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Intercambios newsletter 22 April 2009
INDEX
EDITORIAL
UNGASS: High Level Segment Resolutions
UNGASS: The speech by Antonio Costa, executive director of UNODC
UNGASS: The Positions of Argentina and Latin America
UNGASS: Historic presentation by Bolivia
UNGASS: Beyond 2008 Meeting
UNGASS: Event briefings at the High Level Meeting
UNODC and WHO Joint program
Fifth Informal Dialogue Organized by TNI and WOLA
Judges in Argentina in favor of new drug laws
Intercambios researches with the University of Buenos Aires
Intercambios Civil Association participated in the chapter on Latin America
BRIEFS
TRAINING
AGENDA
EDITORIAL
Tenuous Advances and Many Dogmas
The long-awaited High Level Segment of the 52nd Commission on Narcotic Drugs in which the goals set in 1998 United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs were reviewed, left a bitter taste in the mouths of many governmental representatives, civil society organizations and drug users groups, as well as many United Nations agents and experts. After nearly two years of evaluation and in spite of the evidence, the Political Declaration and Action Plan marked a continuation of the “war on drugs” paradigm.
Nevertheless, from March 11th to the 20th in Vienna, it was made clear that the “consensus” was not as such, and that the items that marked the division were the key to the revision of global drug policy: harm reduction, alternative development and respect for human rights. In this edition of Intercambiando, an important part of the newsletter is dedicated to a review of the major developments of the High Level Segment, from the Political Declaration to the role of Latin America, as well as the speeches of Evo Morales and executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio María Costa. In addition, to further the role that this region could serve, we have included an article on the Informal Dialogue in Rio and the perspectives of eighty Argentine judges on the legislative changes in drug policy that are needed in this country.
UNGASS: High Level Segment Resolutions
Another Decade in the War on Drugs
The High Level Segment of the 52nd session of the Commission of Narcotic Drugs revealed little consensus among the states. Many supported the continuation of the same policies implemented in 1998, while advocates were unable to incorporate harm reduction language into the official documents, with scarce advances in alternative development. Achievements included the recognition of the superiority of international human rights conventions on drug policy and unprecedented civil society participation.
With the attendance of the representatives from more than 130 countries, the United Nations High Level Meeting on Drugs from March 11-20 sought to close the revision process of the goals made a decade ago during the United Nations General Assembly Special Session. In 1998 the participating states committed to “the considerable elimination or reduction of the growing of cannabis, coca and opium, and to achieve measurable progress in demand reduction” under the paradigm called “the war on drugs.” Ten years later, many expected that the evidence of increasing global production (from 4,346 tons of opium in 1998 to 8,000 tons in 2007, and from 825 tons of cocaine to 994) would lead to a reorientation of policy in the High Level Meeting. However, the Political Declaration and the Action Plan approved for the coming decade are, in general terms, a continuation of the previous decade’s political forces.
Criticisms to the Document
While the general tone of the countries’ presentations was complicit with the new Political Declaration and Action Plan for the next ten years, Bolivian president Evo Morales made first mention during his speech of uncertainty regarding the chewing of coca leaves. During his turn, German ambassador Rüdiger Lüdeking made clear the lack of a consensus regarding the approved documents by stating, “We must admit that the goals and targets set out by UNGASS 98 have not been met: consumption of illegal drugs and psychotropic substances has not been significantly reduced.”
The main criticism of the revision process for the goals is that it is not recognized that the control system comes with “the involuntary consequence” of stigmatization and marginalization for hundreds of millions of drug users, an illegal market controlled by criminal organizations, and the deterioration of efforts to reduce HIV transmission through the sharing of needles.
The 1998 Action Plan was used as a template for the 2009 document and, in spite of the recommendations that health should be the priority for the drug control system, the item was omitted in both documents: health is mentioned only four times in the Political Declaration and HIV is mentioned only once in the Action Plan.
Without Harm Reduction
As has already been seen during the revision process of the goals beginning in mid 2007, harm reduction was a point of division in the High Level Meeting. The Sweden Minister of Health, María Larrson, declared that “the HIV epidemic cannot be used as a pretext to change the agreements of the convention”.
