United Nations

[Courtesy of ACLU] The first-ever meeting of ordinary people, representing the entire globe and discussing the state of the world’s drug policy, concluded today in Vienna with a unanimous, united call for a new approach to drug control policy. Here are the highlights of our resolution: * We recognized "the human rights abuses against people who use drugs" * We called for "evidence-based" drug policy focused on "mitigation of short-term and long-term harms" and "full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms" * We called on the U.N. to report on the collateral consequences of the current criminal justice-based approach to drugs and to provide an "analysis of the unintended consequences of the drug control system" * We called for comprehensive "reviews of the application of criminal sanctions as a drug control measure" * We recognized harm reduction as a necessary and worthwhile response to drug abuse (harm reduction is a set of practical strategies that reduce negative consequences of drug use, incorporating a spectrum of strategies from safer use, to managed use to abstinence; harm reduction strategies meet drug users "where they’re at," addressing conditions of use along with the use itself) * We called for a shift in primary emphasis from interdiction to treatment and prevention * We called for alternatives to incarceration * We called for the provision of development aid to farmers before eradication of coca or opium crops In other words, we voiced the need for a very significant shift in direction for drug policy at just about every level. Of course, if the national governments decide to ignore this call from the grassroots, this could just be a grown-up version of the model U.N. club some of us did in high school. If you read my earlier blog posts , you’ll know about the mysterious woman with the yellow badge — she worked hard to wreck the first day, but once she was gone on the second day, the more hard-line U.S. groups became fairly pragmatic and sensible. But the mystery woman showed up again today. I decided to introduce myself to the woman with the yellow badge. Today, she had a red badge, like the rest of us — meaning that overnight she had become a delegate, not an observer. Scary thought for how the day might go. I offered her my card, and got hers. I asked that she, as an official U.S. representative, please include the ACLU in future delegations. It turns out that June Sivilli is indeed in the drug czar’s office. A quick Google search reveals that she’s a big proponent of student drug testing, which may explain why she already knew who I was (thanks to the ACLU’s heretical position that, because it’s invasive and ineffective, we shouldn’t drug test students.) She didn’t offer to include me in future delegations, but was entirely civil. And then the day started with a bang: obstruction and delay from Drug Free America’s Calvina Fay and a couple of her colleagues. What was interesting, though, was that many of her original allies were no longer going along with her tactics. Joined only by the "Drug Free Schools Coalition" and a group called Sundial , she renewed the call to remove any suggestion that current drug policies cause harm. Sivilli seemed to be at work again, mobilizing her dwindling troops. Things quickly became comical: one delegate made a motion for all official government employees (i.e., Sivilli) to reveal themselves. The chair denied the motion, but the point had been made. Then another delegate asked the chair why the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (love the name!) was no longer filming the meeting. A rumor had spread that Sivilli objected to being caught on camera whispering in the ears of the "drug-free" representatives. And I learned from one colleague that the Drug Free Schools Coalition representative had threatened to sue her for taking his picture and "reported" her to the U.N. (whatever that means), forcing her to erase the picture from her camera. Can anyone think of any other examples of the U.S. government these days trying to do its dirty work with no accountability or scrutiny, especially in the face of overwhelming opposition from ordinary people? (Yes, Drug Free Schools Coalition and Drug Free America are not actually the U.S. government, but they clearly were working hand-in-glove in the one space where the U.S. government representative could not speak for herself.) But I’m spending way too much time on the shenanigans and not enough on the tremendous promise that today brings. For almost half a century, world drug policy has focused overwhelmingly on "supply side" tactics — a euphemism for policies based on arrests and imprisonment. The U.S. has largely driven this process, in our name but without our consent and mostly without even our awareness. Other governments were initially dragged into this regime, and many have come to embrace it enthusiastically and viciously. Yet now, in this very official space, the people of the world have responded, and we say with one voice that things must change. I’ll write one more time with some thoughts about how we can make sure our government listens. And I hope you’ll all chime in with your ideas in the comments section. One more thing: thanks for taking the time to read this far. I hope it’s been useful and maybe even a little bit fun.

