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FW: IDPC November 2010 Alert
IHRA November E-Update
From: IHRA Info [mailto:info@ihra.net]
Sent: 30 November, 2010 5:31 AM
To: Haden, Mark [VC]
Subject: IHRA November E-Update
 | IHRA E-Updates |
| November 2010 Edition | |
| 1. Thematic Briefings on Human Rights and Drug Policy/K?????? ???????????? ?????? ?? ???????? ???? ???????? ? ?????????????  In many countries around the world, drug control efforts result in serious human rights abuses: torture and ill treatment by police, mass incarceration, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, denial of essential medicines and basic health services. Drug control policies, and accompanying enforcement practices, often entrench and exacerbate systematic discrimination against people who use drugs, and impede access to controlled essential medicines for those who need them for therapeutic purposes. These briefing papers are intended to provide a basic overview of some of the core human rights issues related to drug control efforts and to show how they interconnect, and to spark a discussion of how international human rights law can be engaged to address a range of human rights concerns raised by drug enforcement laws, policies, and practices. Read More | In this Issue:
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| 2. A harm reduction approach to drug use is still relevant', says Professor Gerry Stimson  In a lecture given at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine on 17th November 2010 IHRA's former Executive Director, Gerry Stimson, defended harm reduction from political revisionism. ‘Harm reduction aims to reduce the risks of drugs, and to mitigate impacts on the individual and the wider society. It is basic good public health and social policy. So, why doesn't everyone support it? Conservative party ideologues have rewritten the history of harm reduction. They blame it on Labour. But harm reduction has a long history’.Read More | |
| 3. Out of Harm’s Way’ a new report released by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)  To mark World AIDS Day 2010, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) have released a report highlighting the failures of governments and donors to effectively tackle HIV and injecting drug use, and the urgency with which a human-rights based, effective response is needed. A central message of the report is the importance of prioritising harm reduction over the criminalisation of drug use – because “it works and is a human-rights based approach”. 'Out of Harm’s Way’ outlines the severity of the epidemic and the human rights violations routinely faced by people who inject drugs around the world. Amongst the report’s several recommendations are the decriminalisation of drug users, as well as access to due legal process and health services for those who use drugs both within, and outside prisons and other closed settings. | |
| 4. UN health rapporteur: Drug war ignores rights, decriminalize narcotics use  Anand Grover, a well-known lawyer from India, also said the war on drugs has ignored drug users' human rights. Grover is the U.N. Human Rights Council's special rapporteur on physical and mental health. He told the General Assembly committee dealing with rights issues that people who use drugs may not get the health care they need for fear of being arrested, or may be denied health care if they seek help.Read More | |
| 5. ACMD: Foil, as an intervention, to reduce the harms of injection heroin  The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has produced a report on the exemption of foil from Section 9A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, as a harm reduction intervention. As the report states, “Evidence has been provided to the ACMD that some drug intervention agencies supply specialist foil to drug users to encourage smoking as a safer alternative to the practice of injecting.” Citing the extensive benefits of foil in reducing the risk of blood borne viruses, overdose and other harms – with few if any identified drawbacks – the ACMD report states “that the balance of benefit favours exempting foil from Section 9A of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971.”Read More | |
| 6. IHRA releases new briefing on the death penalty for drug offences  IHRA has released a new briefing written in partnership with Human Rights Watch and Penal Reform International entitled 'The Death Penalty for Drug Offences and International Support for Drug Enforcement'. The purpose of this briefing is to highlight the dangers associated with funding drug control activities in countries with capital drug laws as detailed in IHRA’s report Complicity or Abolition? The Death Penalty and International Support for Drug Enforcement.Read More | |