For their part, 26 nations led by Germany asked that, since the Political Declaration and the Action Plan mentioned “support related services”, it be supplemented with an interpretive statement which would explicitly read “including measures various states, international organizations and non-governmental organizations call harm reduction.” Countries in favor of this supplementation ran in opposition against Russia, Colombia, the United States, Sri Lanka, and Japan and were ultimately refused. In this way, once again, harm reduction measures were excluded from all documents in spite of the significant number of countries that were in favor, among which was Argentina (see article in this newsletter).
United States’ Increasing Openness
In contrast to previous sessions of the CND, this past High Level Meeting heard the US delegate state that "changes are needed in programs to reduce HIV transmission" and explicitly support needle exchange, substitution treatment and drug-assisted palliative care. However, he maintained the position stated in February of not including the term "harm reduction" as it might be interpreted as "ambiguous."
Argentina represented G77 + China
As the current president of the G77 + China, Argentina was responsible for presenting on behalf of the coalition that now includes 140 countries which formed in 1964 to advocate for the interests of the Third World in various UN bodies. The statement demanded “maintaining and increasing support for sustainable and integrated alternative development programs,” especially with regard to South-South cooperation, and facilitating access to these resources to the global market, while taking into account the rules of multilateral trade.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime was also asked to organize an international meeting on alternative development for 2010 and to present information on the adopted measures and achieved progress in this topic at the 53rd session.
Civil Society Protagonism
The High Level Meeting had record levels of civil society participation that, though lacking voice and vote, was able to attend the meetings, organize satellite activities, and influence the vision of their governments on each of the topics addressed. The total of 200 NGO delegates and experts who participated in the meeting, with 65 who acted as part of their countries’ official delegations, sharply contrasts to the meeting of 2008 in which only 10 official delegations had included representatives of civil society.
This was possible, in large part, because of the achievements of the “Beyond 2008” program, encouraged by the Vienna Non-Governmental Organizations Committee on drugs (VNGOC), which provided civil society participation from 116 countries to revise the UNGASS goals and to come to the meeting with a joint statement and their own recommendations.
UNGASS: The speech by Antonio Costa, executive director of UNODC
"Humanity achieved measurable advances"
At the opening session of the High Level Meeting for review of the UNGASS goals, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa, said that the strategies carried out during the last decade were effective and focused on organized crime and health problems associated with drugs.
"The global trade in illicit drugs is in excess of 300 billion dollars a year," asserted Antonio Costa in his presentation; he warned of the threat to communities that the growing power and wealth of organized crime around drug trafficking presented. In this regard, he urged the international community toward a "greater integration of the activities of donors, governments, and agencies responsible for enforcing the law”, with special emphasis on programs to combat poverty and promote social inclusion for strengthening community resilience.
Additionally, he called on governments to make use of the powers conferred upon them by the UN conventions to deal with crime and corruption. Costa admitted that the drug problem control has improved, in general, in wealthy countries, but has deteriorated in some large developing countries.
Health at the Center of Policies
"We must put health as a centerpiece of drug control" said Costa, emphasizing the "opportunities provided by the fact that prevention, treatment and harm reduction are integrated and mutually reinforcing rather than viewed as an alternative and separate system". However, this was the only time he mentioned harm reduction throughout his speech.
HIV Prevention at Risk
A report that commented on the speech of Costa, broadcasted by IDPC days after the 52nd Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, said that "within the division of work of the UN, the primary responsibility to respond to the spread of HIV/AIDS rests on the UNODC,” given that “they manage a $200 million program on prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS, which carries the risk of being seriously undermined by the decision of the CND to exclude harm reduction in its political declaration”.
For this reason, in the weeks prior to the High Level Meeting, the highest officials from UNAIDS and the Global Fund, the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Special Rapporteurs on Torture and the Right to Health were categorical in their requests for the CND's recognition of the importance of HIV prevention and support of approaches, demonstrated to be effective, based in harm reduction and human rights. But this was not brought about by the speech.
UNGASS: The Positions of Argentina and Latin America
A contradictory discourse
During the High Level Meeting that reviewed the goals agreed upon ten years ago and set the direction of drug policy for the next decade, Latin America took different positions according to country. While Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay called for harm reduction, Colombia proposed the continuation of the paradigm of a "drug-free world." Alternative development was the topic most addressed by the producing countries.