[Courtesy of ACLU] Intrigue and then remarkable progress marked the second day of the Vienna conference on drug policy. First, the intrigue. Throughout the first day, I kept noticing this one person who harrumphed, guffawed, and muttered every time someone spoke in ways critical of the drug policy status quo. By accent, she seemed to be from the United States. And she had a yellow badge, where everyone else had a red badge. Who was she? Why did she keep shuffling over to the U.S. groups like Drug Free America and other cheerleaders for U.S. hardline policy? She settled in right behind me, and gave instructions to her allies — tactics for blocking inclusion of harm reduction. She said "one of you needs to interject to stop the hand clapping in favor of their proposals." More and more, she seemed like some sort of puppet master. As the day concluded, she rushed up to the podium, accosted the chair, and, in the most agitated way, began lambasting the chair for various procedural points. I had to find out about the American woman with the yellow badge. At a social gathering later that evening, I described my observations to some of the NGO delegates who regularly attend these U.N. events. Turns out that the yellow-badge woman is June Sivilli, an employee of the U.S. drug czar’s office and a regular fixture at Vienna drug meetings. Until now, she has been able to speak as an official voice of the U.S. government — and the U.S. is always the most important voice on U.N. drug policy issues. Now that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are bringing the voices of ordinary people to the table for the first time ever, she was actively subverting the process, throwing every possible obstacle in the way of this quite benign process. I’d always heard that the U.S. government played a bully role in international drug policy. But it’s really ugly to see it in practice. Happily, the second morning of the conference came with no U.S. government saboteurs on the scene. Someone must have let Sivilli know that her contributions were not appropriate. As if by magic, the barrage of objections from yesterday largely evaporated. Some of the pro-status quo groups continued to raise some objections, but I realized that some of those folks have a genuine desire to make the world a better place and a desire to make the NGO consultation productive. The head of Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America offered some reasonable compromises; the representative of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) supported my calls for human rights protections; even Calvina Fay (see yesterday’s post on her deplorable statements) became fairly agreeable. I shouldn’t overstate the kumbaya spirit of the day, though. A tempest erupted when a European HIV prevention group suggested that drug users should be consulted in making drug policy because they are the most affected. He asked us to imagine if an AIDS convention were drafted without mentioning people living with HIV. The NADCP representative then brought down the house with this: "I do not believe that people who are using drugs should be part of the process," followed by, "drugs are illegal, so it can’t be compared to the civil rights movement" and a comment that people could be heard only if "they submitted themselves to treatment" first. Deborah Small from Break the Chains offered an olive branch, saying that we all share the goal of helping people, so we should exclude no one. But the point of the whole exercise was brought home by the chair of the meeting, who said that some governments hesitate to consult NGOs because they are seen as unruly or undirected, so this kind of squabble would bring delight, showing that NGOs are categorically unfit to have a seat at the table. Thus, with Sivilli gone and with our minds focused on not looking like a room of unruly school children, we finally rolled up our sleeves. By mid-day, we began accelerating through a draft resolution, adding in human rights protections, recognizing the value of harm reduction, and insisting that "success" in the drug war must account for all the human and economic costs of incarceration and law enforcement, not just a tally sheet of tons of drugs interdicted. We even agreed that the U.N. drug bodies should re-evaluate whether incarceration is an effective drug policy. (One stalwart — a fellow whose organization’s goal is to bring drug testing to every school in the U.S. and across the globe — objected that this was an attack on law enforcement. None of the law enforcement organizations agreed.) Frankly, I’m not sure what to make of all this. It seems clear that ordinary people of the world are able to do a pretty good job describing a sane drug policy, so long as the U.S. drug czar stays out the way. The problem, though, is that this wonderful set of recommendations will matter only if national governments decide to listen. Once Sivilli resumes her customary seat at the table, she’ll surely oppose the recommendations. But will the other nations of the world have the wherewithal to chart their own course? Given that U.S. aid is often made conditional on toeing the U.S. drug policy line, it’s hard to be overly optimistic. And yet, we have no choice but to find hope that other nations will join us in charting a new course. At the end of today, I talked with Deodory John. He runs program in Tanzania for young people harmed by drug use. The program, Rafiki Family, is funded by local contributions. He is certain that prisons and police would do the kids in his program no good; they need education, jobs, peer counseling and treatment. And using harm reduction interventions, he’s working to combat the spread of HIV and AIDS. (If you want to join me in supporting his program, please send an email to John for more information.) I also met Tripti Tandon, from the Lawyers Collective’s HIV/AIDS Unit in India. She told me how India had enacted draconian drug laws under pressure from the U.S. to comply with its treaty obligations. The law makes even consumption of drugs a crime, and police routinely pick up poor people, force them to take drug tests, and then convict them based on the results. A positive for marijuana lands you in jail for six months; harder drugs for a year. Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the U.S. helped design and build a remote maximum security prison, where death-row inmates are transported using CIA rendition techniques (hoods, shackles, beating), confessions are extracted under torture, and the majority of prisoners are accused solely of drug crimes. This travesty is exposed on page 45 of a March 2008 U.N. Human Rights Council report to the U.N. General Assembly. If the NGOs get our way here in Vienna, the U.N. drug bodies will start documenting the myriad human rights violations committed under the U.S.-led global war on drugs. At the ACLU, we work hard to replace the drug war with a humane, health-based approach. The millions of current, former, and would-be drug prisoners in the U.S. urgently need this change. This conference makes clear that things are as bad, and often worse, in other parts of the world, and I’m glad that our work may help atone for — maybe even correct — some of the devastation that U.S.-led drug policy has inflicted throughout all corners of the globe.

