International Drug Policy Consortium Reports
The Beckley Foundation, and the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), which it is hosting, propose to produce and publish a number of reports in 2008, including on Interdiction and Trafficking Behavior, Effectiveness of Preventive Interventions, Drug Policy and Human Rights, a report responding to the World Drug Report, an IDPC advocacy guide to UNGASS and a comparison of data across geographic regions.
A number of reports will be translated into Russian, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. IDPC proposes to expand its network of members by holding its annual meeting, expanding its website, publishing and disseminating a bi-monthly email newsletter, occasional meetings and workshops. IDPC advocacy targets will continue to be officials and policy makers and officials of international agencies. Advocacy efforts will be carried out on regional basis with four areas: Europe, South and South-East Asia, Australasia, and Latin America.
Promoting and Advocating the Findings of the Global Cannabis Commission Report
In October 2008, the Beckley Foundation published the Global Cannabis Commission Report and arranged a two-day seminar at the House of Lords. Attended by world drug policy experts, this event attracted significant media attention and was widely regarded as a success within the debate on rational drug policy.
The report points out that present regulation is in fact a cause of far-reaching social damage and leads to a number of human rights violations, funds organized crime, and encourages discrimination. It also contains a large amount of pioneering research, focusing on the medical benefits of certain illegal drugs. It argues that if cannabis were to be rescheduled under the international drugs law, the entire war on drugs could be called into question as the percentage of the world's population would then be too small to justify its vast expenditures. The five authors of the report, professors Robin Room, Peter Reuter, Simon Lenton, Wayne Hall, and Benedikt Fischer, are among the most prominent international drug policy experts.
Building on their successes, the foundation intends to further promote and disseminate this report and to bring together countries interested in reforming their cannabis policies by encouraging them to adopt the report's recommendations at both the international and national level.