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T
his year, a global
advocacy campaign is
being launched to raise
awareness of the need for
widespread drug policy
reform.
Support. Don’t Punish
aims to
highlight the harms caused by the
criminalisation and stigmatisation of
people who use drugs, while also
promoting policy alternatives
grounded in public health, social
inclusion and human rights.
The global ‘war on drugs’ is
fuelling HIV and hepatitis epidemics
among people who use drugs, as well
as a wide range of other health,
social and economic harms. People
who inject drugs now account for a
third of all HIV infections outside of
sub-Saharan Africa, and up to 80 per
cent of infections in Eastern Europe
and Central Asia. Repressive drug
laws, policies and practices aim to
stifle drug markets but have failed to
reduce levels of drug use around the
world and have instead created a
policy environment that condones
mass incarceration, torture,
execution, abuse and discrimination.
The campaign will be officially
launched through a prominent ‘day of
action’ on 26 June – the UN’s
‘international day against drug abuse
and illicit trafficking’. The day has
been used by some governments for
public executions of drug offenders
and a celebration of the repressive
approaches that we know are causing
so much harm, but
Support. Don’t
Punish
is our chance to take
ownership of this day and change the
global rhetoric on drug policy –
promoting reform, alternatives and
more humane responses.
Paradoxically, 26 June is also the
UN’s ‘international day in support of
victims of torture’ – a coincidence
that takes on added significance
following a recent report from the UN
special rapporteur on torture, Juan E
Méndez, in which he stated that the
systematic maltreatment of people
who use drugs in health settings,
such as forced detoxification or denial
of services, may cross a threshold
equivalent to torture or punishment.
So we’re asking supporters to
engage in a ‘day of action’ – changing
their profile pictures on Facebook and
Twitter and taking to the streets in
selected cities as part of a high profile
coordinated effort to raise global media
and public awareness of the issues.
www.supportdontpunish.org
contains all
the information you need to participate,
including the campaign statement,
factsheets, briefings, videos, logos and
t-shirt and mask designs.
Please visit the website to register
your support for the campaign
statement, and spread the message
to colleagues and friends. You can
use the Twitter hashtag
#supportdontpunish for news, links or
reports, and an interactive photo
project has been launched for people
to express their support.
The campaign’s bold and
independent branding can be freely
adopted by any organisation or
individual who supports its aims, and
it’s hoped that this will become an
‘umbrella’ under which groups from
around the world can identify.
NGOs, charities, activists,
advocates and networks of people
who use drugs can freely download
all of the campaign materials to use
in their own way to influence
governments, donors, policy makers,
the media and the general public.
Support. Don’t Punish
is part of the
Community Action on Harm Reduction
project (
www.cahrproject.org
), an
ambitious, four-year project which
aims to expand HIV and harm
reduction services to more than
180,000 people who inject drugs in
China, India, Indonesia, Kenya and
Malaysia. The campaign is being led
by the International Drug Policy
Consortium (IDPC) alongside the
International Network of People who
Use Drugs (INPUD), Harm Reduction
International (HRI) and the
International HIV/AIDS Alliance.
Jamie Bridge is senior policy and
operations manager at IDPC
supportdontpunish.org
Left to right:
Eliot Albers, INPUD;
Ann Fordham, IDPC;
Ruth Dreifuss, Global
Commission on Drug Policy;
Michel Kazatchkine, GCDP;
Mara Nakagawa-Harwood,
International AIDS Society;
João Goulão, national drug and
alcohol coordinator, Portugal;
Maria Phelan, HRI
20 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| May 2013
Policy reform |
Harm reduction
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
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It’s time for a new approach to drug policy, writes
Jamie Bridge