From severely overcrowded prisons to exhausted funeral parlour operators and parents turning their own children in to avoid vigilante bounty killings, people in the Philippines are scrambling to respond to the effects of President Duterte’s war on drugs, slightly more than a month after he took office. […]

Officials hope the new law will put a dent in Colombia’s drug trafficking business by creating a legal opportunity in an industry historically controlled by the black market. The authorities believe the new law will also help attract investment and give the economy a lift. […]

President Rodrigo Duterte is exploiting the rivalry of China and the US to wage a ‘war on drugs’ that is cover for a tide of extrajudicial killings. […]

In Australia we have known for decades that although treatment for drug addiction is sometimes expensive, it is always much less expensive than the costs of escalating incarceration. As Dan Satterberg, a prosecuting attorney from King County in Washington, says: “Jail is the most expensive and least effective way to deal with drug crimes.” […]

Debates about harm reduction follow the same pattern: relentless hostility, proof that it works, then more relentless hostility. This is the ‘drug problem’ problem. […]

In the two years since the first cannabis company ad was published in the New York Times, the Berlin Wall of prohibition has continued to crumble. Today, 25 states have some type of legal medical cannabis, a total that could climb after the 2016 election. Countries like Germany and Australia are taking active steps to introduce federal medical cannabis programs.…

Elizabeth Trudeau, a State Department spokeswoman, said Monday that the United States was “concerned.” “We believe in rule of law. We believe in due process. We believe in respect for universal human rights,” she told reporters. […]

In a homily delivered later on Sunday, Catholic leader Archbishop Socrates Villegas condemned the latest killings, saying, “I am in utter disbelief. If this is just a nightmare, wake me up and assure me it is not true. This is too much to swallow. […]

About 800 people have been killed since Duterte won a landslide election in May, according to reports by the local press which has been tracking the maverick politician’s campaign pledge to kill tens of thousands of criminals. […]

People who use drugs recreationally do not want to harm themselves—quite the opposite. Without major changes to drug laws, the work of organizations like DanceSafe, The Loop and others will remain essential if unnecessary drug deaths and hospitalizations are to be reduced. It is #TimeToTest. […]