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The Dutch 2012 election result and the coffeeshops
The future of the Dutch coffeeshops is in the hands of the liberal-conservative party
Tom BlickmanFriday, September 14, 2012
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The 2012 Dutch elections were hailed as decisive for the future of the coffeeshops, where the sale of small amounts of cannabis is tolerated. The result is inconclusive. The parties in favour of restricting the coffeeshops or outright abolishing them got 77 of the 150 seats, while those against the recently introduced 'cannabis pass' and/or in favour of regulating the supply of cannabis to the coffeeshops got 73. However, the issue is not that straightforward given that in the Netherlands no single party has an absolute majority and a coalition government has to be formed. -
Far but near: Marijuana reform in Mexico?
The quest for a new “Mexican approach” to marihuana regulation
Jorge Hernández TinajeroMonday, August 20, 2012
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The world-wide debate over cannabis reform appears to be gaining uncommon speed and unexpectedly it is in Latin America that the winds of change have greatest force. So where is Mexico in this panorama? There are currently eight Bills on the question of marihuana gathering dust in the annals of various parliamentary commissions.
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Crises and radical thinking on drug policy
Reform has always been a “two-steps forward, one-step back” undertaking
Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, director of Open Society Foundations Global Drug Policy ProgramThursday, August 16, 2012
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It’s sad that drug policy reform must always be wrapped tragedy but alas – in the context of drugs – crisis has historically been the mother of invention. It was in the face of thousands of overdoses and the highest HIV prevalence in Western Europe that Switzerland introduced effective heroin-prescription programmes, safe injection facilities, needle and syringe-exchange programmes and low-threshold methadone services. -
Between collective organisation and commercialisation
The Cannabis Social Clubs at the cross-roads
Martín Barriuso AlonsoThursday, August 9, 2012
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The last few years have witnessed a boom in new cannabis user associations in Spain. Although there are no reliable figures for them, most are known to have been created for the collective cultivation of marihuana crops, and are now several hundred-strong. They are mainly found in Catalonia, which is also home to the largest of them: some have existed for only a short time but already have several thousand members. -
AIDS 2012 – Time for courage if we are going to turn the tide
The criminalisation of sex work and drug use fuels the HIV epidemic
Ann Fordham, Executive Director of IDPCWednesday, August 1, 2012
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As a participant at last week’s 19th International HIV/AIDS Conference, I was reminded of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s and UNDP Administrator Helen Clark’s call to arms earlier in July that there is a new prescription for the AIDS response: ‘courage is needed’. -
Cannabis regulation in Uruguay: "Someone has to be first ..."
A sophisticated debate on how to manage drug-related problems is underway in Latin America. Will the UN drug control system stay stuck in denial?
John Walsh Martin JelsmaTuesday, July 17, 2012
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Uruguay may be poised to become the first country to opt for a state controlled and legally regulated cannabis market for medical as well as recreational purposes, including cultivation and distribution. Announced on June 20, Uruguay’s brave proposal might indeed become the historical breakthrough in the drug policy stalemate that many around the world have been waiting and hoping for. As Uruguayan President José Mujica aptly put it, “someone has to be first.” -
Czech Republic exemplifies smart and humane drug policy
Joanne Csete (OSI Global Drug Policy Program)Tuesday, July 3, 2012
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There is nothing politically easier in most countries than scapegoating drugs and drug users as the source of all social problems. Politicians can expect a boost in their popularity when they support repressive measures against drugs and are dismissive of public services for people who use illicit drugs. -
Cannabis reaches parliament
The debate on regulating Cannabis Social Clubs in the Basque country
Martín Barriuso AlonsoTuesday, June 26, 2012
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On 19 June, 2012, the Ganjazz Art Club in Donostia, one of the oldest Cannabis Social Clubs in Spain, received a visit that was unimaginable a few years earlier: a group of members of the autonomous regional Basque parliament on official business. Its goal was to find out how one of these cannabis users’ associations, that have proliferated over the past few years, operates. -
International 'anti-drug' summit in Peru attempts to maintain drug war status quo: Will it succeed?
Coletta Youngers John WalshSaturday, June 23, 2012
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The global debate on drug policy is getting more interesting, due in no small part to initiatives from Latin America. The Uruguayan government’s June 20 announcement that it will propose legislation to create a legal, regulated market for marijuana is just the latest development to challenge business as usual in the “war on drugs.” The question of alternatives to the drug war took center stage at the Summit of the Americas in Colombia in April, which culminated in an announcement by President Santos tasking the Organization of American States (OAS) with evaluating present policies and laying out other possible options. -
Uruguayan government announces unprecedented plan for legal, regulated arijuana markets
Coletta YoungersSaturday, June 23, 2012
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In the latest challenge from Latin America to drug war orthodoxy, on June 20, 2012, the Uruguayan government unveiled a proposal that, if adopted by the country’s legislature, would create legal, government-controlled markets for marijuana, as part of a broader strategy to improve citizen security and focus greater attention on the use of harder drugs. The market would be highly regulated, with strict age limits and prohibitions on public use.
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