Iran has long had one of the world’s biggest drug dependence problems, but the government’s attitude toward the drug war remains rife with contradiction. Iran has taken drug dependence very seriously, as evidenced both by its extensive and heavy-handed law enforcement efforts and by the resources it puts toward prevention, treatment and harm-reduction programs. However, officials have at times downplayed the extent of the problem, as politicians have sought to paint a positive picture of the state of drug dependence in Iran.

In a June speech, Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said that Iran was home to 1.35 million addicts, adding that this number put Iran below the overall world dependence rate. By most accounts, however, the levels of dependence in the Islamic Republic are among the highest in the world. Former UNODC head Antonio Maria Costa has said, “Dependence in Iran is ten times what is known in other countries,” that actual Iranian dependence rates are likely much higher than those reported by the government and that drug dependence rates are actually closer to 6 percent. The last comprehensive survey, according to some scientists, was done in 2004, the year before Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected president, and it put Iran’s number of addicts at 3.7 million.

Click here to read the full article (restricted access).

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Out of the shadows: Iran’s evolving approach to drug dependence

The global message on tackling HIV and AIDS is clear - no one should be left behind. However, 30 million men and women spend time in prisons every year and are often overlooked in national strategies and global commitments; the time to turn the HIV tide in prison is pressing. Such a response must also include prison staff and should pay special attention to women in prisons.

UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov opened on 16 October 2014 in Vienna the Global Consultation on HIV Prevention, Treatment, Care and Support in Prison Settings. The meeting, addressing the HIV needs of the prison population and staff, is part of UNODC's work to ensure that efforts are intensified globally to tackle the large gaps and disparities existing in the HIV response in prisons.

Mr. Fedotov, referring to the urgent necessity to address comprehensively HIV and the broader health needs of staff and prisoners said "Health in prison is a right guaranteed in international law, as well as in international rules, guidelines, declarations and covenants. Prisoners should have access to medical treatment and preventive measures without discrimination on the grounds of their legal situation." He underlined the need to foster and strengthen collaboration and integration among all stakeholders, including ministries of health and other ministries with responsibilities in prisons, as well as civil society and community-based service providers.

Discussion on HIV focuses on need for adequate response in prisons

九月，在全球基金新资助模式的背景下，全球论坛关于男男性接触者、艾滋病病毒携带者和毒品使用者召开网络研讨会，主题是关于伤害减少和人权保护的战略。英语版本拥有更多信息，请阅读下文。

随时掌握与药物政策发展相关的最新信息。

On September 10, 2014, the Global Forum on MSM & HIV (MSMGF) and the International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD) presented a webinar on strategies for addressing harm reduction and human rights in the context of the Global Fund’s New Funding Model (NFM).

The Global Fund has historically been the largest multilateral donor to harm reduction programming and has committed to supporting programming for people who inject drugs. However, crucial funding decisions taken at the most recent Global Fund Board meeting have meant that most of the countries with the largest epidemics amongst people who inject drugs are no longer eligible for funding, being classified as middle income countries. In addition, the governments of most of these countries have shown a clear reluctance to pay for harm reduction programmes themselves. This poses serious risks for the global response to HIV amongst people who inject drugs. Given that one in three new infections outside of Sub-Saharan Africa take place within this community, this also jeopardises an effective response to the epidemic in general.

This webinar featured a discussion of INPUD's experiences conducting harm reduction and drug user organising work in Kenya and Tanzania, as well as information on connecting harm reduction efforts and human rights. The Global Fund’s NFM and the harm reduction information note produced by the Global Fund were also presented for discussion.


Recordings of this and past MSMGF webinars can be found on the

MSMGF website. Any questions can be directed tocontact@msmgf.org.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.

在全球基金新资助模式背景下的伤害减少和人权

根据国立监狱和监狱研究发出的报告，哥伦比亚的监狱系统人口过密，超了53.3%。英语版本拥有更多信息，请阅读下文。

Colombia’s jail system is overpopulated by 53.3 percent, according to a report released on October 1 by the National Institute for Jail and Prison Studies (INPEC). At present, the nation houses 117,037 inmates — 108,845 men and 8,192 women — 35.6 percent of whom have yet to be sentenced.

