World Drug Problem Research Articles

Turning a Page in Drug Control and Public Health: Advancing HCV/HIV Prevention through Reform of Drug Law and Policy

ABSTRACT A major UN summit on the world drug problem in 2016 is an opportunity to rethink punitive drug policies that have not succeeded in stemming drug demand or supply and have undermined HIV and HCV responses in many countries. Experiences of some countries demonstrate that treating drug use and minor drug possession in the health rather than the law enforcement sector can dramatically improve access to HIV and HCV services. Alternatives to incarceration for minor drug infractions are particularly important in this regard. The voices of health professionals in national and international debates leading up to this important summit are crucial to making the case for public health-based and human rights-oriented drug policy reform.

UNGASS 2016 on drugs, the first challenge for HIV advocates in the post-2015 era.

Two important global policy processes are underway that will shape the future of the HIV response for people who inject drugs (PWID). The first is the debate around the post-2015 development agenda that is currently in play at United Nations in New York, where member states, HIV advocates, communities, scientists, policymakers, healthcare providers and donors are discussing a specific target towards ending the AIDS epidemic. The current MDG target, to reduce new HIV infections among PWID by 50% by 2015 [ 1 ], has sadly not been achieved. A new target should be included that focuses on the decline of HIV incidence, the reduction of stigma against key-affected populations, improved access to antiretroviral treatment and the end of AIDS-related deaths. The second process, for which momentum is building among drug policy advocates, networks of people who use drugs (PWUD), policymakers, scientists, academics and UN agencies, is the preparation for the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the “World Drug Problem” to be held in 2016 [ 2 ]. These two processes, almost happening in parallel, are complementary. The post-2015 development goal on health will determine the global HIV response architecture for the coming decades, while the UNGASS on drugs will define the global policy environment in which the HIV response for PWID will operate. Both processes require vigilant and sustained advocacy from civil society and community organizations working in the field of HIV and drug use. (Published: 21 July 2014) Citation: Fordham A and Tinasti K. Journal of the International AIDS Society 2014, 17:19274 http://www.jiasociety.org/index.php/jias/article/view/19274 | http://dx.doi.org/10.7448/IAS.17.1.19274

No cure in sight for the world's drug problem

If you are a woman with ERBB2-positive advanced breast cancer that has failed to respond to therapy, lapatinib treatment could give you the chance to control your disease. Unless, that is, you are a patient of the UK National Health Service (NHS). Because on March 4, 2009, the UK National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) ruled that the NHS should not prescribe lapatinib treatment as it is “not a cost-effective use of NHS resources”.

Challenges in the control of synthetic drugs of abuse

Synthetic psychoactive substances continue to be the bane of drug regulators worldwide. Even in the 1960s, before the pyschopharmacologist Alexander Shulgin experimented with and published synthetic routes for hundreds of psychoactive substances (in what is perhaps the opening of Pandora’s box in terms of synthetic drugs of abuse), the world has had to contend with the problems of modern times such as the abuse of ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA). At the twentieth special session of the UN General Assembly (UNGASS) on countering the world drug problem, Member States adopted a Political Declaration that called for, inter alia, the elimination or significant reduction of illicit manufacture, marketing and trafficking of psychotropic substances, synthetic drugs and precursors by 2008. Ten years is a significant milestone to reflect on what has been, and continues to be one of the most challenging aspects of drug control in the modern era.

Countering Money Laundering: The Global Challenge after the World Drug Summit

The Special Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations Devoted to Countering the World Drug Problem Together (commonly referred to as the World Drug Summit) was held in New York on 8th‐10th June, 1998. Many presidents, prime ministers and heads of state attended the sessions. Several meetings of representatives of non‐governmental organisations and activists dealing with special subjects preceded, or were held simultaneously with; the sessions. The World Drug Summit adopted a political declaration; a declaration on the guiding principles of drug demand reduction; and measures in relation to five specific areas to enhance international cooperation to counter the world drug problem.