“The world needs, and deserves, a control regime that is not corrupt, that has genuine integrity- that is sound, complete and whole- that is democratic, and delivers security, development and health within a human rights framework. I am a realist. I believe it could take another ten years to turn this "Blueprint" into reality. It is a tragedy that in the next decade many thousands more will die using dirty drugs or trying to stop, or fighting over the spoils of, the illegal trade. At the same time we will collectively waste another trillion dollars on the global war on drugs.”

-- César Gaviria, Former President of Colombia.

Contents

1. Transform News

• Transform in Mexico

2. UK News

• Liberal Democrats vote to consider decriminalisation of drugs and legal regulation of cannabis
• ACMD repeat calls for decriminalisation of drug possession

3. International News

• New HRI report on the death penalty for drug offenses
• Thailand reveals plans for a new crackdown on drugs
• Latin America's Drug War: III Latin American Conference and I Mexican Conference on Drug Policy
• New York City Police Commissioner issues an internal order to stop illegal arrests
• Deputy Governor of Delta State, Nigeria, supports legalisation
• Human Rights Watch Report: The Rehab Archipelago - Forced Labour and Other Abuses in Drug Detention Centres in Southern Vietnam
• Gallup Poll: Majority of US support legalisation of Cannabis

4. Events

• The International Drug Policy Reform Conference- 2nd-5th November, 2011
• Cato Institute: Ending the Global War on Drugs- November 15th, 2011
• Cocaine Unwrapped: Screening- 1st November, 2011

5. What You Can Do

• Vodafone World of Difference UK Programme
• Spanish Blueprint
• Count the Costs

1. Transform News

Transform in Mexico

Danny from Transform attended the third Latin American Drug Policy Conference in Mexico City and presented the Spanish translation of the Count the Costs website and the Spanish translation of Blueprint.

During his visit Danny also met with:

• Jorge Hernández Tinajero from CUPIHD - the main drug policy NGO in Mexico.

• Sergio Ferragut, author of A Silent Nightmare - a straight up and down call for legalisation based on the economics.

• The British Ambassador to Mexico Judith Macgregor.

• Alejandro Madrazo – a human rights lawyer and academic from Center for Research and Teaching in Economics (CIDE), one of Mexico’s leading think-tanks, based at University of Mexico.

• Aram Barra from ESPOLEA - a Mexican NGO working in drug policy with young people.

• Pablo Cyberman from Intercambios - an Argentine outfit working on drug policy.

• Donald Macpherson from Vancouver, who is in the process of setting up the Canadian Drug Policy Consortium.

• Jose Queiroz from APDES in Portugal.

Danny said: “Latin America is a hotbed of reform and Mexico is at the coal face. The level of debate in Mexico is far higher than almost anywhere else in the world, because of the crises caused by Calderon’s war on drugs. It was inspiring to find Latin American colleagues who are already making use of Transform materials.”

2. UK News

Liberal Democrats vote to consider decriminalisation of drugs and legal regulation of cannabis

The Lib Dems passed a motion "Protecting Individuals and Communities from Drug Harms", at the recent party conference that calls for an ‘impact assessment’ of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, in order to assess the efficacy of the current policy and law on drugs. Included in this assessment would be a review of the Portuguese model of decriminalising personal possession and refocusing policy towards a less punitive public health approach. Transform had a minor role advising on the wording in the draft motion.

The motion also calls for an assessment of “potential frameworks for a strictly controlled and regulated cannabis market and the potential impacts of such regulation on organised crime, and the health and safety of the public, especially children”.

This motion was broadly supported by the UKDPC in the build-up to the conference. They argued that there was little evidence that decriminalisation would lead to an increase in usage. This point had been previously discussed by Ewan Hoyle, the Founder of Liberal Democrats for Drug Policy Reform, who argued that rather than encouraging drug-taking behaviour, it would, in fact, help educate drug-users of the potential risks.

