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24th October 2008
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US National Harm Reduction Conference Aims for a National Policy
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The 7th National Harm Reduction Conference in the USA is scheduled to take place from November 13th to 16th 2008 at the Hilton Hotel in Miami, Florida. The conference is organised by the Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC) – a leading national advocacy and capacity-building organisation – and the theme this year is ‘Towards a National Policy’. To promote the conference, Allan Clear (the Executive Director of HRC) has written an open letter to the harm reduction field:
‘Dear Friends,
Every two years at this time I write an inspirational letter of greeting for this conference announcement. This year the letter writes itself. The Seventh National Harm Reduction Conference is taking place within 9 days of the national elections. There is reason for optimism. With some mobilisation, the purveyors of eight long years of lies, corruption, hypocrisy, destruction, nepotism, greed, callousness, con-passion, and debt creation will be shuttled off into a deep, dark, disused uranium mine. We will have an end to the worst presidency in our history. The characters that have lurked, like Harry Potter's death-eating foes, in the White House will be no more (although we all know that people like Cheney exhibit a Voldemort-like quality of never quite going away).
A Democrat in the White House will not guarantee that a change is going to come in any significant fashion. But taking a harm reduction approach of "meeting politicians where they are" and embracing any positive change, what can we reasonably expect? An end to the morale-crushing, exodus-inducing politicisation of institutions such as the CDC, NIDA and SAMSHA should be on the score sheet. An open dialogue with the scientific community about harm reduction-based interventions, such as naloxone and syringe exchange, could be held without the strait-jacket of censorship. Local authorities would actually be encouraged to start and expand syringe exchange. A new administration might work with Congress to increase funding for viral hepatitis, eliminate racialised sentencing disparities for crack cocaine, direct SAMSHA to launch a national overdose prevention strategy, and formulate goals to make drug treatment on demand – including buprenorphine for those at the margins of the health care system – a reality. Global AIDS funding through PEPFAR would be expanded for countries with injection-related HIV epidemics and restrictions on abortion providers, abstinence requirements in HIV prevention, and anti-prostitution "pledges" would be eliminated. Communities and health officials could pursue establishing safe injection spaces and heroin prescription without having to look quite as rigorously over their shoulders for the goon squad to come beating down the doors. And the federal ban on the funding of syringe exchange will ultimately become a footnote in the history of failed governance. Maybe by the year 2013, the feds will actually provide some money for syringe access. We've done the groundwork and the evidence exists to support our efforts, but we will not have an easy path, no matter who is in Congress or the White House.
The Seventh National Harm Reduction Conference will have an eye firmly on the national scene. There is no reason why compassion, science and common sense cannot prevail, nor any reason why the United States could not adopt a harm reduction framework to address drug and alcohol problems. Join us in Miami and be part of the direction, planning and brainstorming.
See you there.
Allan Clear’
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23rd October 2008
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Abstract Deadline Approaching for Harm Reduction 2009
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The deadline for abstract submission for Harm Reduction 2009: IHRA’s 20th International Conference is on Monday November 10th 2008, and harm reduction practitioners, researchers, advocates and policy makers from around the world are invited to make submissions using the online system and share their experiences at this unique, international event. The conference itself is scheduled to take place in Bangkok, Thailand from the 19th to the 23rd April 2009 and is expected to attract around 1,200 delegates from 90 different countries.
Each year, the conference programme relies on high quality submissions from the harm reduction field. The conference organisers are particularly interested in receiving abstracts from Thailand and South-East Asia as we look to strengthen and promote harm reduction in the region. In order to submit an abstract, you must first register for the conference by visiting www.ihraconferences.net. Once you have created a new user account, simply click on “your submissions” and follow the instructions. Abstracts must be submitted in English and be no longer than 300 words.
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23rd October 2008
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Applications Invited for the 2009 Paolo Pertica Fellowship
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The Paolo Pertica Fellowship was established in 2004 to encourage innovative harm reduction work and research in prison and other custodial settings. For the first time, this annual Fellowship will be linked to the annual IHRA international conferences and awarded at Harm Reduction 2009: IHRA’s 20th International Conference. The Fellowship is for one year and is up to the value of up to €10,000 for an individual to undertake an innovative harm reduction project.
The Paolo Pertica Fellowship was established in 2004 by the European Network of Drugs and Infections Prevention in Prisons (ENDIPP) to mark the ten-year anniversary of the Network. The Network itself stemmed from Paolo Pertica’s work with prisoners from a wide range of different nationalities incarcerated in London prisons. The Fellowship was created to acknowledge his contribution to the development of work with drug using prisoners in the UK and within European criminal justice systems.