| 7. Inter Press Service: Execution for Drug Offences Challenged  Two Georgian women are facing the death sentence in Malaysia in a case that human rights campaigners say has highlighted worries over the continued imposition of capital punishment for drugs offences. Babutsa Gorgadze, 26, and Darejan Kokhtashvili, 37, were arrested last month in Malaysia after they were found with more than 10 kilos of methamphetamine. Under strict Malaysian laws the pair, both mothers, are now facing mandatory death penalties if convicted and efforts are under way by Georgian authorities to stop the pair being sentenced to death if convicted. | |
| 8. Call for Candidates for Roster of Practitioners in HIV and Human Rights  The XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna, whose theme was “Rights Here, Rights Now,” provided a unique opportunity to bring together many people from around the world who share an interest in and commitment to a human rights-based response to HIV/AIDS. As a follow-up to AIDS 2010 and as part of a larger effort to support greater collaboration among key people working on HIV, human rights and law, UNAIDS and the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network have partnered in order to develop an international roster of practitioners with experience in HIV and human rights. Read More | |
| 9. Joint statement delivered at African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights 48th Ordinary Session  The International Harm Reduction Association signed a joint statement with a group of NGOs, raising objections to the Gambian National Assembly’s introduction of the death penalty for drug offences. The statement was delivered at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights 48th Ordinary Session in Banjul. IHRA co-signed the statement with Penal Reform International (PRI), Foundation for International Human Rights (FHRI), International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (FIACAT) and World organization against Torture (OMCT). | |
| 10. Global Commission on HIV and the Law - Call for Submissions for ASIA-PACIFIC Regional Dialogue  On behalf of the Global Commission on HIV and the Law, this is a Call for Submissions for the Commission’s Asia-Pacific Regional Dialogue. The first Regional Dialogue for the Asia-Pacific will take place on 24-25 February 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand. In addition to giving voice to regional and country perspectives on issues of HIV and the law, the dialogue aims to contribute to regional efforts for creating enabling legal environments which support effective HIV responses.Read More | |
| International Harm Reduction Association - Unit 701 - The Chandlery 50 Westminster Bridge Road - London - SE1 7QY - United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 207 953 7412 Fax: +44 (0) 207 953 7404 Email: info@ihra.net Web: www.ihra.net Charity number – 1117375 | Company number – 3223265 © 2010 International Harm Reduction Association | |
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An extensive collection of references
Poll - asking the right question -UK #drugpolicy
UK - New poll shows 70% support for legal regulation of cannabis Drug Policy Reform & Narco Politics.
www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?p=923758
Half of Canadians Support the Legalization of Marijuana #drugpolicy #legalization #poll
Angus Reid Global Monitor
November 29, 2010
Half of Canadians Support the Legalization of Marijuana (link to PDF, 8 pages)
IV drug policy fails HIV patients: Red Cross #drugpolicy #redcross
CBC News (Canada)
Sunday, November 28, 2010
IV drug policy fails HIV patients: Red Cross
The Associated Press
The spread of HIV and AIDS among millions of people could be slowed if addicts who inject drugs were treated as medical patients rather than as criminals, the International Federation of the Red Cross said Friday.
More than 80 per cent of the world's governments "are inclined to artificial realities, impervious to the evidence that treating people who inject drugs as criminals is a failed policy that contributes to the spread of HIV," the Red Cross said.
An estimated 16 million people worldwide inject drugs, mainly because it delivers the fastest, most intense high, in what has become a growing trend on every continent, according to the Red Cross.
The launch of the International Federation of the Red Cross' 24-page report - essentially to promote a new strategy for nations to stop the spread of the virus among injecting drug users - comes in the week before World AIDS Day on Dec. 1.
The federation, which represents national Red Cross chapters in almost every country of the world, suggests ways to lessen the risk that addicts will contract the virus from tainted blood transmitted through shared needles.
It also points out that many of the addicts are selling sex to pay for their habits, which "massively increases the likelihood of spreading HIV into an unsuspecting public."
More than three million people who inject drugs now have HIV - almost one-10th of all the 33.3 million people worldwide who are infected with HIV.
