Commissioners Cattaui, Dreifuss and Grover in Bangkok Post: “Punitive measures do not create a drug-free society”

[Read original article in the Bangkok Post, 14 December 2016.] Achieving a society without drugs has been the objective of many countries around the world for many decades, including Asean with its declaration in 1998 for a drug-free region by 2015. Yet drug use prevalence has, at best, remained stable over

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Interview with Ruth Dreifuss on Al Jazeera

Ruth Dreifuss, Chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, answers questions on Al Jazeera regarding the decriminalization of drug consumption and possession for personal use, in the context of a change in drug policy in Thailand towards a less repressive regime. Click here to view interview.

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Interview with Chair Dreifuss: “How U.S. Drug Policy Looks to the Rest of the World – And how it might change under Donald Trump”

By Francie Diep Activists and family members of loved ones who died in the opioid epidemic take part in a rally on September 18th, 2016, in Washington, D.C. (Photo: John Moore/Getty Images) Sometimes, to understand something, you have to take an outsider’s point of view. That’s why, to get perspective

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Global Commission Leaders Issue Call to Decriminalize Drugs for Public Health and Human Rights

At a press conference in Washington, DC yesterday, five members of the Global Commission on Drug Policy—a 23-person body comprising nine former presidents or prime ministers, plus leaders like former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan—released “Advancing Drug Policy Reform: A new approach to decriminalization.” Drug prohibition, said Ruth Dreifuss, former president of Switzerland and

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World leaders call for legalisation of drugs

World leaders have called for an end to the criminalisation of drugs. The Global Commission on Drug Policy’s annual report advocates the removal of both civil and criminal penalties for drug use and possession. Prohibition of drugs has had “little or no impact” on the rate of drug use, the

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La Suisse peut convaincre les Etats-Unis en matière de drogues

Lundi sur les ondes de la RTS, l’ancienne présidente de la Confédération Ruth Dreifuss est revenue sur les problèmes de drogue qui persistent aux Etats-Unis. Selon elle, le modèle suisse peut convaincre. Invitée de l’émission Forum, Ruth Dreifuss s’est exprimée alors qu’elle venait de présenter à Washington le nouveau rapport

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The Economist – Espresso, “Aiming high: narcotics reform”

Can illicit drugs get any less cool? Today a groovy gang including former heads of the UN and Federal Reserve, plus ex-presidents and prime ministers from Latin America, Europe and Africa, will call for lighter dope laws. The Global Commission on Drug Policy has previously recommended that users be let

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War on Drugs an Epic Fail, BMJ Editors Say

Addiction is a health issue, not a moral failing, and physicians need to champion public policy changes that put treatment first and reverse the “absurd” focus on the war against drugs, which has never and will never work, say editors of the BMJ. “All wars cause human rights violations and

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Former Swiss president visits Ithaca to talk drug policy, supervised injection sites

by Kelsey O’Connor, Ithaca Voice   The former president of Switzerland, Ruth Dreifuss, stopped in Ithaca on Wednesday to discuss drug policy and share her experience as the city forges ahead with The Ithaca Plan. One of the most controversial recommendations in The Ithaca Plan is creating a supervised injection facility

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Non-violent drug users should face no penalty—a call from the Global Commission on Drug Policy

BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL Original article: click here. Opinion piece by Ruth Dreifuss, former President of Switzerland and Chair of the Global Commission, and Pavel Bém, former Mayor of Prague and member of the Global Commission.   We urgently need pragmatic reform to develop effective and humane drug policies, including regulated

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