February 2023

Legal Environment Scan: A drug user-led monitoring toolkit of legal and policy framework

INPUD offers a resource to develop recommendations for law and policy reform to remove barriers to access to essential services for people who use drugs.

Regional analysis of the provision of drug checking services in the CEECA region

EHRA inventories existing initiatives and sheds light on legal, financial and socio-structural barriers.

Support, don’t punish: Drug decriminalisation is harm reduction

Bratberg et al. highlight that decriminalisation offers advantages for pharmacists and their patients by breaking the cycle of despair caused by the justice system and encourages pharmacists to advocate for it.

The Cape Declaration on decriminalising poverty and status

Participants convened by the Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status outline the harms of criminalisation for marginalised groups and call for urgent action to curb them through legal reforms, research and funding.

Drug testing in Philippine schools: Historical overview and implications for drug policy

Lasco argues that drug testing students places a burden on the school system's resources and puts students at risk of stigma and fatal violence.

Drug policy and human rights violations in Cambodia – Amnesty International submission to the UN CESCR 

Amnesty International shines a light on human rights violations committed in the name of drug policy, including in relation to police violence, arbitrary detention and obstacles to harm reduction.

Time for a new European approach on drug policy say people who use drugs

IDPC joins EuroNPUD and dozens of supporters in repudiating recent stigmatising comments by the EU Home Affairs Commissioner regarding people who use drugs.

US: New Yorker jailed during ‘war on drugs’ becomes cannabis pioneer

The newly-regulated market prioritises licenses for people and communities affected by the war on drugs, including by providing start-up financial aid.

“We’re coming in with love, with compassion, with kindness”: The importance of peer-led advocacy in South Africa

The meaningful involvement and leadership of people who use drugs is crucial to ensure that the harm reduction response is fit for purpose.

Ireland: Cabinet approves new Citizens' Assembly on drug use

Government representatives said the initiative seeks to identify changes in laws, policies and practices effective at reducing drug-related harms.

Australia becomes first country to recognise psychedelics as medicines

MDMA and psilocybin will be considered schedule 8 drugs, allowing their prescription by a psychiatrist.

Japan to legalise medical cannabis

Despite a flourishing CBD market and plans to legalise medical access, the government has vowed to further criminalise non-medical uses.