The wave of violence afflicting Mexico and the northern triangle of Central America (Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador) is caused by three developments: changes in the global drug market, the effect of the war against organised crime and the international financial crisis, making the problem not
Mistrust in government systems of rule has led the town of Cherán in Mexico to create its own institutions. The community faces many challenges, not the least of which is the non-violent defence of their people in an area where armed gangs are a constant threat.
It is strange how you have to go abroad to see the ability of wildly divergent realities to persist, side-by-side, as if nothing were more natural.
Local officials in both British Columbia and Amsterdam wrangle with their respective national governments on the question of how to deal with marijuana trafficking. Meanwhile, Colombia's incumbent president seeks to begin an international dialogue on the legalization of marijuana and other drugs.
While governments around the globe debate on which direction to go in revising drug policy, the American military struggles to deal with record numbers of suicide among service personnel afflicted with PTSD. Many of those suffering from the disorder engage in substance abuse. The stigma and legal
Mexico’s government has led a five-year war against organized crime that has turned parts of the country into sites of atrocious violence, claimed more than 40,000 lives, and generated heated debate over its priorities and preferences. With elections on the horizon, has the time come to correct th
Following the successful openDemocracy Conference, ‘After the War on Drugs: Envisioning a Post-Prohibition World’; the Drug Policy Forum is back with a bumper edition and round-up of the last couple of weeks drug policy news. We lead this week with news that rebuffing the Conservative government,
We lead this week with a look at a new Open Society report assessing the Portuguese government's rejection of the 'war on drugs' in 2000, and decriminalization of drug possession and use. What lessons can be learnt from this experience? ~ MW
This week we lead with the alarming news that Irina Teplinskaya, friend of the openDemocracy Drug Policy Forum and renowned human rights activist currently undertaking litigation against the Russian Government, has been arrested while crossing the Russian border. Our lead article is an impassioned
With a startling 400% rise in the number of women incarcerated for federal crimes in Mexico since 2007, we lead this weeks report with an investigation into the relationship between this growth and the expansion of drug cartels and organised crime ~ MW & CS
Syrian government marks start of Ramadan with bloody crackdown. Eritrean government backed planned to bomb AU summit, according to UN report. Fresh violence in Papua leaves 21 dead. Chinese government announces crackdown on Uighur “terrorists” after a weekend of violence. Arrested kingpin admits t
The WHO refers to hepatitis C (HCV) as a “viral time bomb” due to the remarkable toll in worldwide infections and the extent of time it takes for HCV to become symptomatic. Globally, between 130-170 million people are chronically infected with HCV. In this report we take a closer look at the globa