'Mega-epidemics' highlighted
In the United States, about 56,000 people, many of them injecting drug users, become infected each year, a rate that has held steady for about a decade. But many of those who are infected don't know it and spread the virus unwittingly, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
For years, the U.S.-based organization recommended routine testing, mainly for intravenous drug users and other people at high risk. If new infections are discovered early enough, HIV patients can be treated with drugs potent enough to postpone the slide into full-blown AIDS.
Meanwhile, the Red Cross report says China, Malaysia, Russia, Ukraine and Vietnam have "mega-epidemics" of injecting drug use. In some countries, such as Russia, Georgia and Iran, drug-injecting users account for more than 60 per cent of HIV infections.
The Red Cross calls the increasing rate of HIV infection among drug users who use needles "a public health emergency" and recommends more governments provide health services such as substitute drug therapy and clean needle and syringe exchanges.
It says studies consistently show that needle exchanges can lower transmission rates by as much as 42 per cent.
"The IFRC is focusing on injecting drug users because a growing body of evidence shows that failing to reach them with hard reduction programs not only jeopardizes their own health, but also the safety of the public at large," said Tadateru Konoe, the group's president.
The Geneva-based United Nations' AIDS agency said earlier this week that the global AIDS epidemic among the general population has slowed, with a 20 per cent decrease in new HIV infections over the past decade.
But that agency's report also noted there are still 7,000 new infections each day - a rate that means two people are becoming infected with the virus for every one who is starting treatment.
(c) The Canadian Press, 2010
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Drugs & Democracy Info <drugs@tni.org>
Transnational Institute (TNI)
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FW: [FIRST] Prostitution: Should it be decriminalized in Canada? #sextrade
Prostitution: Should it be decriminalized in Canada?
The federal government is warning that Canada could find itself in an "unprecedented" social experiment if key prostitution laws are lifted in Ontario this weekend.
An Ontario Superior Court judge struck down three prostitution laws in September, with the changes set to come into effect on Saturday.
The judge said laws against keeping a common bawdy house, communicating for the purposes of prostitution and living on the avails of the sex trade put sex workers in danger.
The federal and Ontario governments are before an Appeal Court on Monday, asking for the ruling to be stayed until a proper appeal can be heard.
Michael Morris, a lawyer for the federal government, says if a stay isn't granted, Saturday would bring about a "social experiment unprecedented in this country."
He says it will "profoundly and irreversibly" alter the status quo, hamper the court's appeal process and undermine Parliament and its right to create legislation in the public interest.
-With files from The Canadian Press
Should prostitution be decriminalized in Canada? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments below.
What Can We Learn From The Portuguese Decriminalization of Illicit Drugs? #portugal #drugpolicy
British Journal of Criminology
November issue 2010
What Can We Learn From The Portuguese Decriminalization of Illicit Drugs?
Caitlin Elizabeth Hughes* and Alex Stevens
The issue of decriminalizing illicit drugs is hotly debated, but is rarely subject to evidence-based analysis. This paper examines the case of Portugal, a nation that decriminalized the use and possession of all illicit drugs on 1 July 2001. Drawing upon independent evaluations and interviews conducted with 13 key stakeholders in 2007 and 2009, it critically analyses the criminal justice and health impacts against trends from neighbouring Spain and Italy. It concludes that contrary to predictions, the Portuguese decriminalization did not lead to major increases in drug use. Indeed, evidence indicates reductions in problematic use, drug-related harms and criminal justice overcrowding.
The article discusses these developments in the context of drug law debates and criminological discussions on late modern governance.