[Courtesy of ACLU] A decade ago the United Nations (U.N.) issued a declaration outlining its 10-year global strategy to “eliminate or significantly reduce” all illicit coca, marijuana, and opium plants from the earth under the motto, “A drug free world – we can do it!” This week, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will measure progress in this global “war on drugs” at a meeting in Vienna, Austria. The American Civil Liberties Union will join a diverse coalition of civil and human rights organizations participating in the “Beyond 2008 Forum,” an unprecedented opportunity to review the past decade of international drug policy and to shape its future course. The U.N. convened this forum to provide the non-governmental organization community the opportunity to contribute to the development of future policy, practice, and strategy. For the first time, the international drug strategy will be informed by outside voices – a sensible approach that is commonplace for other issues, but has long been taboo on issues of drug policy. The ACLU seeks an end to punitive drug policies that cause widespread constitutional and human rights violations, as well as unprecedented levels of incarceration. U.S. government insistence on incarceration as a catch-all solution to the misuse of illicit drugs has failed to reduce drug-related harm both at home and abroad, while defying the basic tenets of the U.N.’s Charter and Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The global experience of the past 10 years demonstrates that current drug policies have exacerbated – not abated – violence, health epidemics, and civil and human rights violations: * The U.N.’s 2008 World Drug Report announced that illicit coca and opium production are at an all time high. * A 2008 World Health Organization study found that America has higher rates of both cocaine and marijuana use than countries with less punitive drug laws. * The U.S. imprisons 10 times as many people for drug offenses as does the European Union, which has 200 million more inhabitants. * In the U.S., the world’s wealthiest nation, drug overdose rates have tripled since 1990, and drug treatment remains unavailable to over 20 million people in need. * The Centers for Disease Control estimates that in the U.S. injection drug use accounts for 60% of all new cases of hepatitis C, and approximately one-fourth of all new HIV/AIDS cases. * Worldwide, drugs remain the largest source of income for organized crime, and drug-related violence is visibly spiraling out of control in Mexico, Afghanistan, West Africa, and elsewhere. The time has come for the U.S. and the international community to come to terms with the clear limitations of a drug policy principally devoted to supply-side enforcement and incarceration. Some members of the international community have long acknowledged the failure of U.S.-style drug prohibition as a model for global drug policy and have turned toward health-based approaches more in line with the U.N.’s health and human rights mandates. Beyond decriminalizing some adult drug use, several nations like Canada and the Netherlands have begun to experiment with a range of promising harm reduction approaches, such as providing people with drug addictions clean needles and counseling rather than imposing lengthy prison sentences. Such policies recognize that a drug free world is presently beyond reach and focus on minimizing the dangers faced by at risk individuals and society at large. This approach has proven both effective and better aligned with international human rights and public safety mandates. Even within the U.S., support for the global “war on drugs” is waning. The foundational American values of liberty, privacy and limited government power have been severely undermined by drug war tactics. One in 100 adults in the U.S. are behind bars, largely due to drug laws, giving the U.S. the dubious distinction as the world’s leading jailer. With drug use, production and availability remaining steady, the American public is waking up to the reality that over-reliance on enforcement and incarceration is neither good for public safety nor economically sustainable. National public opinion polls bear this out, finding a sizable majority of Americans favor treatment over incarceration for nonviolent drug offenders. With this week’s meeting, the U.N. has the opportunity to move away from the counterproductive policies that have dominated U.S. and, in turn, international drug policy for the past decade. U.N. drug policy has been left to operate in a lonely silo, apparently exempt from the tenets of transparency and accountability that guide other U.N. policy-making bodies. Sadly, where the international drug control regime has conflicted with human rights, systematic discrimination, abusive law enforcement practices, mass incarceration and easily avoidable health epidemics have prevailed. The U.N., and specifically the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), have the power to take a step in the right direction by adopting resolutions acknowledging the Universal Declaration on Human Rights’ centrality to all of the U.N.’s work, and mandating that the U.N.’s drug control bodies adopt a human rights-based approach in accordance with U.N. human rights law. For this step to be effective, however, member states must also make specific resolutions mandating that U.N. drug control policy be conducted in accordance with human rights law. Directives from the