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A real outrage against our culture
Tom BlickmanMonday, March 10, 2008
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Foreign Affairs minister David Choquehuanca announced that Bolivia is going to ask for a rectification of the 2007 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) that called for the abolition of coca chewing and coca tea. -
Blessing in disguise?
Tom BlickmanSunday, March 9, 2008
Yesterday, President Evo Morales of Bolivia sent a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon rejecting the recommendations of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) to "abolish or prohibit coca leaf chewing and the manufacture of coca tea." Morales qualified the attitude of the INCB as colonial and accused the Board members of lacking the necessary scientific background.
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Our studies will confirm the certainty of our assertions
Tom BlickmanSaturday, March 8, 2008
Recently, TNI put online the Report of the Commission of Enquiry on the Coca Leaf, that was published in 1950 and provided the rationale for the inclusion of the coca leaf in the 1961 Single Convention. The report is difficult to find nowadays.A classic article, "The New Politics of Coca", by Andrew Weil, published in The New Yorker (May l5, 1995) describes how the chairman of the Commission Howard B. Fonda approached the study.
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Hearing at the European Parliament
Friday, March 7, 2008Peter Sarosi of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union reports on the hearing at the European Parliament organized by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE). The event discussed the past 10 years of global drug control policies and aimed “to address all the aspects of the UN Drug Control Strategy and the steps to be taken to ensure that the Member States, the EU and the UN promote a more pragmatic approach on drugs strategies at the national, European and international level.”
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UN needs to chew on its drug policy
Tom BlickmanFriday, March 7, 2008
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In an article in the National Post from Canada, journalist Steve Edwards mocks the wisdom of the INCBs recent recommendation to 'abolish or prohibit coca leaf chewing and the manufacture of coca tea'. -
Peru and Bolivia revolt against the INCB
Tom BlickmanThursday, March 6, 2008
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Cocaleros in Bolivia threathen to occupy the installations of the United Nations in the country as well as those of Coca Cola in El Alto in protest against the decision by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) to "abolish or prohibit coca leaf chewing and the manufacture of coca tea," according to the newspaper La Razón. -
INCB & Coca
A colonial attitude unworthy for a UN agency
Martin JelsmaWednesday, March 5, 2008
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When the INCB Annual Report for 2007 – under embargo until March 5 – started to circulate about a month ago, I was in complete shock after reading the worst ever paragraphs on coca written in UN history for several decades. The position taken by the Board now can be characterized by no more talk about the need to solve 'long-standing ambiguities in the conventions', not a shred of sympathy anymore for traditional customs or rights of indigenous peoples, no trace of cultural sensitivity at all, an all-out attack against coca chewing, drinking of coca tea or any other uses of coca in its natural form in the Andean region and the northern parts of Argentina and Chile. -
An inspirational proposal from Ecuador
An impression of our Quito dialogue
Martin JelsmaMonday, March 3, 2008On 21-23 February we organised our now seventh ‘informal drug policy dialogue’, this time in collaboration with the Ecuadorian government and with WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America). Government officials were present from seven Latin American countries, in total some 45 persons participated in the meeting. Much of the agenda was focussed on the preparations for the upcoming UNGASS review process in Vienna. One of the most inspiring themes was Ecuador's proposal to pardon drug couriers.
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