Launched in January 2008, the Open Society Institute Global Drug Policy Program aims to broaden, diversify, and consolidate the network of like-minded organizations that are actively challenging the current state of international drug policy. The program aims to engage drug policy experts, economists, and other related professionals and support them as they analyze and publicize the effects of drug policy on public health, human rights, national security, and the economy.

The Global Drug Policy Program stems from the notion that the “war on drugs” is actually a “war on drug users” that violates the human rights of individuals and communities. Furthermore, current policies related to the “war on drugs” undermine HIV prevention efforts, fuel organized crime and corruption, damage fragile economies, and inhibit countries from implementing progressive and pragmatic drug control policies.

The program will evaluate and quantify current issues related to international drug policy so that detailed and practical alternatives that are less harmful to society as a whole can be proposed to those responsible for implementing policy. The main objective of the Global Drug Policy Program is to infuse a more balanced approach into international drug policy that incorporates a greater focus on public health and human rights. The program is dedicated to utilizing scientific evidence and input from organizations and individuals engaged in and affected by drug use and drug policy in the development of policy recommendations.

The Global Drug Policy Program has four specific focus areas and directions for advocacy. The program will:

• advocate against incarceration or forced institutionalization of drug users who have not committed crimes;
• support debates that question forced eradication, seizure, and interdiction measures that violate civil liberties or undermine democracy, and in some cases threaten security and stability within nations;
• demand effective and humane treatment of drug users inside prison and out, and insist on better UN guidelines on defining evidence-based drug treatment; and
• promote the need for countries to escape the US/UN diktat of a “drug-free world” and illustrate the need for countries to have greater flexibility to implement local or regional solutions.

The Global Drug Policy Program cooperates with other OSI programs, including the Central Eurasia Project, the Latin America Program, and the International Harm Reduction Program. The program also supports and collaborates with a full spectrum of like-minded international, regional, national, and local organizations, including some that are already being funded by OSI.

Contact Information

Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch
Director, Global Drug Policy Program
Open Society Institute
C/O Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
Ul. Zgoda 11, 00-018 Warsaw, Poland
kmalinowska@sorosny.org
+48 22 556 44 57