Unlike the previous year, in which the Justice Minister Aníbal Fernandez headed the Argentine delegation to the 51st session of the CND, during the HLS the country was not chaired by a high level official. Therefore, the presentations of Argentina remained those of the alternate permanent representative, Maria de los Milagros Donna Raballo.
In its statement at the High Level Meeting on Thursday, March 12, Argentina characterized itself as a "transit country" for cocaine to Europe, of ephedrine to Mexico, and of chemical precursors to producing countries. The speech made a strong emphasis on the unfinished business on local health issues in prisons, where almost 50 percent of prisoners live with HIV.
Referring to the Political Declaration and Action Plan for the next decade, Argentina declared itself in favor of the "due respect to criminal proceedings as set in the preamble of the UN Charter” and recommended the eradication of crops only as a later step to guarantee conditions of minimum subsistence for the farmers and to guarantee an equilibrium between the classification of controlled drug substances and the classification of the World Health Organization.
On issues of health care and the rights of people who use drugs, Argentina recommended following the Humanitarian Drug Policy agreed upon during the Consensus of Rome in 2007 and adopting a focus on harm reduction.
Uruguay proposed a "balanced approach"
"There is damage done to human rights and prisons full of minor offenders or consumers who are a health and not a criminal issue. We don’t have to put up other walls. The so-called focus of the war on drugs showed its record of failure”, said the chairman of the National Council of Drugs of Uruguay, Jorge Vazquez, in his statement. After characterizing his country by "moderate trafficking with increased consumption", he pointed out the financial policies that facilitate money laundering as a trigger for Uruguayan land use by some groups of drug traffickers.
The official said, "We cannot conform to the current situation of the world drug problem," and he proposed a balanced approach, including adopting “good practices and models of success such as harm reduction."
Brazil: there are links between drug trafficking and exclusion
Brazil expressed its thoughts on organized crime, violence, and social factors associated with the drug market and the particularly severe impact on the most poor of the youth population in this country. Brazil recognized the need for treatments to reduce harm and to restore respect for the human rights of users.
Paraguay seeks alternatives to cannabis
In its presentation, Paraguay said that "the removal of illicit crops should have a preliminary alternative development." It also noted that, while "the cooperation received by coca farmers is considerable and they attain preferred prices," those who produce marijuana "do not get incentives to modify their production. We hope that alternative development is also applied to marijuana."
Colombia for Eradication
For its part, the Colombian delegate, during the debates, opposed any mention of harm reduction in the documents. During his presentation, he said, "The illegal drugs industry is based on terrorist networks that undermine democratic institutions and increase criminal activities: they destroy human rights.”
He explained that in demand reduction, challenges faced are both “new and more provocative," and that the government of Colombia does not agree with “the legalization of drugs." To conclude, the representative of the country said, "I would not like to see my grandchildren using drugs. It is a terrible whirlwind for any human being. For my grandchildren, for them and for humanity as a whole, I desire a world without drugs”.
UNGASS: Historic presentation by Bolivia
“We should all be considered criminals”
With this phrase, Bolivian President Evo Morales highlighted the need to eliminate the coca leaf from the list of prohibited substances and proposed his replacement for the cocaine base. The only head of state present in the High Level Meeting on drug policies concluded his speech by chewing coca leaves and explaining the plant’s beneficial uses.
As the only head of state present at the High Level Meeting on the UNGASS review, Bolivian president Evo Morales was the first person to address the full session. With a coca leaf in hand, Morales announced that he was in Vienna to “correct the historic errors in the treatment of the coca leaf at the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961,” and announced that Bolivia would begin the formal process to eliminate the leaf from the list “because in its natural state it is not harmful to human health.” The presentation challenged drug control system, as the International Narcotics Control Board has already voiced its reluctance to move forward on the issue.
25 years is nothing
Nevertheless, Morales affirmed that he would formally petition for the removal of clauses 2e and 1c of the 49th Article of the 1961 Convention. These clauses aimed to eliminate the chewing of coca leaves within 25 years of the convention, and allowed member states to temporarily authorize its use, but only until the end of the approved period.