The Fellowship will enable the recipient to develop and report on a small but innovative harm reduction action-research or demonstration project based in prison or other custodial settings. For example, this project could involve:
• Introducing and/or running harm reduction services
• Undertaking research on harm reduction needs
• Education and training on harm reduction
• Advocating and campaigning for the introduction of harm reduction
• Advocating for prisoner’s rights to health – especially connected with drug use
• Developing a funding proposal for a larger harm reduction project
The project has to clearly demonstrate how it will contribute to improving the conditions of those individuals in custody who either have drug use or HIV related need. The recipient will be asked to submit a 3,000 word report (in English) on their work, and this may then be made available on the IHRA website and elsewhere. The project should be completed between the provision of the award at Harm Reduction 2009, and presentation of the report at Harm Reduction 2010.
The value of the Fellowship is €7,500 to cover any incurred project costs (excluding course, education, conference or training fees). Payment will be made in two equal parts (one on project commencement and one on receipt of a satisfactory final report). Up to €1,500 of this money may be taken by the recipient as a personal honorarium. In addition to this, a further €2,500 will be provided to cover actual costs incurred by the recipient in attending the IHRA conferences.
Applications are accepted from individuals or organisations in any country, and must be submitted to the IHRA Secretariat before January 28th 2009. Applicants must demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to harm reduction principles and practices.
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23rd October 2008
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Nominations Invited for 2009 IHRA Awards
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Nominations are now being invited for the 2009 International Rolleston Award and the 2009 Carol and Travis Jenkins Award – both of which will be presented during the closing ceremony of Harm Reduction 2009: IHRA’s 20th International Conference. Each year, IHRA presents these awards to leading individuals or organisations in the field of harm reduction.
The IHRA awards are presented each year to individuals or organisations that have made outstanding contributions to reducing harm from psychoactive substances. These contributions may include work on:
• harm reduction programming
• harm reduction practice
• harm reduction policy
• harm reduction teaching and training
• science, research or critical thinking relevant to harm reduction
• advocacy for harm reduction
• providing funding or resources for harm reduction
The International Rolleston Award is given to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to harm reduction at the international level. The award was inaugurated at the 1992 conference in Melbourne and is named after Sir Humphrey Rolleston – President of the Royal College of Physicians who chaired the UK Departmental Committee on Morphine and Heroin Addiction that, in 1926, determined that it was legitimate medial practice to prescribe heroin or morphine to people dependent on those drugs. This decision epitomises a benign, pragmatic and humane approach to drug problems, and was a landmark event in the history of harm reduction.
For 2009, nominations are welcome from all around the world. The winner will be chosen by the members of the IHRA Board of Directors.
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The Carol and Travis Jenkins Award is presented each year to a current or former drug user who has made an outstanding contribution to reducing drug-related harm. The award was initially named after Travis Jenkins, the extraordinary jazz musician and composer who died of cancer in 2004. For 2009, however, the award has been renamed in memory of Carol Jenkins, the medical anthropologist who worked for many years with the Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research as was one of the leading instigators to setting up the National Aids Council.
For 2009, nominations are welcome from around the world. The winner will be chosen by a committee chaired by the IHRA Honorary President, Pat O’Hare, and will receive a cheque for $500 courtesy of a donation from the family and friends of Carol and Travis Jenkins.
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The deadline for all nominations is 28th January 2009. Nominations must be made using the official forms and must be sent to the IHRA secretariat. Neither the nominators nor the nominees need to be IHRA members.
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13th October 2008
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International Journal of Drug Policy Focuses on Pleasure and Drug Use
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The October 2008 issue of the International Journal of Drug Policy (IJDP) – Volume 19, Issue 5 (Pages 349-424) – is guest edited by Martin Holt and Carla Treloar and considers the neglect of discourses of pleasure in drug policy and practice. The issue explores how a greater focus on pleasure and drug use might invigorate harm reduction approaches, and opens with a commentary from David Moore which revisits the historical and contemporary contexts that may have contributed to the absence of pleasure from the drugs field.
The issue also contains a number of original research papers. Isabelle Szmigin and colleagues examine young people’s perceptions of their drinking behaviour and the concepts of ‘binge drinking’ and ‘calculated hedonism’. Robyn Dwyer presents an ethnographic study of temazepam gel capsule injecting to highlight how health is sacrificed for pleasure. Sarah MacLean uses narrative analysis to explore pleasure as a motive for inhalant use among marginalised young people. Cameron Duff examines youth drug users’ accounts of pleasure and how the contextual elements of space, embodiment and practice offer harm reduction opportunities. Camille Jacinto and colleagues explore the relationships between ecstasy buyers and ecstasy sellers, and how they aim to maximise the highs and minimise the risks. The authors suggest that sellers have an important role to play in the dissemination of harm reduction information. Helen Keane’s critical essay explores ‘Pleasure and Discipline in the Uses of Ritalin’ and the ambivalent identity of Ritalin as both a benign medicine and a dangerous drug. Kylie Valentine and Suzanne Fraser examine narratives of trauma, damage and pleasure in relation to drug effects and the social worlds of methadone maintenance treatment.
