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Transform Drug Policy Foundation
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Transform Drug Policy Foundation seeks to minimise drug-related harms to individuals and communities by bringing about a just and effective system to control and regulate drugs.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'war on drugs'
Calls for reform grow
This month we have seen a plethora or articles in UK newspapers calling for an end to prohibition. There have been so many we thought we’d bring you the best of them in one blog. The articles are written by a variety of people including a for...
The Phoney Argument For a New Drug War
This detailed critique of the Centre for Policy Studies report 'The Phoney War on Drugs' was prepared by Axel Klein, Lecturer in the Study of Addictive Behaviour, Centre for Health Service Studies, University of Kent.For politicians, wavering betw...
Clutching at Straws - SOCA Claims it is Winning the War on Cocaine
In a report released today the Serious Organised Crime Agency, (SOCA) claims that it has increased the wholesale price of cocaine and that street purity has fallen.As the evidence has shown over the long term, illegal drugs have become increasingly c...
Former Latin American Presidents call for a ‘paradigm shift’
The Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, convened by former presidents Fernando Cardoso of Brazil, Cesar Gaviria of Colombia and Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico in order to evaluate the impacts of the 'war on drugs', has released a statement t...
FRANK confuses cocaine harms with prohibition harms
As reported by Alan Travis in the Guardian:"A £1m TV and online anti-cocaine advertising campaign featuring "Pablo the drug mule dog" is to be launched by the government today.The campaign advertisements, voiced by comedian David Mitchell, are targe...
Thailand's latest crackdown raises concerns over human rights violations
The Thai government announced last week that they are launching a new crackdown on drugs . According to the Bangkok Post; ‘Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat has ordered a new crackdown on drug peddlers…. This has raised concerns, particularly on...
Drug war remebrance
Remembrance Sunday, a tradition that seemed to be waning in its national importance, has assumed a new meaning and relevance for the younger generations with the event of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. The day is still marked by the wearing of...
Images from the Afghan drug war
There is a powerful set of images by the brilliant photographer Aaron Huey taken the front line of the war on drugs; Afghanistan. It not only shows the the futile eradication efforts and the very real conflict the drug war involves - with victims on ...
Transit countries count the costs of the war on drugs
Everyday there are gruesome stories coming out of Mexico about the bloody costs of being a transit country for drugs from Colombia to the US.Drug cartel bloodbath on Mexican border claims 50 livesThe bodies pile up, corruption increases and the gover...
Former US Drugs Cop Highlights the Racial Impact of the Drugs War
Jack Cole, Executive Director of LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) and a former US police officer (who recently visited the UK and appeared on the Today program) has spoken out about the link between the war on drugs and race.In an article ...
Former Police Chief of Seattle critiques the War on Drugs
From Reason TVNorm Stamper is a cop who saw it all during his 34 years on active duty. As police of Seattle from 1994 through 2000, he was in charge during violent World Trade Organization protests in the Emerald City. Stamper, who holds a Ph.D. in l...
Transform transformed - our new strategy and structure
Transform’s Board has recently carried out a comprehensive review of the organisation and the challenges we face over the next few years. It has become clear that attaining a rational drug policy cannot be achieved by an exclusive focus on the Ho...
The War on Drugs - A Dangerous Fiction
The war on drugs is a non sequitur - and is equally harmful to both producers and consumers, says Misha Glenny in Yesterday's Guardian.An excellent piece by the author of McMafia. In the article he says:"The time has come to shout from every rooftop ...
Rolling Stone: Obama on ending the drug war
An interview with Barack Obama is the centre piece of this month's Rolling Stone magazine. Unsuprisingly, given the the magazine's youth culture niche and long history as vocal critics drug war (see brilliant feature articles here, here and here), t...
War on drugs began 14 centuries ago
An extraordinary piece from the Gulf Times today 'War on drugs began 14 Centuries ago', shows just how deep the roots of prohibition are in relating drugs to religious concepts of wickedness, evil and the devil. The author's strict interpretation of ...
TV documentary: Prime Time Investigates: War Without End
An extraordinary documentary marking a new level in broadcast journalism critiquing the international war on drugs was shown on Irish TV last night (3 June 2008).Filmed in Colombia, Ireland, England, the US, The Netherlands, Switzerland and many more...
Even CIA analysts acknowledge prohibition is the problem
Stratfor - publisher of online geo-political intelligence analysis written by a global team of intelligence professionals (read former CIA staff) - has argued that Mexico rapidly hurtling down the road to becoming a 'Failed State' due to the 'War on...
Caught in the Drug War crossfire: the tragedy of Rachel Hoffman
Rachel Hoffman had just graduated from Florida State University, with plans to attend culinary school. As an undergrad, she was popular among her group of friends, many of whom she met through her involvement in FSU’s chapters of Students for Sensi...
Transform in the Guardian CIF: Coaker's line on Cocaine
Coaker's line It is not coca growing per se that fuels the conflict in Colombia, but the fact that cocaine is illegal - a point lost on most policymakersEmily Crick 7.00am May 22, 2008Home Office minister Vernon Coaker announced a new anti-cocaine i...
Clergy Speaks Out Against 'The War On Drugs'
Film maker and author Mike Gray in cooperation with the US-based Interfaith Drug Policy Initiative has created the following two part documentary entitled "Clergy Speaks Out Against The War On Drugs". The title is pretty self explanatory. Advocates...
INCB prioritise celebrity tat over human rights abuses and mass murder
I have just done a brief interview with Channel 4 lunchtime news, which, like the rest of the UK media, is covering the INCB's comments on celebrity drug use. I tried to push some of what I saw as more pressing issues but the editorial decision had b...
Craig Jones speech from Vancouver UN beyond 2008 conference
Craig Jones, PhD, Executive Director, the John Howard Society of CanadaContext: The following was delivered on the morning of Feb 5. 2008 to a UN-sponsored Conference called "Beyond 2008" the theme of which was (roughly) "How can we, the UN, help you...
Award winning Brazilian film director calls for legalisation of drugs to halt violence
The Berlin film festival has given its top prize to a violent new movie dealing with police corruption and brutality in Brazil. The film focuses on police battling drug dealers in Rio de Janeiro’s slums. Director Jose Padilha is quoted in the reute...
