Harm Reduction International Blog
Open Society Foundations: Drug Decriminalization in the UK: Is There a Disconnect Between Politicians and the Public?
02 February 2012
Open Society Foundations : It has taken far too long for the topic of drug decriminalization to be the subject of prime-time television debate. What was strikingly apparent from the discussions on Thursday night’s BBC Question Time in Plymouth, South West England, was the contrasting views of the studio audience and the guest panel, formed of… Read more
Stephen Lewis: Why Are World Leaders Turning Their Backs on Africa?
01 February 2012
Open Society Foundations : The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is the most important and effective financial facility addressing AIDS. It has saved and prolonged millions of lives. Yet at this precise moment when the global community should be doing all it can to support the Fund, it is under the most serious assault it has… Read more
New Appeal for Teen Drug Offender in Death Penalty Case
27 January 2012
The Online Citizen -- A Criminal Motion has been filed in the Court of Appeal today on behalf of Yong Vui Kong. The motion challenges the constitutionality of the prosecution’s decision to charge Vui Kong with a crime that attracts the mandatory death penalty while withdrawing previous charges made against Vui Kong’s ‘boss’, Chia Choon Leng.… Read more
Needle Exchanges Reduce Danger to Public
18 January 2012
Miami Herald - As he worked on his thesis in public health two years ago, University of Miami master’s degree candidate Hansel Tookes spent hundreds of hours with fellow students prowling Miami-Dade’s most notorious sites for illegal drug use. They were counting needles. At an abandoned condo site in downtown Miami, through a construction… Read more
Sniffer dogs and random tests in the classrooms are NOT the way to protect schoolchildren from drugs (HRI in the Daily Mail, UK)
12 January 2012
The policy, and that of sniffer dogs, relies on the premise that a fear of detection and punishment will deter teenagers from using drugs, or encourage them to stop using. It thus assumes that young people rationally weigh-up the costs versus the benefits of their actions in isolation. However, they don’t. There are many other, more complex,… Read more
Drug use and the child's right to health - submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
05 January 2012
HRI, Youth RISE and EHRN submission on drugs and the right to health to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child Read more
'Harm reduction and human rights' Interights Bulletin 2011
03 January 2012
'Harm reduction and human rights' is a new article by HRI's Damon Barrett and Patrick Gallahue in the latest volume of the Interights Bulletin, an edition focusing on human rights abuses in healthcare. Read more
Head of UNODC announces senior advisory group on human rights
12 December 2011
In a speech delivered today to both the UN’s Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the Crime Commission, Yury Fedotov, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime announced the creation of a new senior advisory team on human rights within UNODC. Read more
'Operation Audacious' Shows We Need to Count the Costs of Drug Law Enforcement. Damon Barrett, Huffington Post UK
07 December 2011
Yesterday, hundreds of police officers carried out dawn drugs raids, serving one hundred warrants in three districts in Manchester, and addresses in Bolton, Stockport and Salford. 'Operation Audacious' was a success, according to the Greater Manchester Police and others. A success in that arrests have been made, public calls for action on street… Read more
Guardian Comment is Free: Why is the west funding Iran's deadly war on drugs?
06 December 2011
Guardian Comment is Free : Representatives of more that 50 countries will meet in Vienna shortly to determine the level of international support that Iran receives for its continuing war on drugs. This comes amid concern about the increasing number of executions for drug-related offences in Iran. Six more people were recently hanged in the city… Read more