The problem of overcrowding in Colombian jails has been growing more visible, now backed up by the report’s data. On September 29, for example, more than 500 inmates were part of a hunger protest in El Pedregal, a prison in Medellín, to demand better sanitation facilities and more respect for their fundamental rights.

Rodrigo Ardila, a delegate and comptroller for Medellín has acknowledged the poor jail conditions, with one facility intended for 140 prisoners now holding 513: “There are not sufficient sanitation services. Halls with 250 people and only one bathroom. Other halls have only one or two bathrooms with one or two showers.”

Drug-trafficking crimes represent 15 percent of the incarcerated population in Colombia.Daniel Raisbeck, an historian and classics professor at Our Lady of the Rosary University in Bogotá, believes this presents an opportunity, since an end to drug prohibition would drastically reduce the number of crimes, and thus the number of people incarcerated.

哥伦比亚监狱审计发现极端人口过剩

在这个展示中，Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch 问及联合国大会关于药品的特殊会议是否能成为一个改变世界毒品政策的机会。英语版本拥有更多信息，请阅读下文。

This plenary session from the 10th National Harm Reduction Conference, Baltimore, features Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, Director of the Global Drug Policy Program, Open Society Foundations. In this presentation, Kasia poses the question "Is the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs an Opportunity to Change the World?".

联合国大会关于药品的特殊会议：一个改变世界的机会？

尽管国家的艾滋病毒感染率较低，在重点人群和在某些地区，如城市环境和巴布亚省，艾滋病给这些人和地区带来了很重的负担。英语版本拥有更多信息，请阅读下文。

A delegation of the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) conducted a field visit to Indonesia from 22 to 24 October to see how the country has implemented an integrated and decentralized response to AIDS that has accelerated the strategic use of HIV treatment, increased testing and counselling and strengthened HIV prevention services for key populations.

Indonesia demonstrates how a multisectoral approach to HIV, combined with consistent leadership at all levels, is helping the country to stabilize the epidemic, accelerate treatment and provide innovative and comprehensive HIV services. The country’s AIDS response is guided by an investment strategy, developed with support from UNAIDS, which focuses resources and efforts where they are most needed.

According to national estimates, 638 000 people are living with HIV across Indonesia, and latest national data show that new infections are stabilizing, although there are increases among men who have sex with men. Indonesia’s epidemic is largely concentrated among key populations, including sex workers and their clients, men who have sex with men, people who inject drugs and transgender people. While national HIV prevalence is low, a higher burden of HIV is found among key populations and in certain geographic areas, such as urban settings and in the Papua provinces.

领导和专注于关键受影响的人群形成了印尼应对艾滋病毒的框架

四大支柱十三年前就通过了。它们今天的地位如何？英语版本拥有更多信息，请阅读下文。

What happened to North America's boldest drug policy experiment?

In 2001, after much campaigning by activists, academics and public health officials, Vancouver's municipal council approved the boldest, most progressive drug policy in North America: 

A Framework For Action: A Four-Pillar Approach to Vancouver's Drug Problems.

The philosophy was simple but revolutionary: government should lessen the harms associated with drug use, even if those drugs are illegal. Heroin prescription, methadone maintenance and supervised injection are some of the ideas you will find in the document's 36 recommendations.

was passed over 13 years ago. Where do they stand today? This is our season-opening 5-part series, 

podcasted on iTunes and syndicated at the University of British Columbia, the University of Victoria and Simon Fraser University.

To read the articles and listen to the files, click on the links below or go to the series page.

 Prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and enforcement—Vancouver’s four pillars. It’s the most progressive drug plan of any city in North America. But its authors fear that the pillars are crumbling. More >>

 Do you remember DARE? It’s a drug education program, but researchers say that it doesn’t work because it exaggerates the harms of drug use. We profile people who say we need to try something new: tell kids the truth. More >>

When somebody decides that it’s time to kick drugs, who is there to help them? In this explosive expose, we reveal a chronically underfunded drug treatment system that is dominated by unregulated flop houses, questionable pharmacists and dogmatic providers. More >>

 This summer, an activist named Ann Livingston signed a lease for a bubble tea cafe in the heart of the busiest drug market in suburban Vancouver. Ann has one goal: invite the drug users in and start a political movement. The Bubble Helping Centre in Surrey is to be that movement’s headquarters. But how will the neighbourhood react? More >>

: The authors of Vancouver drug policy always wanted to end the ‘War on Drugs’ but they made a compromise. While their fight against prohibition has stalled, Seattle is forging ahead. Will Seattle's compromise get any closer? More >>

四大支柱再访：由五部分组成的关于温哥华的毒品政策

一个进步的新计划，旨在帮助聘请数千名在巴西 ‘可卡因地’ 的可卡因使用者而不强迫他们戒除毒品。英语版本拥有更多信息，请阅读下文。

There are an estimated one million crack users in Brazil, many of whom reside in Cracolândias (Cracklands)—open-air drug markets where users freely smoke in a de facto legal environment. The largest of these markets is located in São Paulo, where a new approach has recently been implemented. The Open Arms program, launched in January 2014, is a city-sponsored harm reduction initiative that provides housing, food and job training to users without asking participants to quit using.

组图：在巴西‘可卡因地‘ 的伤害减少

Nick Clegg wants the UK to take a lead role in forging an alliance between European and Latin American countries aiming to reform global drugs laws focused on prohibition.

The deputy prime minister believes that the UN special session on drugs in 2016 offers a “unique opportunity” to push for alternatives to the current system. “We need to seize it,” Clegg said. “The war on drugs has failed and there are now a large number of states who agree on the need for change.”

Clegg was speaking after meeting Colombia’s president, Juan Manuel Santos, for talks about his country’s peace negotiations with the Farc guerrillas and what both see as an emerging international consensus for reform of international drugs policy.

The talks between Santos and Clegg will be seen as a significant strengthening of the emerging liberal alliance on drugs reform, a move heavily resisted by the Lib Dems’ coalition partners.

Nick Clegg and Juan Manuel Santos to lead global initiative on drugs reform

More than 22,000 people have disappeared since the Mexican government launched its war against drug cartels in 2006 - leaving the victims' families in limbo, wondering if they are dead or alive.

Kidnappings are a source of income for cartels, serving as a way to extort civilians but also to force people to work for them. As the Mexican government struggles to battle the cartels, there are also allegations of disappearances by the state's security forces.

"When they put the marines, army and federal police on the streets it was to create terror. Then citizens are submissive and live locked in their homes and people don't complain - despite economic problems, despite corruption amongst officials at the highest levels. We are caught in the middle trying to keep ourselves safe not only from criminals but also from [the] authorities," says Raymundo Ramos Vazquez, the director of the Human Rights Committee of Nuevo Laredo in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, just across the border with Texas.

The disappearances in Mexico

The first European Conference on Hepatitis C and Injecting Drug Use held in Berlin at the end of October was packed with people committed to improving access to Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Treatment and Opiate Substitution Treatment (OST). It was clear to see that delegates felt passionately about these two important issues. Concrete steps were made for strong advocacy and strategic collaboration. Things started with an excellent overview by Dr Jorg Goiz Berlin and was followed by three good national examples of hepatitis policies; one each from Scotland, France and Germany. Seven stakeholders for the seven key messages for a better hepatitis C policy and practice:

Scale Up Harm Reduction Community Based Programmes.

Access to HCV Testing, Treatment and Care Services

Decriminalisation of People Who Use Drugs

Meaningful Involvement of High Risk Communities

Effective Targeted HCV Strategies and Action Plans

Working together for a better hepatitis policy in Europe and beyond

By taking part in this year's Global Drug Survey, you will be part of the biggest survey of drug use patterns in the world. Last year almost 80,000 took part in GDS2014. The target this year, with media partners in 19 countries and with the survey having been translated into 8 languages is 120,000. That’s a lot of experience, expertise and opinion to share.

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