 In an unprecedented decision, the Bombay High Court struck down the mandatory death penalty for drug offences, becoming the first Court in the world to do so. Announcing the order via video conferencing, a division bench of Justices A.M Khanwilkar and A.P Bhangale declared Section 31A of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) that imposes a mandatory death sentence for a subsequent conviction for drug trafficking ‘unconstitutional’.

The Court however, refrained from striking down the law, preferring to read it down instead. Consequently, the sentencing Court will have the option and not obligation, to impose capital punishment on a person convicted a second time for drugs in quantities specified under Section 31A.

The decision brings some reprieve to Ghulam Mohammed Malik, a Kashmiri man sentenced to death by the Special NDPS Court in Mumbai in February 2008 for a repeat offence of smuggling charas [cannabis resin]. Because of the mandatory nature of the punishment under Section 31A as it stood then, Malik was sentenced to death, without consideration of individual circumstances or mitigating factors. The High Court’s verdict came in response to a petition filed by the 

 (IHRN), a consortium of NGOs working for humane drug policies, who assailed mandatory capital punishment as arbitrary, excessive and disproportionate to the crime of dealing in drugs.

Reacting to the order, Director of the Lawyers Collective, Anand Grover, who led the case for IHRN, said - “the order marks an important advance in drug policy and anti-death penalty campaigns. We will examine the decision fully to assess whether striking down the death penalty, as was done by the Supreme Court for Section 303 of the Indian Penal Code would have been more appropriate”.

Across the world, 32 countries impose capital punishment for offences involving narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Of these, 13 countries (including India until today) prescribe mandatory death sentences for drug crimes. In countries like Iran and China that actually carry out executions, drug offenders constitute the vast majority of those executed. In May last year, the Court of Appeal in Singapore upheld the mandatory death sentence imposed upon a young Malaysian for possession of heroin.“This is a positive development, which signals that Courts have also started to recognize principles of harm reduction and human rights in relation to drugs” remarked Luke Samson, President, IHRN.

Welcoming the decision, Rick Lines, Executive Director of Harm Reduction International, a UK based agency that specializes in drug control and human rights and the author of ‘The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: A violation of International Human Rights Law’ (2007), said “The Court has upheld at the domestic level what has been emphasised for years by international human rights bodies – capital drug laws that take away judicial discretion are a violation of the rule of law. India’s justice system has affirmed that it is entirely unacceptable for such a penalty to be mandatory. This will set a positive precedent for judicial authorities in the region, which is rife with draconian drug laws.”

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Indian Court overturns mandatory death penalty for drug offences - first in the world to do so!

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There is a gap between evidence based practice and drug policy in many countries and IDHDP aims to influence changes in drug policy to promote harm reduction and create healthy drug policies internationally.

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International Doctors for Healthy Drug Policies - A global call for doctors interested in drug policy

President Chinchilla told BBC Mundo that Mexican gangs were present in her country, working with local cartels.

Ms Chinchilla was speaking during a visit to Mexico focused on boosting co-operation against organised crime.

Mexican gangs are increasingly using Central America as a transit route for South American cocaine.

President Chinchilla said that Costa Rica remained one of the safest countries in Latin America, but that in recent years insecurity had become a growing issue.

"It's a problem that will get out of hand if we don't confront it now," she told the BBC during an interview in Mexico City.

Ms Chinchilla said every country had its own approach to tackling crime.

The army, she said, had played an important role in Mexico, where President Felipe Calderon has deployed some 50,000 troops to take on drug gangs.

"Our strategy in Costa Rica is more focused on the role of the judiciary, the police, prevention, and a free press that investigates with absolute independence," she added.

The president discounted any possibility that Costa Rica, which has no standing army, would create a military force if the security situation were to worsen.

"Costa Rica will never reconsider its decision to abolish the army... Rather the absence of an army has been a guarantee of security in the country," she said.

"But what we want is to supply our police force with better equipment, giving it a defensive, not an offensive, capacity."

Ms Chinchilla said that the crackdown in Mexico on drug gangs could result in "an even greater displacement [of traffickers] into Central America".

That was why the drug gangs needed to be confronted not just nationally, but regionally, she said.

Costa Rica 'faces threat of drug gangs'

Friday, 26 August 2011, New Zealand Drug Foundation

Experts from around New Zealand, and from overseas, will gather in Wellington on Tuesday 30 August for a Drug Policy Symposium organised by NZ Drug Foundation and NZ Society on Alcohol and Drug Dependence.

The purpose of the Symposium is to focus the attention of policy makers and funders on ways to develop a high quality addiction treatment system that gets more people into treatment and retains those who are already in it. Dignitaries who will speak include Associate Minister of Health Peter Dunne, and one-time Deputy Drug Czar to the Obama Administration Professor Tom McLellan.

Drug Foundation Executive Director Ross Bell says New Zealand’s governments have consistently underinvested in addiction treatment services despite alcohol and other drug abuse being the sixth highest contributor to our burden of disease.

“It’s time for a massive re-think on the way we deal with addiction and drug abuse, especially in terms of treatment. We’re struggling along with legislation and social attitudes that were already outmoded last century and, until that changes, the cost to us as communities and individuals will remain unacceptably high.”

The government has recently provided extra funding to addiction treatment through initiatives such as the Methamphetamine Action Plan and the Drivers of Crime strategy, but Mr Bell says significant opportunities to reduce harm through treatment are still being missed.

“Fundamental to our failure is that we have a flawed understanding of how addiction works and how best to treat it. As a result we’re reaching only a fraction of the people we should, and many of the resources we are throwing at controlling New Zealand’s drug problem have been misdirected and wasted.

“By gathering some of the best and most knowledgeable minds from around the country and overseas to speak, we hope we can influence government to invest in a treatment system that more effectively improves the lives of those with drug and alcohol problems, and the lives of those they affect.”

Mr Bell says a number of opportunities for change are coming up this year including a new mental health service plan, a health workforce review and a refreshing of the mental health and addictions ‘Blueprint’. He also says the government’s announced extra $10 million for treatment is welcome news, but that the problem is not just one of money.

“New Zealand is poised on the brink of change. The question is, will we have the courage to honestly reappraise the way we've been approaching addiction treatment, or will we gaze at our navels for another five years while the rest of the world moves on?

“Let’s hear what the experts advise.”

News

Indian Court overturns mandatory death penalty for drug offences - first in the world to do so!

International Doctors for Healthy Drug Policies - A global call for doctors interested in drug policy

Costa Rica 'faces threat of drug gangs'

Drug policy experts warn things must change