• Making a mountain out of a molehill: myths on youth and crime in Saint Lucia

    Making a mountain out of a molehill: myths on youth and crime in Saint Lucia
    Marcus Day
    Briefing Series on Drug Markets and Violence, Nr 3
    December 2014

    Caribbean states face challenges of youth involvement in crime, violence, gangs and other anti-social activities. It is not uncommonly heard the “drug problem” is to be blamed for this. This briefing wants to show this relation is far more complex and often misunderstood.

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  • Drugs, armed conflict and peace

    Drugs, armed conflict and peace
    How does the agreement on drugs between the government and the FARC help to put an end to the armed conflict in Colombia?
    Ricardo Vargas
    TNI Drug Policy Briefing Nr. 42
    July 2014

    This policy briefing analyses the results of the partial agreement on drugs reached at the talks being held in Havana between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, FARC, and the Colombian government. The analysis is based on the joint communiqué issued on 16 May 2014, the eve of the first round of the presidential election in Colombia. Following a brief introduction to the drugs issue in the broader framework of the peace talks, the briefing looks at how the subject of illicit crops, drug use and trafficking is dealt with in the agreement. It concludes with an assessment of the progress that the agreement represents in terms of the link between drugs and armed conflict.

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  • Scheduling in the international drug control system

    Scheduling in the international drug control system
    Christopher Hallam Dave Bewley-Taylor Martin Jelsma
    Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 25
    June 2014

    While often viewed as an obscure technical issue, the problem of scheduling lies at the core of the functioning of the international drug control system. Scheduling – the classification of a substance within a graded system of controls and restrictions, or 'schedules' – must take place in order for a substance to be included in the international control framework, and determines the type and intensity of controls to be applied. For this reason, the topic is of central importance.

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  • Bouncing Back

    Bouncing Back
    Relapse in the Golden Triangle
    Martin Jelsma Tom Kramer Tom Blickman Ernestien Jensema
    Transnational Institute (TNI)
    May 2014

    TNI's indepth examination of the illegal drug market in the Golden Triangle, which has witnessed a doubling of opium production, growing prison populations and repression of small-scale farmers. This report details the failure of ASEAN's 'drug free' strategy and the need for a new approach.

    Bouncing Back - complete report (pdf, 4.6MB)
    Chapter Alternative Development (pdf, 1.37MB)
    Chapter Harm Reduction (pdf, 1.59MB)
    Chapter Conflict, Crime and Corruption (pdf, 1.42MB)
    Chapter Conclusions (pdf, 1.07MB)

  • The Rise and Decline of Cannabis Prohibition

    The Rise and Decline of Cannabis Prohibition
    The History of Cannabis in the UN Drug Control System and Options For Reform
    Dave Bewley-Taylor Tom Blickman Martin Jelsma
    Transnational Institute / Global Drug Policy Observatory
    March 2014

    The cannabis plant has been used for spiritual, medicinal and recreational purposes since the early days of civilization. In this report the Transnational Institute and the Global Drug Policy Observatory describe in detail the history of international control and how cannabis was included in the current UN drug control system. Cannabis was condemned by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as a psychoactive drug with “particularly dangerous properties” and hardly any therapeutic value.

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    application-pdfRésumé en français (PDF)
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  • Cocaine: towards a self-regulation model

    Cocaine: towards a self-regulation model
    New developments in Harm Reduction
    Grazia Zuffa
    Series on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 24
    February 2014

    By taking cues from users’ self-regulation strategies, it is possible to design innovative operational models for drug services as well as drug policies, strengthening Harm Reduction as an alternative approach to the disease model. A significant body of research on cocaine users recruited outside captive populations – that is, studies based on samples of users who have not been enrolled through drug addiction services – has been carried out in many European countries and outside Europe. These studies show a variety of patterns and trajectories of use other than “addictive” use.

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    application-pdfScarica il rapporto in italiano (PDF)

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  • Eyes Wide Shut: Corruption and Drug-Related Violence in Rosario

    Eyes Wide Shut: Corruption and Drug-Related Violence in Rosario
    Ross Eventon
    Briefing Series on Drug Markets and Violence, Nr 1
    December 2013

    In Rosario, Argentina, the presence of criminal organisations involved in drug trafficking was a low priority for the government until New Year’s day 2012, when the killing of three innocent civilians by members of a gang sparked press attention.

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  • Infographic: How will Uruguay's regulation of cannabis work?

    Infographic: How will Uruguay's regulation of cannabis work?
    Transnational Institute (TNI)
    Tuesday, December 10, 2013

    On December 10, 2013, the General Assembly of Uruguay approved a law that made the country the first one in the world to fully regulate the cultivation, trade and consumption of cannabis for medical, industrial as well as recreational purposes. This infographic gives a short overview of the main aspects of the new law.

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  • Infographic: Why is Uruguay regulating; not criminalising cannabis?

    Infographic: Why is Uruguay regulating; not criminalising cannabis?
    Transnational Institute (TNI)
    Tuesday, December 10, 2013

    "The approval of regulation under state control in Uruguay marks a tipping point in the failed war against drugs. The trend is becoming irreversible: the era of a globally enforced cannabis prohibition regime is drawing to a close," says Martin Jelsma in a press release welcoming the approval of the law on December 10, 2013. The new law makes Uruguay the first country in the world to fully regulate the cultivation, trade and consumption of cannabis for medical, industrial as well as recreational purposes. This infographic gives a quick summary of the reasons why Uruguay is regulating cannabis.

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  • Drugs as war economy and the peace process in Colombia: dilemmas and challenges

    Drugs as war economy and the peace process in Colombia: dilemmas and challenges
    Ricardo Vargas
    Drug Policy Briefing Nr. 41
    September 2013

    The fourth item on the agenda of talks “to end the conflict,” on the issue of drugs, seems to reflect rather a flat and simplistic view of the classic circuit of drug production, processing, trafficking and use. The relationship between drugs and armed conflict in Colombia is in fact much more complex. This report analyses the challenges that drug trafficking poses to the development of a sustainable peace.

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