Program: Global Drug Policy Program

Voices September 28, 2020 Karyn Kaplan & Khine Su Win

Farmers in Myanmar Call for Justice

A new report, produced by opium farmers themselves, highlights the urgent need to reform an antidrug policy regime that all too often leaves families vulnerable to coercion, corruption, and brutal exploitation.

Voices July 21, 2020 Giada Girelli

Incarceration Should Not Be a Death Sentence

Despite earlier promises to fight the spread of COVID-19 by reducing the number of nonviolent offenders in jails and prisons, governments worldwide are dragging their feet and prioritizing the drug war ahead of public health.

Voices July 7, 2020

How Authoritarianism Fuels the War on Drugs

While the world’s attention has shifted to the COVID-19 pandemic, the harms and injustices of the “war on drugs” are not only continuing; they’re being intensified. What can civil society reformers do in response?

Voices March 3, 2020

How Can We Help the Children of Incarcerated Parents?

Some of the most neglected victims of the war on drugs are the families and children of those who are incarcerated because of nonviolent drug offenses. A new report outlines the problem and presents research-driven solutions.

Voices October 8, 2019 Mame Bougouma Diene & Simon Woolley

The Uncounted Victims of the War on Drugs

It’s time for policymakers, civil society, and the public at large to have a serious conversation about the racialization of antidrug policy. Getting reliable data is a crucial first step.

Voices July 29, 2019

How Racism and Inequality Are Influencing the Rise of Legalized Cannabis in the United States

As the legal cannabis industry in the United States continues its explosive growth, a new documentary raises challenging but vital questions about the interaction between drug policy, racism, mass incarceration, and justice.

Voices June 19, 2019 Estefanny Sessa

We Must Not Forget the Children of the Incarcerated

As a new report shows, draconian anti-drug policies in Latin America don’t just harm people who use or sell substances; they harm the children and families of the incarcerated, too. Thankfully, there’s a better way.

Voices January 24, 2019

The Consequences of Rising Female Incarceration Rates in Latin America

Punitive drug laws are the driving force behind women’s imprisonment, but two organizations are working together to reverse the trend.

Voices December 14, 2018 Diego Garcia-Sayan

A Pivotal Decade for the Movement to End the “War on Drugs”

Over the past decade, Open Society’s Global Drug Policy Program has supported reformers all over the world as they organize against the worst effects of the failed “war on drugs.” The future is bright, but challenges remain.

Voices July 26, 2018 Giada Girelli

Sri Lanka Should Think Twice Before Copying Duterte’s Vicious Drug War

While the world moves on, Sri Lanka continues to drift toward the brutal and criminal “war on drugs” policies championed by the Philippines’ strongman. These heinous policies must be abandoned—before it’s too late.

Voices July 2, 2018

With the Museum of Drug Policy, Artists and Activists Push for Reform

A panel of activists and artists discuss creative ways to effect change through immersive events.

Voices May 29, 2018

The Future of Coca Industrialization in Colombia

A new report looks at the coca leaf as a legal agricultural product and presents challenges, opportunities, and parameters for a legal system to expand coca industrialization.

Voices May 22, 2018 David Restrepo

How a New Approach to Coca Will Strengthen Colombia’s Democracy

A new report shows how, after decades of needless destruction, a grassroots movement in Colombia is breaking from the failed “war on drugs” and devising new strategies for increasing prosperity and strengthening peace.

Voices April 16, 2018

Latin America’s Fake News Problem

In advance of the 2018 democratic presidential elections in five Latin American countries, experts discussed how Brexit, the 2016 U.S. election, and the alarming rise of post-truth politics might affect the outcome.

Voices February 14, 2018 Katerina Gogova

How Macedonia’s Bureaucracy Is Failing Young People

Too many of the country’s institutions are simply not equipped with the medicine, expertise, or guidance they need to help young people who are using drugs.

Voices October 18, 2017 Matthew Wilson & Joy Chia

The World Must Learn from Hong Kong’s Example

While many policymakers work to control heroin dependence, Hong Kong stands out. A new report explains why—and offers lessons to public officials hoping to follow its example.

Voices May 4, 2017 Constanza Sánchez Avilés & Andrea Langlois

A Small Case in Spain Is a Big Victory for Smarter Drug Policy

A ruling in Catalonia opens the door to legitimizing ancestral use of the coca leaf.

Voices March 27, 2017 Kasia Malinowska

Busting the Drug Addiction Myth

Dr. Carl Hart has spent his career studying the effects of drugs on the human brain. The science shows us that a fear-based approach to fighting addiction is misleading and often harmful.

Voices March 13, 2017 Nicholas Spiers & Litay Ortega

Envisioning a New Approach to a Sacred Mexican Plant

A video series explores the complicated story behind Salvia divinorum—one of the most revered, and widely misunderstood, psychotropic plants.

Voices February 21, 2017 David Mansfield

A Flourishing in the Deserts of Afghanistan. But for How Long?

A photo exhibition looks at the human stories driving a tenuous environmental revolution in Afghanistan.

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