U.N. General Assembly to conduct drug control efforts in compliance with human rights norms have been ignored in the past. The CND – the U.N.’s inter-state body that directs international drug policy – has never adopted a resolution with any operational human rights obligations. Meanwhile, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the monitoring body for the U.N. drug control conventions, has openly stated that it will not address human rights. Application of international human rights laws can address many of the flaws and inequalities of the current drug control system. As mandated in the U.N.’s Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and several other treaties, human rights standards hold a greater position of legal authority than drug control treaties. For the U.N.’s drug control system to be consistent with the requirements of its own Charter, human rights must be the starting point, not an after-thought. A human rights-based approach to global drug policy would principally (1) prioritize prevention and treatment of negative health consequences of drug misuse over criminal justice responses and supply-side reduction measures, and (2) require that U.N. bodies measure effectiveness by assessing indicators of drug-related harm, rather than relying solely on drug use and interdiction statistics. Drug-related “harm” includes overdose rates, disease transmission rates, negative drug enforcement consequences as well as individual and communal criminal justice system-related consequences. To succeed, U.N. drug policy bodies must work closely with the World Health Organization and UNAIDS, a joint program of the U.N., to adopt effective strategies for reducing the spread of HIV/AIDS and other diseases. The following specific policy proposals should be implemented in order to align U.N. drug policy with its health and human rights mandates: 1) Reform of the International Narcotics Control Board • Regular, independent evaluations of the INCB must be administered to guarantee accountability. • The INCB must clarify its position on harm reduction and human rights in relation to the U.N.’s overall goals. • The INCB must acknowledge the authority of less rigid interpretations of the drug control treaties. • The INCB must function more openly, and involve civil society in its operations. • The INCB must improve the availability of treatment for chemical dependence, and develop greater expertise on HIV, public health, and human rights. 2) Emphasis on Human Rights from the Committee on Narcotic Drugs • The CND should adopt a resolution acknowledging the Universal Declaration of Human Right’s relevance to all of its work. • Member states must make specific resolutions mandating the U.N. drug control policy be conducted in accordance with human rights law and with the aim of furthering human rights protections. • The CND should adopt a resolution that mandates that all drug control arms of the U.N. adopt a human rights-based approach to their work in accordance with the aims of the U.N. Charter and human rights treaties. 3) Focus on Drug Control-Related Human Rights Violations from U.N. Human Rights Bodies • The U.N. Human Rights Council and other human rights treaty bodies should emphasize in their work greater focus on human rights violations caused by drug control efforts. People and governments throughout the world are increasingly recognizing that the global “war on drugs” does more harm than good. The U.N. must acknowledge this reality and set a new direction in drug policy that respects and upholds the health and human rights of all people. In 1998, at the last U.N. General Assembly Special Session on Drugs then-ACLU executive director Ira Glasser joined former U.N. Chief Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru, Nobel Laureate and ex-Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz, economist Milton Friedman, current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and over 500 prominent academics, scientists, and political leaders, in a letter to then-U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan stating: “We believe that the global war on drugs is now causing more harm than drug abuse itself. Every decade the United Nations adopts new international conventions, focused largely on criminalization and punishment, that restrict the ability of individual nations to devise effective solutions to local drug problems. Every year governments enact more punitive and costly drug control measures… Secretary General, we appeal to you to initiate a truly open and honest dialogue regarding the future of global drug control policies – one in which fear, prejudice and punitive prohibitions yield to common sense, science, public health and human rights.” Ten years later, following the pleas of diverse segments of civil society, that “open and honest dialogue” is finally beginning. But without the U.N.’s adoption of the preceding recommendations, common sense, public health and safety, and, above all, human rights will remain hostage to ineffective and counterproductive drug policies. Universal human rights and global safety from drug-related harm are not mutually exclusive. An honest examination by the U.N. of the past 10 years, informed by diverse voices, and, most importantly, by its own voice within its Charter and human rights mandates, can yield an evolved international strategy recognizing human freedom and dignity as the ultimate goals – not enemies – of global drug policy.

