Report published in the BMJ conducted by D Werb et. al studied international drug surveillance databases to assess the relationship between multiple long-term estimates ofillegal drug price and purity. They conclude that “the findings suggest that expanding efforts at controlling the global illegal drug market through law enforcement are failing.”

This September / October issue highlights news, upcoming conferences, new publications, and more.

“In much of the academic literature drug prohibition is often described as an American, or at least a Western, construct.” This paper by James Windle shows how “prohibitions were enforced in Asian countries while the United States and Western Europe were routinely trading opium. The concept of prohibition being a distinctly American construct is, therefore, flawed.

Humans Right Watch highlights the need for urgent action to address palliative care in Senegal. The majority of cancer patients live and die in unbearable pain, even though there are cheap and effective methods to alleviate their suffering. “Morphine, an essential medicine that is critical for adult and paediatric pain treatment, is unavailable outside of Dakar, the capital city. Even in Dakar, shortages are common. Overly stringent regulations on stocking and purchasing morphine make it difficult for hospitals to make it available to patients. Inflexible rules on morphine prescription make it virtually impossible for many Senegalese to get their medication.”

Study by Dr Oraby (IDHDP member) describes the "current harm reduction interventions in Egypt and highlights the insights of active IDUs and service providers interacting with them as regards their ability to address their needs." She concludes that the "epidemiological reality of HIV infection in Egypt favors prioritizing efforts to the high risk groups rather than the general population. Hence, harm reduction should be at the core of interventions targeting HIV.'

International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) October alert includes their activities, publications and news.

The UNODC Global Synthetics Monitoring: Analyses, Reporting and Trends (SMART) Programme "enhances the capacity of Member States in priority regions to generate, manage, analyse, report and use synthetic drug information to design effective policy and programme interventions."

International Centre for Science in Drug Policy report demonstrates that “during the past two decades, the supply of major illegal drugs has increased, as measured through a general decline in the price and a general increase in the purity of illegal drugs in a variety of settings.” concludes that "These findings suggest that expanding efforts at controlling the global illegal drug market through law enforcement are failing."

Magdalena Harris et al. review the "social science and public health literature pertaining to HCV treatment for PWID, with a focus on barriers to treatment access, uptake and completion. A two step search was taken, with the first step pertaining to literature on HCV treatment for PWID and the second focusing on social structural factors." Evidence documents successful hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment outcomes for people who inject drugs (PWID) and interest in HCV treatment among this population yet HCV treatment among PWID remains suboptimal. This review seeks to map social factors mediating HCV treatment access. This paper concludes that combination intervention approaches need to encompass social interventions in relation to housing, stigma reduction and systemic changes in policy and health care delivery.

IDPC briefing paper analyses the barriers and opportunities for harm reduction, and provides recommendations to improve access to services in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania.

The Beckley Foundation state in the report that drug policy reform would provide the "UK government with the funds to address negative impacts while leaving considerable money to spend on prevention. Furthermore, it would give police more resources to go after violent criminals, rather than being preoccupied by ineffective—and even discriminatory—policing practices."

Editorial by Andy Ko from Open Society Foundation reviews the 21st Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Professor David Nutt talks about the politics and idiosyncrasies of UK drug regulation and describes a more logical alternative.

EMCDDA July - September 2013 newsletter. In this issue: Screening for hepatitis B and C infection in Europe | Second international conference on novel psychoactive substances | EMCDDA report explores models of addiction | New Zealand enacts innovative regulatory system on new drugs | 5-IT recommended for control at EU level.

The Beckley Foundation reviews the 11 National Conference on Drugs Policy in Buenos Aires, held on 29 and 30 of August 2013.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) criminal justice fact sheet.

UNAIDS’s report states that recent data suggest little change has occurred in the HIV burden among people who inject drugs. HIV incidence among this population remains high, up to 28% in Asia and with people who inject drugs accounting for more than 40% of new infections in some countries. At least 158 countries reported injecting drug use and 120 countries have documented HIV among people who inject drugs. Coverage of HIV prevention services remains low and uptake of voluntary HIV testing are extremely low among people who inject drugs and among 35 countries providing data in 2013, all but four reached less than 10% of opiate users with OST. In addition to exceptionally low coverage, an effective AIDS response among people who inject drugs is undermined by punitive policy frameworks and law enforcement practices, which discourage individuals from seeking the health and social services they need.

SMMGP give an update on current policy documents in the England and Scotland from July / August 2013.

Drug Policy Alliance Leads National Effort for Comprehensive Overdose Prevention Policies; Ten States Passed "911 Good Samaritan" Laws in 2012 and 2013.

Prof Louisa Degenhardt, et al. aim to assess the prevelance and burden of drug dependence on health and found it high. Worldwide opioid dependence was the largest contributor to dependence and injecting drug use as a risk factor for HIV, as a risk factor for hepatitis C and suicide. Countries with the highest rate of burden included the USA, UK, Russia, and Australia. Hence illicit drug use is an important contributor to the global burden of disease. Efficient strategies to reduce disease burden of opioid dependence and injecting drug use, such as delivery of opioid substitution treatment and needle and syringe programmes, are needed to reduce this burden at a population scale.

Zaino Petersen et al. analyses the need to monitor the state of the “HIV epidemic as it relates to IDU and the availability of HIV treatment and harm reduction services in 21 high epidemic countries." With about a third of the global HIV infections outside sub-Saharan Africa related to injecting drug use (IDU), this paper calls for the need to monitor the state of the HIV epidemic as it relates to PWID.

This issue highlights news, upcoming conferences, new publications, and more.

Release demonstrates in this report that the "policing and prosecutions of drug possession offences in England and Wales is unduly focused on black and minority communities. This report looks at racial disparity rates at stop and search, arrest, prosecution and sentencing and clearly demonstrates that the drug laws in the UK are a major driver of the disproportionality that exists in our criminal justice system in relation to the black community."

IDPC analyses the regional debate and national-level reforms in the Americas and offers recommendations to maintain the drug policy reforms.

Open Society Foundation’s Global Drug Policy Program reports on the history of the Dutch approach to drug policy and describes the ongoing success of the country’s drug policy. "Including the impact of the Dutch “separation of markets,” which potentially limits people’s exposure and access to harder drugs."

WHO sets out the results of a survey which they conducted in mid-2012 with the World Hepatitis Alliance. "The survey aimed to gather country-specifi c baseline data on hepatitis policies in WHO Member States in all six regions. Survey data also offered insight into conditions in specific countries that may have hindered past efforts to achieve hepatitis policy objectives."

Recommendations from Canadian Harm Reduction Network suggesting "new and improved best practice recommendations about needle and syringe distribution, other injection equipment distribution, handling and disposal of used drug-use equipment, and safer drug-use education."

Article by Open Society Foundation stating "that the current drug policies are failing and causing enormous harm to individuals and communities. Around the world, poorly designed drug laws that seek to punish production, possession, use, and even dependence have fueled violence, instability, and health crises. It’s time for a new approach."

Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) interview with Grund, J. -P. C., et al. about their new study "Breaking worse: The emergence of krokodil and excessive injuries among people who inject drugs in Eurasia."

Thomas Kerr et al. undertook this study in the Mitsampan Community Research Project based in Bangkok. They concluded "that exposure to compulsory drug detention was associated with avoiding healthcare among Thai IDU, suggesting that this system of detention may be contributing to the burden of preventable morbidity among IDU in this setting."