Launched in January 2008, the Open Society Institute’s 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 strives to engage and support drug policy experts, economists, and other professionals 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 human rights. 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’s main objective is to infuse a more balanced approach into international drug policy that incorporates a greater focus on public health and human rights.
An advocacy and grant-giving program, the Global Drug Policy Program has eight focus areas:
- advocating against the incarceration or forced institutionalization of drug users who have not committed crimes;
- supporting 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;
- demanding effective and humane treatment of drug users inside prison and out, and insisting on better UN guidelines for defining evidence-based drug treatment;
- promoting the need for countries to escape the U.S./UN diktat of a "drug-free world" and illustrating the need for countries to have greater flexibility to implement local or regional solutions;
- supporting more in-depth economic analysis on drug-related issues;
- focusing on law enforcement strategies, highlighting examples of best practice as well as human rights violations;
- scaling up public education initiatives and marketing to reach previously untapped audiences;
- building and supporting the network of drug user advocates to strengthen the international drug policy debate.
The Global Drug Policy Program cooperates with other Open Society Institute initiatives, including the Central Eurasia Project, the Latin America Program, and the International Harm Reduction Development 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 the Open Society Institute.
Contact Information
Global Drug Policy Program
Open Society Institute
c/o Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights
ul. Zgoda 11, 00-018
Warsaw, Poland
gdrugpolicy@sorosny.org
