness of our approach to drugs in general, particularly for those…
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Read: Today’s Remarkable Letter From Over 1,000 Leaders and VIPs Demanding Better Drug Laws
The letter below was released today by the Drug Policy Alliance, which orchestrated the project to gather over 1,000 international signatories, including politicians, celebrities and leaders in many fields. Some of the most prominent signatories are listed underneath; the full list is here. […]
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The Real Reason Heroin, Cocaine and Other Drugs Are Really Illegal
The reasons that drugs like heroin, cocaine, marijuana and others are illegal today have far more to do with economics and cultural prejudice than with addiction. […]
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Ten Compelling Reasons to End Drug Prohibition Today
n Mexico alone, more people have lost their lives due to cartels’ bloody battle over drug-trafficking routes to Western markets than in Afghanistan and Iraq combined in the last decade. […]
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Why drug law reform matters for families
Those who would seek to dismiss reform as ‘going soft on drugs’, ask yourself: if it was your family member, wouldn’t you want a system that supports them to make positive change, instead of one that punishes them and leaves them worse off? Less punitive drug law doesn’t mean increased…