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An Overview of Cannabis Policy
Tom BlickmanFriday, October 31, 2008
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On October 2, 2008, the Beckley Foundation launched in the House of Lords its Global Cannabis Commission Report, an authoritative guide to the effects of cannabis, the policies that control its use, and recommendations for policy reform. A team of leading drug policy analysts prepared an overview of the latest scientific evidence surrounding cannabis and the policies that control its use. -
Beyond 2008 video
Wednesday, 23 July 2008From 7-9 July, 2008, 300 delegates met in Vienna for the Beyond 2008 NGO Forum meant to provide civil society input for the 10-year UNGASS review. The goal was to produce a consensus statement on behalf of the global civil society to the high level governmental meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), to be held in Vienna in March 2009. The Hungarian Civil Liberty Union (HCLU) produced a 10 minute video interviewing the participants.
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Experts on Alternative Development meet in Vienna
Tom KramerWednesday, July 16, 2008
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From 2-4 July I attended the “open-ended intergovernmental expert working group on international cooperation on the eradication of illicit drug crops and on alternative development” in Vienna as part of the Netherlands delegation. It was the third of the five working groups that will be organised, which are part of the UNGASS review process. These working groups are preparations for the high-level segment of the 52nd session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which will take place in March 2009. -
Beyond 2008 – a truly remarkable event
Martin JelsmaSaturday, July 12, 2008
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Earlier this week, 7-9 July, 300 delegates met in Vienna for the Beyond 2008 NGO Forum meant to provide civil society input for the 10-year UNGASS review. It was the culmination of a series of regional NGO consultations that took place over the past six months all across the globe. Given the wide range of views held by NGOs many – including myself – were sceptical about the outcomes of the process. Would it really be possible to agree by consensus on a joint declaration and resolutions? Well, we did it… -
Ten Years
Monday, July 7, 2008
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Today over 300 NGOs from around the world, including TNI, are meeting in Vienna for 'Beyond 2008 - A Global Forum on the 1998-2008 Review of the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Illicit Drugs'. The purpose of the Forum is to develop recommendations to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) as part of the ongoing UN review process on drug policy that will conclude in 2009. For the occasion, TNI published an overview of its work over the past decade. -
World anti-drugs day: mixed feelings
Martin JelsmaThursday, June 26, 2008
Thousands of bottles of alcohol are destroyed in Java to observe the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in 2007.Today, June 26, is the official UN International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. At the TNI Drugs & Democracy programme we have always found it a difficult day to deal with, full of mixed emotions. Too often the day has been desecrated by countries eager to highlight their toughest anti-drug actions. That includes each year a high number of executions in China especially saved up for June 26th. Killing drug law offenders to celebrate a UN day, in spite of the General Assembly adopting last year a resolution opposing the death penalty.
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Humane drug policies
Tom BlickmanFriday, June 13, 2008
Chinese soldiers escort drug dealers to a public sentence on International Day against Drugs in 2005. Six of them were executed.At the UN High Level Meeting on AIDS, a group of civil society organisations collaborated to draft an open letter to senior UN officials to raise concerns about the UN-sponsored International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26th. Many governments use the day to highlight repressive drug control efforts by publicising executions, arrests and drug seizures.
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High Level Meeting on AIDS
Wednesday 11 June 2008The 2008 High Level Meeting on AIDS opened on June 10 at the United Nations headquarters in New York under the theme 'Uniting the World Against AIDS'. Country delegations and civil society representatives from around the world meet to review progress towards the targets agreed in the UN's 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS.
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Refreshing Costa's memory
Tom BlickmanSunday, June 8, 2008
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Today, June 8, it is 10 years ago that the world leaders gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the World Drug Problem. "A drug free world – We can do it!", was the slogan under which they met. Ten years later, Mr. Costa, the current director of the UNODC seems to deny that the UN ever used the phrase. Let us refresh Mr. Costa’s memory. -
War Without End
Tom BlickmanSaturday, June 7, 2008
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An extraordinary documentary marking a new level in broadcast journalism critiquing the international war on drugs was shown on Irish TV last on 3 June 2008. The report is a comprehensive indictment of the global drug war and asks if there is an alternative to this war without end.
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