The ‘war on drugs’ has failed to eradicate drug markets and use. A growing number of policy options are available to address drug-related harms. The IDPC Guide brings together global evidence and best practice to assist national policy makers in the design and implementation of drug policies. The Guide will be updated regularly to reflect new developments in the drug policy field.
This paper reviews the development of early Soviet drug treatment approaches by focusing on the struggle for disciplinary power between leading social and mental hygienists and clinical psychiatrists as a defining moment for Soviet drug treatment speciality that became known as "narcology."
Driven by the rapid spread of HIV, Vietnam’s response to drug use has undergone significant transformation in the past decade. This paper analyses factors that prompted these changes and investigates their impact on the lives of people who use drugs.
A United Nations-appointed expert is urging Vietnam’s government to close down rehabilitation centers for drug users and sex workers following criticism of abuses by an international rights group, calling them “counterproductive.”
This report documents the experiences of people confined to 14 detention centers under the authority of the Ho Chi Minh City government. Refusing to work, or violating center rules, results in punishment that in some cases is torture.
Despite Thailand's official reclassification of drug users as "patients" deserving care and not "criminals," the Thai government has continued to rely heavily on punitive responses to drug use such as "boot camp"-style compulsory "treatment" centers.
This report examines conditions in the Somsanga Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, which has received a decade of international support from the United States, the United Nations, and other donors.
This TNI briefing paper sheds light on the methamphetamine market in Southeast Asia and China, including patterns of supply and use. It highlights the urgent need for donors and governments to introduce effective harm reduction measures aimed at ATS users.
Thailand's new Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, is mobilising a crackdown on illegal drugs as a United Nations agency reveals a massive increase in the production and use of amphetamines across Asia.
An international human rights group urged Vietnam to shut down drug rehabilitation centers that it said subject inmates to abuse and forced labor. It also called Wednesday on international donors to check the programs they fund inside the centers for possible ties to human rights violations.
