International Drug Policy Consortium

04/08/2026

Ghana's drug law reform opened the door to a fairer drug policy, but that promise will not be realised until courts, health services and communities work in tandem to ensure correct implementation.

Diverting people from conviction, funding harm reduction, providing gender-responsive services, and ensuring the meaningful participation of affected communities are all essential pathways towards a health and rights approach.

IDPC's Maria-Goretti Ane joined a recent training to ensure changes in legislation do not remain on paper, but transform the way people are treated.

Health, justice and civil society actors examined how Ghana can turn Act 1019 into effective harm reduction services, alternatives to punishment, and rights-based practices.

03/08/2026

At a time of shrinking civic space, funding pressures and renewed punitive narratives, strong movement infrastructure matters more than ever. IDPC will continue strengthening our network, protecting hard-won progress and ensuring that affected communities remain at the heart of drug policy reform.

Board Chair Tomás Chang Pico reflects on IDPC’s journey, leadership transition, and the road ahead:

As IDPC marks its twentieth anniversary, the Board celebrates Ann Fordham’s transformative leadership and welcomes Jamie Bridge and Marie Nougier to guide the network’s next chapter.

01/08/2026

Drug control cannot justify extrajudicial ex*****ons.

The Washington Office on Latin America - WOLA documents 221 deaths in the United States' boat strikes campaign against so-called 'narcoterrorism' since September 2025, arguing that these attacks amount to unlawful killings.

The strikes must end. Independent investigations must establish responsibility and pave the way toward accountability. And victim's families must be offered truth and remedies.

Read on:

WOLA documents how the US' lethal bombing campaign amounts to extrajudicial ex*****on, has had little impact on co***ne trafficking, and demands an immediate end and accountability.

31/07/2026

The REFORM Project showed the value of training journalists, lawyers, community advocates and policy actors to shift the dial on . But also that capacity development is not enough to trigger institutional reform.

Durable change requires coalition-building, formal mechanisms of civil society engagement, practical implementation guidance, and political leadership. The institutional and relational enablers of these pathways cannot be developed through short project cycles, but rather calls for long-term support and sustained engagement.

Read on the lessons from the REFORM project at:

The REFORM project demonstrated how community leadership, legal empowerment and media engagement can create mutually reinforcing pathways to advance health and rights-based drug policies.

30/07/2026

The World Drug Report 2026, launched a month ago, provides extensive evidence of growing drug markets, drug-related deaths, health harms and mass criminalisation, but stops short of interrogating the policy implications of the global drug control regime's clear failure.

Moreover, the report is highly limited in its consideration of the human rights impacts of punitive drug policies, leaving out of the picture the many pathways for redress that the UN system has outlined elsewhere: investment in harm reduction, implementation of decriminalisation and moves toward responsibly regulated drug markets, support for community leadership.

Data is fundamental, but obscuring the socio-structural barriers that underlie this ongoing disaster — and the credible alternatives to punitive enforcement that could subvert them — does a disservice to the very purpose of the UN system.

Read on:

The publication provides compelling evidence of the failures of punitive drug policies, but sorely lacks engagement with harm reduction, decriminalisation, responsible regulation and other evidence-based alternatives.

29/07/2026

Hope in is not passive optimism, but a commitment we practice.

After 15 years leading the International Drug Policy Consortium, Ann Fordham reflects on organising through setbacks and the relationships that sustain our movement.

After nearly 18 years at the helm of IDPC, Ann Fordham shares a farewell message celebrating the courage, solidarity and joy of the drug policy reform movement.

27/07/2026

The recent launch of the put into sharp relief competing visions of international drug policy. While some prioritised tougher enforcement, others emphasised health, rights and dignity for all.

Full transcript and recording on the : https://cndblog.org/2026/06/cnd-chairs-special-event-to-commemorate-the-international-day-against-drug-abuse-and-illicit-trafficking-and-to-launch-the-2026-unodc-world-drug-report/

23/07/2026

Thailand’s punitive drug laws are driving prison overcrowding and coercive treatment. A harm reduction approach centres health, rights and community leadership.

Read IDPC's joint statement at the Dialogue with the UNSR on the Right to Health — :

Criminal penalties for drug use and possession continue to drive prison overcrowding and coercive treatment in Thailand, undermining health, dignity and access to care.

21/07/2026

At the launch of the 2026 World Drug Report, published by UNODC - United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, governments and civil society underscored the harms of punitive approaches and called for responses that centre support, harm reduction and human rights.

Read the transcript & access the recording on the : https://cndblog.org/2026/06/cnd-chairs-special-event-to-commemorate-the-international-day-against-drug-abuse-and-illicit-trafficking-and-to-launch-the-2026-unodc-world-drug-report/

20/07/2026

The death penalty is an extremely punitive response for which drug offences do not meet the established international criteria. With partners around the world, we call for an immediate moratorium toward full abolition!

IDPC's recent joint statement at , led by Harm Reduction International

Drug offences account for almost half of all confirmed ex*****ons worldwide, despite failing to meet the international law threshold of the 'most serious crimes'.