[Courtesy of Transnational Institute] TNI Press Release June 26, 2008 Download PDF: http://www.ungassondrugs.org/images/stories/pr260608.pdf UNODC rewrites history in new World Drug Report to hide failure The new UN World Drug Report is an elaborate exercise of obscuring the failure of ten years of international drug control policy, according to the Transnational Institute (TNI). TNI is one of the leading non-governmental research institutes on drugs policy. In spite of claims made in the report released today, the world is not any closer to achieving the 10-year targets set by the 1998 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs. These goals were "eliminating or significantly reducing the illicit cultivation of coca bush, the cannabis plant and the opium poppy by the year 2008." Instead global production of opium and cocaine has significantly increased over the last ten years. According to UNODCs own figures global illicit opium production doubled in the last ten years and cocaine production increased by 20%. "There is overwhelming evidence that the current approach to drug control has failed", says Martin Jelsma, coordinator of the TNI Drugs & Democracy Programme. "Instead of setting unrealistic targets, we need to introduce a more rational, pragmatic and humane approach to the drugs phenomenon." In an attempt to draw attention away from this clear failure, the report reviews 100 years of history, claiming success in comparison with Chinese opium production and use in the early 20th century. "The UNODC is trying to hide failures behind a bad history lesson", says Jelsma. "The report not only tries to rewrite history, it is also out of touch with today's dramatic consequences of drug policies." TNI's research shows that the World Drug Report: - Deliberately overestimates opium abuse in China in the early 20th century. Opium use in China was mostly moderate and relatively non-problematic, often for medicinal use. - Wrongly attributes reductions in global opium production to the international drug control system. - Mentions unintended consequences that have resulted from international drug control policies, but ignores the fact that to improve access to medicines, respect human rights, avoid militarisation and reduce current rates of imprisonment, fundamental changes in the treaty system are necessary. On the positive side, the report concludes that the international control system needs to be refined and made 'fit for purpose,' focusing on crime prevention, harm reduction, and human rights. "The report contains many useful data and ends with meaningful proposals," says Jelsma. "Drug control policies should be based on evidence, fully respect human rights and take a harm reduction approach," says Jelsma. "Otherwise we will see another ten years of failure." TNI also released the Drug Policy Briefing, Rewriting history http://www.ungassondrugs.org/images/stories/brief26.pdf, as a response to the 2008 World Drug Report. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Please contact: Drugs & Democracy Programme (TNI) Tel: +31-20-6626608 | Martin Jelsma at +31-6-55715893 ([email protected]) or Tom Blickman at +31-6-21535809 ([email protected]) See also TNI's website www.ungassondrugs.org. http://www.ungassondrugs.org launched to coincide with the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND)'s meeting in Vienna to review UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs for more background. -- Drugs & Democracy Transnational Institute (TNI) De Wittenstraat 25 | 1052 AK Amsterdam (The Netherlands) Tel +31-20-6626608 | Fax 6757176 [email protected] http://www.tni.org/drugs/

For Immediate Release: June 23, 2008 NGO Delegate Organizations head to landmark UN Meeting on Narcotic Drugs Who: Drug policy reform organizations from across USA Contact: Michael Krawitz at 540-365-2141 or [email protected], or Lennice Werth at 434-645-8816 or [email protected] What: "Beyond 2008" International United Nations NGO Forum, Vienna When: July 6-9th 2008 Where: Vienna International Center, offices of United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime Prevention [UNODC], secretariat of International Narcotics Control Board [INCB] Crewe, Virginia, 23 June 2008 - Virginians Against Drug Violence [VADV] leaders Lennice Werth and Michael Krawitz are heading to Vienna for what is likely to be a historic event, a first ever roundtable of 300 Non Governmental Organizations [NGO’s] with an expertise in drug use, policy and the international drug control treaties [international law] from all walks of life and representing all ideologies. VADV is one of three organizations that has taken a leadership role in enabling 7 of the 26 North