“Almost 50 years have already passed and coca use has not diminished. Since at least 3000 years ago, chewing coca leaves has been a part of local culture. How would it be possible for us to be able to eliminate that in only 25 years?” Morales asked, citing that the coca leaf is venerated in the Bolivian Constitution and has multiple beneficial uses.
There will always be coca
The coca leaf does not hurt human health and is very common in Bolivia, Peru, northern Argentina, and some regions of Colombia. “If this error is not corrected, we should all be considered international criminals.” To demonstrate his point, Evo Morales brought the coca leaf to his mouth, looked at Antonio Costa, director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and asked him, “Will you have me arrested for this?”
Bolivia reiterated that its government “condemns drug trafficking and does not ask for unlimited coca production.” The proposed strategy would permit the production of coca for legal uses, but limit its production and prevent its leakage into the illegal market: “It would be irresponsible to say that the coca leaf should be cultivated freely. However, in Bolivia there will always be coca.”
Substitute by the “cocaine base”
Finally, Morales asked the representatives of the member states to support the petition to remove the coca leaf from List One of the 1961 Convention, where it is classified alongside cocaine as a “dangerous narcotic.” The Bolivian government proposes to substitute the coca plant by the cocaine base.
During 52nd Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, it was estimated that the petition to eliminate clauses 2e and 1c from Article 49 of the 1961 Convention would be taken up by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), likely to convene in May 2009.
UNGASS: Beyond 2008 Meeting
Intercambios joins VNGOC
The Vienna Non-Governmental Organizations Committee on Narcotic Drugs (VNGOC) met on March 18, in the context of the 52nd Session of the CND, to review its strategic plan and agreed on future actions. Only two Latin American organizations are part of the committee, including Intercambios Civil Association.
During the meeting, the organizations revised their strategic plan; listened to a presentation by Human Rights Watch about access to controlled medicines; and discussed future cooperation. Among the future projects, on June 26, coinciding with the International Day Against Drugs, they will present the advances made since “Beyond 2008.”
The VNGOC, founded in 1963, coordinated civil society participation in the review of UNGASS goals, which took place one decade after the United Nations General Assembly Special Session. This process of evaluation, given the name “Beyond 2008,” included more than 300 non-governmental organizations from 116 countries, and resulted in one Declaration and three Resolutions to be included in the debate.
The objective of VNGOC is to support and facilitate the work of NGOs with United Nations organizations on drug policy, strategies, and practices. Furthermore, they seek to maximize the contribution of the NGOs; monitor and evaluate performances; and facilitate the exchange of information and experiences.
In their meeting last January, the VNGOC accepted the request for membership from Intercambios, which became one of the only two non-governmental organizations from Latin America on the committee.
UNGASS: Event briefings at the High Level Meeting
Five anecdotes in Vienna
They are facts that will never make the headlines. Nevertheless, they are important parts of what took place during the High Level Meeting of 52nd Session of the UN Committee on Narcotic Drugs, held to review the goals of UNGASS, from March 11- 20.
1. Peace demonstration. Demonstrators took to the streets with drawings of machine guns that shot flowers instead of bullets, under the slogan “We are not collateral damage, we are people.” The demonstration was organized by the Drug User Peace Initiative (www.druguserpeaceinitiative.org), and demanded a change of direction in drug policy because “the war on drugs destroys lives.” It was carried out with the support from the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD).
2. The Economist in the portfolio. The non-governmental organizations turned into distributors of The Economist, a United States business publication that in its March 7-13 issue, in coincidence with the High Level Meeting, titled its feature article, “How to End the War on Drugs?” The report presented valuable information provided by numerous organizations on the failure of repressive policies. In addition to distributing hundreds of issues of The Economist, the organizations held a press conference during the HLS, and gathered a total of 300 articles covering the Meeting.
