By Ann Fordham for Huffington Post. For decades governments have proudly proclaimed a global consensus on drugs. A consensus that reinforced reliance on repression and punishment to deter people from using drugs or from involvement in the drug trade. A consensus that has encouraged hugely expensive drug control polices based in tough law enforcement which have failed […]
By Catalina Pérez Correa for El Universal. Terminó el segundo periodo ordinario de sesiones del Congreso sin que se aprobaran iniciativas tan importantes como la reforma a la regulación de la marihuana. Dos foros nacionales y una sesión especial en Naciones Unidas sobre el tema de drogas (UNGASS) no fueron suficientes para que los legisladores se […]
By Axel Klein for DrugWise. From time to time, we will be featuring guest blogs. Our first one is from Dr Axel Klein from Kent University and Editor of Drugs and Alcohol Today. Consensus on Outcome Documents and centrality of drug convention is reached, but big split between reformers and conservative states Legalisation schemes continue to be […]
By Juan Gabriel Tokatlian for Open Democracy. According to the Real Academia Española dictionary, opportunity is understood as the existence of “appropriate circumstances” while opportunism refers to taking advantage of such circumstances to obtain “the greatest possible benefit”. The recent (April 19-21) third United Nations General Assembly Special Session on drugs (UNGASS) promised to be a […]
By Maia Szalavitz for VICE. Last month, the United Nations General Assembly met for the first time in history to reconsider international drug prohibition with an eye toward policies focused on health and human rights. Facing unprecedented drug gang–related violence, Mexico, Colombia, and Guatemala had insisted the global confab be moved up by two years. Yet somehow there was no […]
By El Tiempo. A pesar de haber sido capturado en flagrancia en Bogotá a finales del año pasado por transportar dos mil millones de pesos en drogas sintéticas en un maletín, un hombre de 34 años estuvo apenas unas horas ante un juez y al final recuperó su libertad. Read more…
By The Economist. EVEN the official story is shocking. In September 2014 a group of student teachers from Ayotzinapa, in the south-western state of Guerrero, decided to commandeer some buses in the nearby town of Iguala. They wanted to go to a rally in Mexico City, and it is common for students in this part of […]
By El Tiempo. La orden de acabar las fumigaciones aéreas en el Catatumbo, desde el 2010, y la suspensión de la erradicación manual, en el 2013, como parte de un acuerdo entre el Gobierno y la Asociación Campesina del Catatumbo (Ascamcat), para ponerle fin a un paro adelantado por cientos de familias que viven de los […]
By Antonio Caballero for Semana. Deberían haber aprendido algo los dirigentes políticos del mundo al cabo de casi 60 años de fracasos de la guerra contra las drogas: cada vez se producen y se consumen más variadas y en mayor cantidad, y aumentan sin cesar la muerte y la corrupción que genera su prohibición. Pues no: […]
By El Daily Post. It’s been obvious for a long time that organized crime is responsible for a big chunk of murders committed in Mexico. But just how big? It turns out that drug-trafficking gangs commit almost six out of every 10 murders in Mexico. Read more…
Drug Policy Debate Radar 