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European Parliament in favour of licit use of coca leaf
Tom BlickmanMonday, April 28, 2008
On April 23, 2008, the European Parliament approved a report by MEP Giusto Catania on the Green Paper on the role of civil society in drugs policy in the European Union. The EP, among other things, called "on the Commission and the Member States to explore ways of cooperating with EU civil-society organisations involved in promoting substances derived from coca leaves for lawful use purely as a means of contributing effectively (by absorbing raw materials) to international action against drugs trafficking, ensuring at the same time the safe use of such substances."
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The Life of a Human Rights Resolution
Tom BlickmanTuesday, April 22, 2008
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At the March 2008 Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), Uruguay tabled a resolution 'Ensuring the proper integration of the United Nations human rights system with international drug control policy'. In a previous blog we already described how this resolution was stripped of its content. The HR2 blog – IHRA's Harm Reduction and Human Rights Monitoring and Policy Analysis Programme – documented the process of its dismantling. -
Coca Leaf: The Heritage of the Andes
Tom BlickmanThursday, April 10, 2008The
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Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) released a new short film in their excellent series on the proceedings of the 2008 Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND). In "Coca Leaf: The Heritage of the Andes" Felipe Cáceres, the Vice Minister of Social Defence of Bolivia is interviewed. He explains the traditional use of the coca leaf and rejects the controversial statements of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) in its 2007 annual report calling on the Bolivian and Peruvian governments to eliminate the use of coca leaf contrary to the 1961 Single Convention and to abolish coca chewing and coca tea.
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Missing document found
Tom BlickmanTuesday, April 1, 2008
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Our worries about a possible censorship of Mr. Costa's Conference Room Paper "Making drug control 'fit for purpose': Building on the UNGASS decade" are unfounded. It is now available at the UNODC website. -
Decriminalization of cannabis
Tom BlickmanFriday, March 28, 2008
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An interesting essay discussing the case for decriminalization of cannabis use appeared in the March 2008 issue of Current Opinion in Psychiatry. The Dutch psychiatrist Wim van den Brink of the Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research carefully weighs the currently available evidence regarding advantages and risks of such a policy change. -
Missing document
Tom BlickmanWednesday, March 26, 2008
READ MORE...As we noted previously, Mr. Costa opening speech included some remarkably positive - and in the context of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs - sometimes daring statements. His remarks were further elaborated in a so-called Conference Room Paper (CRP) that was distributed at the CND. However, that paper is nowhere to be found on the UNODC website. But you can find it on the Transform blogspot. -
Commenting Mr. Costa's opening remarks
Tom BlickmanFriday, March 21, 2008
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The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) made some interesting video news items on the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. In this one leading civils society spokespersons comment Mr. Costa, the UNODC Executive Director, opening speech. Costa's opening speech was somewhat surprising in that he coincided on some points that have been raised by civil society groups over the past years. He stressed that too many people in prison, and too few in health services; that there are too few resources for prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation; and that there is too much eradication of drug crops, and not enough eradication of poverty. -
Not so silent partners
Tom BlickmanMonday, March 17, 2008
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In his speech to the NGO forum at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) on Wednesday 12 March, Mr. Antonio Maria Costa, the Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), emphasized that he doesn’t need NGOs as "silent partners" and called for challenging his views. However, when someone did challenge him he refused to answer the question. -
Human rights and drug control
Tom BlickmanMonday, March 10, 2008One of the most debated issues at the 2008 Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) was a resolution entitled “Proper integration of the United Nations human rights system with international drug control policy”. It was introduced by Uruguay with the co-sponsorship of Bolivia, Argentina and Switzerland. The first resolution of its kind at CND, it recognised the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (an event being celebrated throughout the UN system during 2008) and affirmed "that international drug control activities must be conducted in conformity with international human rights law".
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Long life to coca leaf!
Tom BlickmanThursday, March 13, 2008
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With a “Causachun coca! (quechua), viva la coca. Long life to coca leaf!” the vice -minister of Foreign Affairs of Bolivia ended his intervention on Monday at the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND). Vice-minister Hugo Fernandez protested against the request of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) to eliminate the traditional use of coca, such as coca chewing and coca tea. At the same time a vigil to defend the coca leaf took place in La Paz.
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