The Drug & Criminal Justice Policy Forum

The global illicit drug trade exists on the order of half a trillion dollars a year while an estimated 250 million people use illicit drugs. Drug offenses in the US and UK are at record levels: ten million Americans are presently in the US Criminal Justice system, more than any other society, while 2.4 million people are employed keeping them there, more than Wal-Mart and McDonald's combined, America's two largest private employers. This system consumes $212 billion a year, and has spent over 1 Trillion since its inception, yet still there is no notable decrease in either usage or supply. It begs the question: Is the war on drugs working? Edited by Charles Shaw and supported by the Tedworth Trust , the openDemocracy Drug & Criminal Justice Policy Forum will frame the stories of drug policy and criminal justice reform, and bring the human arguments into the policy agenda. From the street corner to the poppy field, we will present an ongoing dialogue that focuses on the various issues regarding prohibition and crafting a saner international drug & criminal justice policy, and more importantly, culture.

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of July 4th 2011

We lead this weeks Report with news that the Bolivian government has formally notified the UN Secretary General of its withdrawal from the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. In other news, we look at the relationship between torture and drugs, and explore the Russian Government's counterproductive drug policies ~ MW & CS

The Exile Nation Project: Amy Ralston Povah (Pt. 2)

In Part II of her interview, Amy relays the horrors of her arrest and prosecution, the 9 years she spent in prison, and her long and arduous journey to eventually win clemency in 2000 from President Clinton.

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of June 26th 2011

We lead this week with the release of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime 'World Drug Report', revealing a rise in consumption of synthetic and prescription drugs. In other news we reflect on the likely withdrawal of Bolivia from the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and travel with Al Jazeera to the front line of Mexico's war on drugs ~ MW & CS

The Human Cost of "War on Drugs"

50 years of criminalisation of drugs and 40 years of blatant failure of “war on drugs” has only made the problem worse. Policy makers must listen to the real victims: the people on the front lines

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of June 21st 2011

We lead this week with an excerpt from the documentary film, The Exile Nation Project - by our very own Charles Shaw. In 1991 Amy Ralston Povah was sentenced to 24 years in Federal prison. Her only crime was being divorced from an alleged "drug kingpin." In this two-part interview, Amy relays the horrors of her arrest and prosecution, the 9 years she spent in prison, and her long and arduous journey to eventually win clemency in 2000 from President Clinton ~ MW & CS

The Exile Nation Project - Former Federal prisoner Amy Ralston Povah

In 1991 Amy Ralson Povah was sentenced to 24 years in Federal prison for a crime she did not commit. An incredible look inside the ruthless and craven nature of the DEA and US Department of Justice.

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of June 12th 2011

The Wire has been described by many critics as the greatest television series ever made and it has been praised for its realistic portrayal of urban life - especially the war on drugs. We lead this week’s Drug Policy Report with an excellent HCLU interview by Peter Sarosi with Sonja Sohn, who plays Detective Kima Greggs ~ MW & CS

HIV/AIDS at the UN: Battleground of the war on drugs

Numerous campaigns have recently called for a fundamental rethink of global drugs policy and for the urgent scale up of HIV prevention for people who inject drugs. Harm Reduction International’s Damon Barrett is of the view that the UN High Level Meeting on AIDS will show just how far from reasoned drug polices we really are.

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of June 4th 2011

With much attention focused this week on the landmark Global Commission Report, the Drug Policy Report takes a look at the week's other stories, leading with the disquieting news that Iran is to hang 300 for drug trafficking -starkly illustrating the urgent need for the Commission's call for a global paradigm shift ~ MW & CS

Drug Policy Forum Special Report - The Global Commission on Drug Policy

On Thursday the Global Commission on Drug Policy released a groundbreaking report condemning the drug war as a failure and recommending major reforms of the global drug prohibition regime. In this Special Edition of the Drug Policy Forum, we take a look at the global media response and highlight the key issues ~ MW & CS

Drugs, the Death Penalty and a Cautionary Tale for Governments

The harrowing struggle to spare a young Australian named Scott Rush from the firing squad in Indonesia appears to be over. But now Rush’s own government should confront its role in the case to avoid exposing people to similar dangers in the future.

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of May 23rd 2011

We lead this weeks Report with news of a landmark ruling by the US Supreme Court to reduce California's severe prison overcrowding, held to have directly contributed to unconstitutional conditions which are not only unsafe but overly costly ~ MW & CS

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of May 16th 2010

We lead this weeks report with a message from the Drug Policy Alliance's Executive Director, Ethan Nadelmann, on the correlation between America's 40th anniversary of the war on drugs and prohibition related violence in Mexico. Ethan also discusses President Obama and recent U.S. medical marijuana raids ~ MW & CS

oD Drug Policy Forum: Front Line Report - Week of May 9th 2011

This week we lead with news that as tens of thousands of people in Mexico take to the streets to demand an end to the war on drugs, a coalition of nearly two dozen organizations in the United States have signed an open letter supporting the protesters’ calls for a new strategy ~ MW & CS

The Exile Nation Project: Christian Parenti on American Incarceration

In this excerpt from his interview for The Exile Nation Project, Parenti describes what has changed in the twelve years since the publication of his seminal work on police and prisons, "Lockdown America."

Follow Charles Shaw on Twitter

Charles Shaw on Twitter

Follow Charles Shaw, author of the Exile Nation Project, on Twitter

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