American NGO’s participate in the meeting with help in the form of a grant from the Open Society Institute [OSI] to facilitate the NGO leaders travel and accommodations to access the meeting in Vienna, Austria. The 7 NGO’s from USA that will be participating in no small part thanks to OSI are: -- Professor Rodney Skager Representing Safety First, http://www.safety1st.org -- Sanho Tree, Spokesperson - Institute For Policy Studies, http://www.ips-dc.org -- Graham Boyd, Spokesperson - American Civil Liberties Association National Drug Policy Litigation Project, http://www.aclu.org/drugpolicy/index.html -- Deborah Small, Director - Break the Chains, http://www.breakchains.org -- Jack Cole, Director – Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, http://www.leap.cc/ -- Allan Clear Executive Director, Harm Reduction Coalition, http://www.harmreduction.org -- Kris Krane, Executive Director -- Students for Sensible Drug Policy, http://www.schoolsnotprisons.com/ Feel free to use contact info above to arrange an interview with any of these NGO leaders. VADV UNGASS PRESS RELEASE PAGE 2 This meeting is part of a once a decade event as the international Single Convention Treaty on Narcotic Drugs is revisited, amended and reauthorized by signatory nations. As a signatory to this treaty, the United States constitution declares the treaty to be our supreme national law on drugs. As the 26 June - International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking approaches we feel this press release is very timely. The NGO forum that took place on 13 March 2007 during the 50th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs [CND] marked the start of this project undertaken by the Vienna NGO Committee in partnership with UNODC. The project aims at providing a voice to the NGO community in reflecting on its own achievements at the ten-year review of the UN General Assembly Special Session on Illicit Drugs (UNGASS). Eighteen lead NGOs representing six regions--North Africa and the Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean--presented their work on drugs in their respective region. "Civil Society does not speak with one voice but it certainly constitutes one of the most integral partners in improving the health and the well-being of individuals across the globe. There are many points of consensus among us and it is our intention to mine those for the benefit of all," said Michel Perron, Chief Executive of the Canadian Center on Substance Abuse, who is leading this initiative on behalf of the Vienna NGO Committee. The Executive Director of UNODC, Antonio Maria Costa, opened the forum. In his closing remarks to CND delegates, he said: "I was particularly impressed by this year's NGO forum. There was lively debate, in a balanced way that enabled all viewpoints to be expressed. Representations from all five continents made it a truly global event ... We should increase interaction between governmental and non-governmental bodies so that your policies can be implemented on the ground with greater impact.” We would also like to bring to your attention to the following new harm reduction report from the UNODC: "Reducing the adverse health and social consequences of drug abuse: A comprehensive approach" According to Dr. Costa it is “inspired by the international drug control treaties and supported by a growing body of scientific and medical evidence. Moreover, it was prepared in close consultation with the International Narcotics Control Board.” ###

The International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) is a global network of NGOs and professional networks that specialise in issues related to illegal drug production and use. The Consortium aims to promote objective and open debate on the effectiveness, direction and content of drug policies at national and international level, and supports evidence-based policies that are effective in reducing drug-related harm. It disseminates the reports of its member organisations about particular drug-related matters, and offers expert consultancy services to policymakers and officials around the world. IDPC RESPONSE TO THE 2007 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL BOARD The latest INCB Annual Report was published on 4th March 2008. This brief response explains the contents of the report, and comments on the positions taken by the Board on proportionality in drug law enforcement, the scheduling of coca leaf, and harm reduction. http://idpc.info/php-bin/documents/IDPC_Response2INCB_AnnRpt07_EN.pdf

[Courtesy of ENCOD] Here is a link to new videos made by the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union at the CND: http://www.drogriporter.hu/en/node/937.