To download full PDF text study:
http://bjc.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/6/999.full.pdf+html
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Drugs & Democracy Info <drugs@tni.org>
Transnational Institute (TNI)
De Wittenstraat 25 1052 AK
P.O.Box 14656 1001 LD
Amsterdam - The Netherlands
Tel: +31 20 662 6608 / Fax: +31 20 675 7176 http://www.tni.org/drugs _______________________________________________
Dd-world mailing list
https://lists.tni.org/mailman/listinfo/dd-world
Portugal's Drug Experience: New Study Confirms Decriminalization Was a Success #drugpolicy
By Maia Szalavitz
TIME
November 23, 2010
Harm Reduction Canada 2011
From: Canadian Harm Reduction [mailto:noharm@canadianharmreduction.com]
Sent: 23 November, 2010 7:56 PM
To: Haden, Mark [VC]
Subject: Harm Reduction Canada 2011
http://www.canadianharmreduction.com
Please visit our website, check it out and support us by becoming a member.
Please forward to colleagues & friends . . .
Registration is now open
for
Ottawa, Canada
February 23-25, 2011
Note: early bird discount ends December 31st.
Conference Highlights:
§ Film Festival - Canada's first National Harm Reduction Film Festival with dynamic panels and events curated by the inthemindseye film festival
§ Learn about and sign the Vienna Declaration
§ Learn about and support the Canadian Drug Policy Consortium
Dedicated Presentation Streams:
Overdose Prevention
Progress around shelters & low-barrier housing
Understanding & Addressing Public Opinion
Confirmed presentations:
§ Harm Reduction Coast to Coast – with Christie Wall, Parkdale Community Health Centre, Toronto ON
§ "Do-it-Yourself Policy Development" – Taking Control: Building Capacity for Civil Society Engagement in Modernizing Canada's Legislative, Regulatory & Policy Frameworks that Impact Responses to Illegal Drugs in Canada – with Donald MacPherson, former Drug Policy Coordinator, Vancouver BC
§ Social Justice, Dignity & Collectivity: An Ethic of Self-Organizing Shelter Community – with Aaron Munro, Vikki Reynolds & Sean Spear, Raincity Housing and Support Society, Vancouver BC
§ Adventurous Change in Shelter & Housing – presentation and forum, with Cathy Middleton, YWCA Kitchener/Waterloo, ON
§ Overdose Prevention Stream – with film, presentations & some 'how to' from around Canada including:
o Overdose Prevention: Steps in the Right Direction – with Holly Kramer, Toronto Harm Reduction Task Force, ON
o Overdose Prevention and Intervention: Train the Trainer – with Lindsay Klassen, Wellington-Guelph Drug Strategy Committee, ON
§ Best Practices for Safer Crack Kit Programs – interactive session moderated by Patricia Bacon from Blood Ties Four Directions Centre, in Whitehorse YT, & Walter Cavalieri from the Canadian Harm Reduction Network, Toronto ON
§ Competencies for the Substance Abuse Workforce – with Roy Olfert, Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, Ottawa ON
§ Gladue Reports - an exciting development carrying harm reduction into the justice system for First Nations folk – with Little Brown Bear, Certified Gladue Writer, Midland ON
§ Working With Substance Users - Common Myths That Kill – exploration with Dr. Peter Ferentzy, Author and Researcher, Toronto, ON
§ Building National Understanding & Support – with Christie Wall, Parkdale Community Health Centre, Toronto ON
Also ...
§ 'Harm Reduction 2.0' - Are the words 'harm reduction' still needed? – facilitated discussion/forum.
§ The Four Pillars Do Not Work - the need for a new model – presentation & facilitated discussion
§ "All Harm Reduction Work Is Trauma Work – Are you trauma-informed? – facilitated by Tom Regehr of CAST Canada
- Understanding how public opinion forms, how it effects policy, funding & program delivery
- Concrete examples of conquering NIMBYism around the country
- The role of the media
- The role of the harm reduction community
- How to have a great relationship with your local media
New information is added weekly- check the website
Click here to register
NOTE: Early Bird discount ends December 31st
gt@cast-canada.ca 705-749-6145
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About Mark Haden
Mark's listserv has become an invaluable hub of information about drug policy and reform efforts. This blog will serve as an archive for future mailings.