Politics Outside US
Europe: French Police Start Saliva-Testing Drivers for Drugs
French Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie went to the French Riviera town of Antibes on Monday to give a public kick-off to a new French campaign to crack down on drugged drivers.
Europe: Former British Anti-Drug Official Now Calls For Legalization
The man who was once responsible for coordinating the British government's drug policy now says drug legalization would be preferable to the current prohibitionist-style approach embraced by succes
Press Release: First Global Conference on Methamphetamine to Feature 80 Speakers from 16 Countries
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, August 13, 2008
Contact: Luciano Colonna, Chair, Executive Program Committee
Southeast Asia: DEA Bringing Drug War Tactics to Vietnam
DEA agents are in Vietnam this month to train Vietnamese anti-drug officers how to conduct drug raids American-style, but local UN officials say you can't police your way out of a drug problem.
Southeast Asia: Drug User Group Demonstrates for Legal Drug Use in Jakarta
Indonesia's harsh drug laws have not succeeded in stopping illicit drug use in the Southeast Asian archipelago, and now some of the people those laws are aimed at are speaking out.
Latin America: Peru Constitutional Court Overturns State Law Okaying Coca Crops
The Peruvian Constitutional Tribunal, the Andean country's highest court dealing with constitutional issues, announced Wednesday that it had overturned a law approved by the Department of Puno that
More Video of Drug Reformers and Their Encounters with the "Other Side" at the UN in Vienna Last Month
Posted in Chronicle Blog by David Borden on Sat, 08/02/2008 - 6:15pmLast month I posted some video highlights, filmed by the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, from a recent NGO session convened by the United Nations drug agency in Vienna where many of our friends participated.
HCLU has released some more videos from the session, "Abstinence First?," discussing the flaws of the abstinence-only model; "Student Drug Testing"; and War on Drugs: The New Jim Crow."
Follow the links to read introductory comments by HCLU's Peter Sarosi before watching the videos, or just watch them here:
Europe: Britain's Drug War Not Working, Think-Tank Finds
Traditional drug war law enforcement tactics have not worked in Britain, according to research released Wednesday by the UK Drug Policy Commission
Southwest Asia: Iranian Harm Reduction Doctors Arrested, Held Without Explanation
Faced with an intractable and growing opiate addiction problem, in recent years Iran has increasingly embraced the principles of harm reduction.
Latin America: In Bid to Reduce US Influence, Bolivia to Fund Own Anti-Drug Unit
The Bolivian government will fund an anti-drug unit for the first time next year in a bid to reduce foreign involvement in its fight against the cocaine trade.
Petition to Free Iranian Harm Reduction Doctors
Posted in In the Trenches by David Guard on Wed, 07/30/2008 - 11:55amGood morning,
I am reaching out this morning to my broad network of friends, family, and colleagues and asking that you consider signing onto the attached petition to the Government of Iran on behalf of Drs. Kamiar Alaei and Arash Alaei, physician brothers who have been working on HIV and drug use in Iran for many years. They have been detained without any charges by Iranian security forces since late June. We are concerned that their detainment may be related to their harm reduction work and leadership. The petition calls on the government of Iran to either charge or immediately release them.
Please consider signing PHR's petition and let me know if you would like me to keep you informed of progress in the case. The petition is online at http://actnow-phr.org/campaign/iran_free_the_docs.
Thank you.
Paola
Paola Barahona, MPH
Global Health Policy Associate
Physicians for Human Rights
1156 15th Street NW, Suite 1001
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 728-5335 (ext.300)
pbarahona@phrusa.org
www.HealthActionAIDS.org
www.physiciansforhumanrights.org
20 years of advancing health, dignity and justice
Editorial: It's Everybody Else Who's Crazy
David Borden, Executive Director
Canada: Quebec to Open Series of Safe Injection Sites
Spurred by a favorable court ruling in May allowing Vancouver's safe injection site,
Australia: Grow Lights Now Illegal in South Australia
The state government of South Australia has made the possession of lights, reflectors, and associated equipment that can be used for growing marijuana a criminal offense punishable by up to two yea
Southwest Asia: Former US Anti-Drug Official Accuses Afghan Government of Complicity in Drug Trade -- US and NATO Not Doing Much Either, He Complains
Former State Department official Thomas Schweich, who was the US government's point man in the effort to wipe out the opium and heroin trade in Afghanistan until last month, has accused Afghan Pres
Death Penalty: More Executions in China, Saudi Arabia
Despite a global trend toward abolition of the death penalty, a number of countries continue not only to use the ultimate sanction, but to apply it to nonviolent drug offenders.
Video Highlights from Vienna Drug Policy NGO Forum
Posted in Chronicle Blog by David Borden on Tue, 07/22/2008 - 4:23pmThe week before last NGOs from around the world concerned with drug policy gathered at the United Nations Vienna location. I wasn't there, but friends of mine played an important role, and they did a great job. Check out these video interviews put together by the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union:
Find the HCLU web site here.
Europe: Rastafarians Can Smoke Marijuana, Italian Court Rules
The Italian Court of Cassation, the highest criminal court in the land, has thrown out the drug trafficking conviction of a Rastafarian, saying the amount of marijuana he possessed was consistent w
Europe: Austrian Parliament Okays Medical Marijuana, But Only State Agency Can Grow It
Death Penalty: Indonesia Gives Go-Ahead for More Executions
Indonesian authorities executed two Nigerian men, Iwachekwu Okoye and Hansen Anthony Nwaliosa, for drug trafficking on International Anti-Drug Day, June 26.
