News Alerts
We send out a monthly Alert with news items, updates on the latest publications in our library and upcoming drug policy events. These Alerts are distributed by email and reach more than 10,000 policymakers, academics and practitioners in over 100 countries. The previous Alerts can be downloaded from our site in both English and Spanish through the 'Archived Alerts' box on the left.
News items regarding IDPC or our members are listed below and can be accessed by relevant month on the top left of this page.
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In 2009, a group of associations opened a mock supervised injection facility (SIF) in Paris. Attracted by what they thought to be an illegal action, many journalists visited the SIF and reported positive opinions from their discussions with health professionals. NGOs then started a political lobbying action aimed to advocate for the establishment of a SIF in Paris, followed by positive political engagement from the French government.
20 May 2010
The International Centre for Science in Drug Policy (ICSDP) is an international network of scientists, academics, and health practitioners committed to improving the health and safety of communities and individuals affected by illicit drugs. The ICSDP conducts scientific research in the form of systematic reviews, evidence-based drug policy guidelines, and research collaborations with scientists and institutions across continents and disciplines.
20 May 2010
Brett Davidson (Open Society Institute’s Public Health Programme, Cape Town) interviewed István Gábor Takács, from the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU). István has produced more than 200 short advocacy videos as part of HCLU’s successful video advocacy programme.
20 May 2010
On May 11th, the first edition of “Drug policy, HIV and human rights – contributions for reflection and action”, a new virtual training course in Spanish, was launched with the goal of organising and training Latin American activists.
20 May 2010
Whether it's Afghanistan or Colombia, drug-producing countries face strikingly similar challenges: severe control policies push communities deeper into poverty, worsen conflicts, cause rights violations, uproot people, and damage the environment. Harm reduction strategies are cheap, effective and easy to implement. Yet rarely have they been implemented by countries producing illicit crops.
20 May 2010
Several UN agencies and other groups have recently issued statements opposing drug detention centres and calling for their closure. In response to a letter from Human Rights Watch, UNAIDS head Michel Sidibe called for the “earliest possible closure of detention centres.” The World Health Organization also sent its own letter reiterating the UNAIDS stance.
20 May 2010
Presentations from the conference “The art of the possible: advancing drug policy reforms in Latin America”, hosted by TNI, WOLA and the George Washington University on May 6th 2010, are now available online.
20 May 2010
President Obama has released the Administration’s inaugural National Drug Control Strategy, which establishes five-year goals for reducing drug use and its consequences through a balanced policy of prevention, treatment, enforcement, and international cooperation.
18 May 2010
On Friday, May 14, the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) received a death threat allegedly from the Colombian paramilitary group The Black Eagles directed at over 80 Colombian human rights, Afro-Colombian, Indigenous, internally displaced and labor rights organisations and individuals. The threat states “as so called human rights defenders don’t think you can hide behind the offices of the Inspector General or other institutions... we are watching you and you can consider yourselves dead.”
17 May 2010
The Asian Harm Reduction Network (AHRN) has just appointed Ronny Waikhom for the position of Interim Network Coordinator.
5 May 2010