Finally, Kane Race reviews Foucault's ‘History of Sexuality’ to elaborate the importance for harm reduction of a distinction between therapeutic and social-pragmatic approaches to pleasure.
The International Journal of Drug Policy (IJDP) is the official journal of the IHRA and provides a forum for the dissemination of current research, reviews, debate, and critical analysis on drug use and drug policy in a global context. A free, annual subscription to the International Journal of Drug Policy is available for all 'Premium' and 'Institutional' IHRA members.
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10th October 2008
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Sign Up Your City for the 2009 Worldwide Marijuana March
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For over three decades, the Worldwide Marijuana March has provided an international platform to lobby for rational marijuana policies. The 2009 March is scheduled for either May 2nd or May 9th (the extra date is in case of adverse weather), and the organisers are striving to have 300 cities around the world taking part in this truly global advocacy campaign.
The first Marijuana Marches took place in the early 1970s in order to boost support for the legalisation of marijuana. However, by the 1980s, the focus had changed to the adoption of the ‘Dutch model’ of market separation of ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ drugs. In the years that have followed, other issues – such as medical marijuana, syringe exchange, melatonin and ibogaine – have been added to the advocacy efforts as well.
In 1997, the Marijuana March overcame attempts to ban it, and – alongside participants of the Independent Cannabis March in London 1998 – it became an international event in 1999, with 36 cities. In 2000, 2001 and 2002, hundreds of protestors were arrested in the USA, yet the number of cities involved around the world has continued to grow to 240.
For 2009, the target is 300 cities worldwide and there are currently activities planned in over 190 cities. On May 2nd (or May 9th) there is no specific format for events, with different cities choosing a range of different approaches – such as rallies, forums, vigils, raves or benefit parties. All that the coordinators ask is that you let them know what is being planned, so that they can add it to the growing list of events and locations. Please contact Dana Beal with your name, email address, contact number, website (if applicable), postal address (so that you can be sent free materials and posters), and the details (time, place and format) of your event.
For more information about the Worldwide Marijuana March – including contacts for the 190 cities that are planning events in 2009 – please visit www.worldwidemarijuanamarch.org.
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10th October 2008
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Update from the Sub-Saharan Africa Harm Reduction Network (SAHRN)
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The Sub-Saharan Africa Harm Reduction Network (SAHRN) was formed in October 2007 in Nairobi, Kenya at a meeting organised by IHRA. Throughout 2008, the Network has been focusing on its structure and priorities – including capacity development in the region, networking with key African stakeholders and other harm reduction networks, establishing a secretariat in Mauritius, advocating for public health and human rights-led policies and fundraising for specific projects.
The SAHRN Steering Committee held a meeting during Harm Reduction 2008: IHRA’s 19th International Conference. At that meeting, Fayzal Sulliman from Mauritius was nominated as Chair and Lanre Onigbogi from Nigeria was nominated as Vice Chair. Charles Parry from South Africa was made responsible for communications, and Benjamin Vel from the Seychelles and Rogers Kasiyre from Uganda were nominated as Project Coordinators.
The Network has recently released the first ‘SAHRN Update’ newsletter to promote harm reduction across the region and to facilitate and raise awareness of SAHRN’s work. This newsletter contains a report from Harm Reduction 2008, features on Mauritius and Southern Africa, and information about IHRA.
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9th October 2008
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IHRA to Deliver Seminar on Human Rights and the War on Drugs
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Rick Lines and Damon Barrett from IHRA's HR2 (Harm Reduction and Human Rights) programme have been invited by the Irish Centre for Human Rights (at the National University of Ireland in Galway) to present a lunchtime seminar entitled 'Human Rights and the War on Drugs'. The seminar will take place at 1pm on Monday October 13th 2008, and forms part of IHRA’s on-going work to develop links between human rights organisations and our harm reduction partners and advocacy.
The Irish Centre for Human Rights is one of the world’s premier university-based institutions for the study and promotion of human rights and humanitarian law. Since its establishment in January 2000, the Centre has developed a global reputation for excellence in the field of human rights teaching, research and advocacy. The Centre is also a Supporting Organisation for Harm Reduction 2009: IHRA's 20th International Conference in Thailand – the theme of which is 'Harm Reduction and Human Rights'.
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7th October 2008
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IHRA Make Submission to the UN Committee Against Torture
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IHRA – alongside Human Rights Watch and Asia Catalyst – have written a joint submission to the UN Committee Against Torture to raise concerns about possible cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of people who use drugs in forced detoxification and re-education through labour centres. The submission highlights the issues of arbitrary and administrative detention in these settings – including abusive drug treatment practices and the denial of HIV prevention, treatment and care to people who use drugs.
The submission was prepared ahead of the Committee’s meeting with China in November to discuss the country’s fourth periodic report on its implementation of the ‘UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment’ (CAT) – which China ratified in October 1988. It is based on in-depth interviews by Human Rights Watch during research missions in 2007 in the Guangxi Province and in 2002 and 2003 in the Yunnan Province.
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