3. Drug user part of an official delegation. With this gesture, the United Kingdom became the first country to include a drug user in its official delegation. Math Southwell, member of the International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD), was given the opportunity to speak to the CND: “In 1980 a series of cities in developed countries of the world identified that about 50% of the people who used injected drugs were living with HIV. Edinburgh, Dublin, Milan, and New York, after reviewing treatments based on scientific evidence, incorporated therapies such as needle exchange and made other changes necessary to avoid national catastrophes. Two decades later, a new generation of countries has similar statistics. The Declaration is putting dogma above knowledge by not recognizing the life-saving impact of such harm-reducing interventions.”
4. “Typing error” in the Political Declaration. The second day of the High Level Meeting, a small commotion ensued upon the discovery of a small but significant difference between the agreed-upon version of the Political Declaration and the circulating version. In paragraph 20 of the circulating version, in reference to the incidence of HIV/AIDS among injecting drug users, it said “comprehensive drug abuse prevention programs” in place of the text agreed upon the week before, “comprehensive prevention programs.” Finally, the secretary attributed the difference to a “typing error” and a correct version was distributed.
5. Harm reduction in the United States Embassy. The presence of certain figures at a traditional event reflected the recent change in management at the White House. Each year, coinciding with the CND Session, the United States Embassy holds a reception. For the first time this year, the Embassy invited civil society organizations, including those that hold an explicit position in favor of harm reduction policies and evidence-based treatments.
UNODC and WHO Joint program
Treatment for drug users on the global level
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a “Joint Program on Drug Dependence Treatment and Care” at a side event of the High Level Meeting of 52nd Session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
The cooperation agreement — signed by Sandeep Chawla, director of the United Nations Division for Policy Analysis and Public Affairs (DPA), and by Benedetto Saraceno, director of the WHO Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse — seeks to reach global collaboration to improve the coverage and quality of treatments and services in middle and lower-income countries.
In a joint message, both agencies estimated that “205 million people in the world use illegal drugs and approximately 26 million have severe problems” in their relationship with drugs.
The objective of the Joint Program is to initiate dialogue with a group of officials from various governments and agencies, involving those working in public health and welfare as well as criminal law.
“We want to send a strong message to the politicians of the world about the necessity of developing services that address drug use disorders in a pragmatic, science-based, and humanitarian way, replacing stigma and discrimination with knowledge, care, recovery opportunities and reintegration,” asserted the representatives of the UNODC and WHO.
Fifth Informal Dialogue Organized by TNI and WOLA
Challenges for the Latin American union
How to reach common ground regarding harm reduction and alternative development; the challenges in legislation; human rights and drug policy; and the lack of Latin American representation during the discussion of the revision of the UNGASS goals were main topics of the informal dialogue that took place in Rio de Janeiro at the beginning of the year.
From February 26-28, following the rules of the Chatham House (to maintain the anonymity of participants and only announce the conclusions reached), the Fifth Informal Dialogue organized by the Transnational Institute (TNI) and the Office of Washington for Latin America (WOLA) took place. The three foci were: review of the Political Declaration that would be presented at the High Level Meeting at the 52nd Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND); efficacy of the conventions; and the connection between human rights and drug law enforcement policies.
Little common positions
The dialogue participants agreed that the opinions of the Latin American countries during the process of negotiating the Political Declaration for the High Level Meeting diverged on key points, from which it was not possible to generate a common regional position. Considering this, an alternative aim was discussed, namely the goal to “initiate a regional debate revolving around a more oriented and pragmatic common axis,” specifically in harm reduction and alternative development.
Legal tensions
Some countries in South America made legal reforms in recent months, and this generated tension on the international level, above all with respect to consumption of coca leaf; the proportionality of criminal sentences; the (de)criminalization of possession for personal use; among others. Authorities agreed to advance an agenda of priorities that includes legal definitions for various terms and proposed UNASUR as the regional meeting place.
Human rights and drug law
During the dialogue, there was agreement that the “violation of rights continues to show evidence of the erratic enforcement and insufficiency of drug policies in Latin America.” It was agreed that the debate must go beyond discussion about drug trafficking and focus on collective and individual rights, including cultural rights and national sovereignty.
It was also agreed to take advantage of experiences such as UNGASS on HIV/AIDS, and to learn from the negotiating process in order to incorporate harm reduction as well as question the international structural mechanisms related to drug policies.