The conference vote makes this official Lib Dem party policy, but it seems unlikely to become coalition government policy any time soon – the Tories have made very clear statements in opposition to any drug law reform. Whether the Lib Dems will push the policy, either in Government or at the next election also remains to be seen. In the past, the clear thinking they have done on the drugs issue has not translated into political action – for what appear to be political rather than intellectual considerations. None the less, the political climate on this issue is clearly shifting and the Lib Dems may choose to run with drug policy reform to demonstrate their distinctiveness from the other parties, or to re-establish their progressive credentials after a bruising spell in coalition. Regardless, the adoption of such a clear statement by one of the major political parties can only be seen as progress.

Further reading:

• Steve from Transform is quoted in a detailed article from Stopthedrugwar.org.
• Martin from Transform had this opinion piece published on Politics.co.uk
• Detailed text from the conference is available here.
• Watch the excellent conference debate in full.
• Read the new publication from the Open Society Foundations: Drug Policy in Portugal: the benefits of decriminalising drug use .

ACMD repeat calls for decriminalisation of drug possession

The Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has once again called for the decriminalisation of drug possession for personal use of all drugs. This is the second time the UK government’s official drug advisors have proposed this to the Sentencing Council consultation on drug offences, which would see many individuals who are caught with possession, have access to treatment and education rather than be punished for their drug-use.

Read the blog by Steve from Transform for a more detailed opinion on the topic.

3. International News

New HRI report on the death penalty for drug offences

In a follow-up to its landmark survey on the death penalty for drug offences, Harm Reduction International reveals that in many of the 32 nations or territories that have capital drug laws in force, the vast majority of those executed or facing death are from abroad.

There are likely to be more than a thousand people executed every year for a drug offence and in many environments the majority are non-nationals of the executing state.

Read more, including the full report in pdf here

Thailand reveals plans for a new crackdown on drugs

The new Prime Minister of Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra, has announced a new crackdown on illegal drugs. This has come in conjunction with an announcement from the United Nations (UN), who have revealed in a recent report that usage of synthetic illegal drugs such as ecstasy and methamphetamine have overtaken heroin and cocaine. The report exposes how Asia has had a huge increase in both production and use of amphetamines, with a rise from 32 million pills confiscated, to 133 million in the last three years. Many human rights activists are concerned that a repeat of the last “crackdown” eight years ago by former Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, will occur, during which over 2500 extrajudicial police killings took place – it was later established that many had nothing to do with the drug trade, yet none of the perpetrators have ever been tried.

Read the full article.

See also: The new Count the costs human rights briefing.

Latin America’s Drug War: III Latin American Conference and I Mexican Conference on Drug Policy

This month the horrors of Mexico’s drug war have continued unabated as two truck loads of dead bodies were left on a main road in the busy period of rush-hour in the city of Veracruz, as a result of a battle between two drug-gang rivals. Read full article.

The continuous violence and murder throughout parts of South America has lead to many individuals questioning the efficiency of current policies, including Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón himself who has called for ‘market alternatives’ to the drug war three times in the last month. The third Latin American Conference on Drug Policy was held last month in Mexico to debate ways forward. The human costs of the drug war were highlighted and the fact that these costs can no longer be ignored was a running theme alongside discussions of alternative approaches. Danny from Transform attended the event and launched the Spanish version of Blueprint, Count the Costs website and Count the Costs briefings.

The carnage has also influenced citizens to take matters into their own hands and fight for a different approach to drug policy. Javier Sicilia, a Mexican poet who lost his son in drug war violence, is the leader of the Mexican Movement for Peace and Justice and has travelled Mexico with roughly 600 people appealing for an end to the war of drugs. After visiting many areas of the northern areas of Mexico, they are now to travel to the south of Guatemala, who has also seen a growth in killings and kidnappings at the hands of drug cartels known as the Zetas.

Read full article.