Judges in Argentina in favor of new drug laws
80 judges for the reform of drug policies
From Horacio Cattani, Luis Niño, Eduardo Freiler, Daniel Rafecas, Patricia Llerena, Javier De Luca to general defender Stella Maris Martínez, judges and prosecutors Carlos Rívolo, Mónica Cuñarro, María Cristina Camiña, Martín Vázquez Acuña and Jorge Luis Rimondi among many others, submitted a statement asking for new legislation about drugs that does not persecute drug users nor penalize poverty. They also argue that compulsive treatment required by 23.737 Act is unconstitutional.
“After 15 years of 20.771 Act enforcement, and almost 20 years of 23.737 Act, the supply and demand of narcotic substances remains at unprecedented levels”. This phrase begins a document published by 80 judges and prosecutors from Argentina asking for legislative approval to modify the current norms regarding drugs. In the text, they further denounce that, since 1926, penal sanctions continue to be oriented toward consumers and the last links on the supply chain, but “does not have the same dedication toward illicit trafficking organizations that, in many cases, receive political, administrative, and judicial protection.”
Urgent Amendments
The judges ask lawmakers to amend 23.737 Act. They warn that the criminal law can only be used as an approach to criminal behavior, but “in no case can social problems that exceed this discipline and cannot be resolved by it be transferred". As such they ask for the following:
1) To make 23.737 Act compatible with the human rights treaties incorporated into the National Constitution in 1994, especially on the principles of "ultima ratio," "prejudicial" and "proportionality”.
2) To locate in the sphere of administrative law and in its sanctions regarding the medicinal market the practice of healthcare professions; the prevention of addict treatment centers from deploying techniques that violate human rights; the prevention of deviation of the trade of precursors and chemical substances for the production of drugs; and the control of the laundering of assets coming from criminal activities.
In this way, they understand that the criminal law would remain reserved only for the behaviors intolerable for a peaceful social coexistence.
Drugs for Each Social Class
The judges indicate that the consumption of substances generates different social problems according to social background. On the one hand, the poor are left to the consumption of "heavily contaminated cocaine and the inhalation of solvents and hydrocarbons". Meanwhile, the middle and upper-middle classes are oriented to prohibited substances such as cocaine and ecstasy and “others surprisingly not prohibited due to the delay of the competent authority in updating Decree 722/91, complementary to 23.737 Act, such as ketamine and GHB, among others."
An Unconstitutional Law
In another excerpt from the statement, the judges warn that compulsory treatment under Article 18 of 23.737 Act to avoid criminal punishment "is clearly unconstitutional."
Finally, it indicates the weakness of this rule that "has made illegal a series of welfare interventions, such as distribution of informative brochures on how to use a drug to avoid or reduce harm; the creation of sites for controlled use of drugs; the distribution of syringes and needles; the verification of the quality of the drug being supplied, etc ."
Intercambios researches with the University of Buenos Aires
A new study on HIV in drug users
The results of a study on viral resistance and seroincidence in HIV-vulnerable populations funded by the World Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria were presented at the UBA Medical School. With the coordination of the National AIDS Reference Center, Intercambios was in charge of research among the drug user population.
The prevalence of HIV in drug users is 4.2% (4.8% in men and 2.9% in women), almost ten times greater than the prevalence in the general Argentine public, which shows a certain degree of vulnerability to HIV among the drug user population. This information was extracted from the study completed by Intercambios Civil Association in coordination with the National AIDS Reference Center through administering surveys of 738 volunteers from various cities in the country. It was launched on April 13 in Buenos Aires.
Among the men surveyed, 23.1% revealed that they had had sexual relations with another man in the past year, while among the women, 46.6% said that they had had sexual relations in exchange for payment during the same period. “This data shows the necessity to interpret people´s vulnerability in an integrated manner, and not just based on their behavior”, stated Marcelo Vila, who was in charge of the study for Intercambios Civil Association.
Research Profile
Participants in this study had to have consumed intravenous drugs for the past 6 months or had to have been frequent users of cocaine, amphetamines, or opiates. 54.4% of the participants were not institutionalized and were contacted in their home area. 21.9% were participating in therapeutic communities and 23.7% were in hospital services.