New York City Police Commissioner issues an internal order to stop illegal arrests

The New York City Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, has delivered an internal command that prevents officers of the New York City Police Department (NYCPD) from being able to make arrests for the possession of cannabis, if it hasn’t been displayed in public view. Previously many arrests had been made through illegal searches, where the individual was made to uncover the cannabis and bring it out into public view as a request from the police officer. According to the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services, stats reveal that 50,383 people were arrested by the NYCPD for low-level cannabis offenses last year alone, which amounts to 140 people on average per day. Despite the fact that the law requires arrests to be made only if the individual has in fact exposed it in public themselves. Furthermore even though studies have supported the notion that young white people smoke the most cannabis, the most searches have been made within the poorest areas, resulting in 85% of those being arrested black or Latino youths.

Read full article.

Human Rights Watch Report: The Rehab Archipelago- Forced Labour and Other Abuses in Drug Detention Centres in Southern Vietnam

Recently released by Human Rights Watch, this document extensively reports on the experiences of several individuals who have been detained in 14 different detention centres as a result of their drug-dependency. It is revealed that rather than receiving appropriate drug treatment that would help them to combat their drug-use behaviour; they are forced into hard labour and are abused if they refuse to work. The detainees are rarely paid for their labour, and when they are it is extremely below the minimum wage, and confinement can last for up to four years for which 6 days a week of work is expected. For those who try to escape, harsh punishments are enforced, including being beaten with wooden truncheons, shocked with electrical batons and being locked in solitary confinement with limited food and water. Children are not an exception to this and are often subjected to this cruel treatment. All of this is under the authority of the Ho Chi Minh City government and Human Rights Watch has outlined key recommendations that they believe the government should adhere to.

Download the report or a summary as pdf here.

Gallup Poll: Majority of US support legalisation of Cannabis

In a recent poll, Gallup has found for the first time that the majority of Americans are in favour of legalising cannabis. With an increase from last year’s 46% who supported legalisation, this year 50% were in favour and 46% opposed.

Read the blog by Steve from Transform for a more detailed opinion on the topic.

4. Events

The International Drug Policy Reform Conference-2nd - 5th November, 2011.

The Drug policy Alliance is hosting is biannual drug policy reform conference in Los Angeles from 2 nd - 5 th November, bringing together individuals and organisations from around the world to share ideas, and discuss alternatives to the war on drugs. For more information please visit their website.

Cato Institute: Ending the Global War on Drugs- November 15th, 2011.

Cato Institute is holding a conference in Washington D.C. on 15 th November and will host a number of speakers discussing a variety of issues surrounding the consequences of the global war on drugs. It will highlight many topics ranging from the impact it has had on South America and the U.S. border, to the funding of terrorist groups in places such as Afghanistan and Pakistan. For more information please visit their website.

Cocaine Unwrapped: Screening- 1st November, 2011

Directed by Rachel Seifert, a new feature documentary 'Cocaine Unwrapped' is being released for viewing.

Cocaine Unwrapped – Preview Screenings:

1st November screening at Picturehouse at Fact Liverpool at 6pm.
Tickets available here

10th November screening at Stratford East Picturehouse in London at 8:30pm.
Tickets avaialable here

Cocaine Unwrapped – Public Premiere
29th November screening at Curzon Soho in London (tickets for this not on sale yet)

For more information read the blog by Steve from Transform.

5. What You Can Do

Vodafone World of Difference UK Programme

The Vodafone World of Difference UK programme is reopening, which is a scheme that offers 500 individuals payment to work for a UK charity of their choice. This is a great opportunity for someone to work for Transform and get paid for their placement. If the charity is selected by Vodafone, they are offering £2,500 towards the individual’s placement salary.

If you would like to help Transform, then please apply via the World of Difference UK website by navigating to the apply page.

Spanish Blueprint

As highlighted in the last newsletter, our landmark 2009 publication ‘After the War on Drugs; Blueprint for Regulation’ has recently been translated into Spanish.

Count the Costs

Please spread the word about the Count the Costs website.

Additionally please help publicise the following links for details of the current Count the Costs briefings.

The Seven Costs Briefing or download as pdf here.

Development and Security Briefing or download as pdf here.

Human Rights Briefing or download as pdf here.

The count the costs website and all the briefings are also available translated into Spanish.

Please forward the reports pdf link to relevant people or organisations, it is now available to download as a pdf here.