67.5% were men with a mean age of 29 years old. Only 20.3% had completed secondary or higher education. 8.5% reported a history of injecting drug use. 33% reported using crack cocaine or paco (a cocaine derivative) in the last year.
Strategy Improvement
The following groups collaborated in field work with Intercambios: the San Martín Municipal AIDS Program, the AIDS Program and Programa Andrés in Rosario, the La Plata CITIDAD Foundation, Perspectiva Social in Córdoba, Ariadna Civil Association in San Miguel de Tucumán, and CENARESO in the City of Buenos Aires.
Regarding the study’s conclusions, Vila stated: “A better understanding of people´s sexual and drug use behavior will improve the design of preventative and assistance strategies for diminishing the incidence of HIV in these populations.”
Intercambios Civil Association participated in the chapter on Latin America
A book analyzes the consequences of the war on drugs
With the objective of presenting international evidence on the effects of the "War on Drugs" at the High Level Meeting in Vienna, the International Harm Reduction Development Program of the Open Society Institute published in March "At What Cost?" The book analyzes the impact that the global war on drugs has on human rights and HIV.
The title "At What Cost? HIV and Human Rights Consequences of the Global ‘War on Drugs’", anticipates its content: the consequences of the war on drugs highlighted by the violation of human rights of drug users and cultivators as well as the particular impact of the HIV epidemic. The book contains information about the cruel punishments or neglect suffered by drug users in the countries of Southeast Asia, Central Asia, China, India, Russia and Pakistan.
Effects on the Region
There is a chapter devoted to analyzing what the "War on Drugs" has meant for the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in the last decade. This chapter, written by Diana Rossi, Shana Harris, and Marcela Vitarelli Batista of Intercambios Civil Association, focuses on the influence of U.S. policy on the definitions of drug policies in the region.
They discuss the effects of the plans to eradicate the cultivation of crops such as coca; the evidence of their failure; and punitive approaches to drug users, which hardly resulted in a decline in drugs demand. Rather, they moved drug users away from the healthcare system, thus increasing the conditions for the transmission of infections such as HIV.
New approaches
Finally, they show some changes with regards to the direction of public drug policies that began to emerge in Bolivia, Uruguay, Ecuador, Brazil, and Argentina, which tend to include harm reduction in state actions with respect to drug use.
BRIEFS
Honoris Causa.
Renowned colleague, Eduardo Menéndez, has been awarded honoris causa doctorate by the Universitat Rovira i Virgili of Tarragona, by proposal of the Department of Anthropology, Philosophy, and Social Work. Menéndez, an Argentine and top level researcher at the CIESAS Center (Tlalpan, Mexico) is one of the founders of International Medical Anthropology. He has published some twenty books and hundreds of articles and book chapters that have been benchmark in the medical anthropology of Latin America as well as Southern Europe. Intercambios Civil Association celebrates this deserved acknowledgement to a master.
TRAINING
Social Construction of the Drug Problem
Once again, starting from April 22, Intercambios Civil Association and Punto Seguido will conduct the on-line course, "The social Construction of the Drug Problem: Uses, Practices, Policies and Interventions." The academic coordination is led by Graciela Touzé, and the teaching team consists of Alejandro Corda, Paula Goltzman, Maria Pía Pawlowicz, Graciela Touzé, and Marcelo Vila. For more information:
www.puntoseguido.com and
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AGENDA
20th IHRA International Conference: "Harm Reduction and Human Rights"
Bangkok, Thailand, April 19-23, 2009
http://www.ihra.net/Thailand/Home
V Latin American and Caribbean Forum on HIV/AIDS and STIs
Lima, Peru, June 22-26, 2009
http://www.forovih2009.org.pe
International Conference "Traditional Medicine, Interculturality and Mental Health"
Tarapoto - San Martin - PERU, June 7-10, 2009
http://www.takiwasi.com/congreso2009/
V Latin Conference on Harm Reduction
Porto, Portugal, July 1-4, 2009
http://www.clat5.org/
Intercambios Asociación Civil . Corrientes 2548 2º D 1046, Buenos Aires, Argentina . Telefax: 54 11 49547272
www.intercambios.org.ar .
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Intercambiando se produce con el apoyo del Open Society Institute
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