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Informal Drug Policy Dialogues

In 2004 the Transnational Institute (TNI) and the Andreas G. Papandreou Foundation (APF) started an Informal Drug Policy Dialogue. Purpose of the dialogues is to have an open-minded exchange of views on current dilemmas in international drug policy making and discuss strategies on how contradictions might be resolved. The meetings are guided by 'Chatham House Rule' to encourage a free exchange of thoughts and confidentiality. In 2007, TNI and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) started a Latin American Informal Drug Policy Dialogue.

  • Latin America Drug Policy Dialogue 2011 Montevideo

    Montevideo, February 17-19, 2011

    hotel-nh-columbia-montevideoThe seventh meeting of the Informal Drug Policy Dialogues in Latin America took place in Montevideo, Uruguay. The first Informal Dialogue also took place in Montevideo in September 2007. The meeting was supported by Uruguay’s National Drug Board (Junta Nacional de Drogas, or JND). The two days of dialogue were divided into four sessions that centered on the following issues: (1) Micro-trafficking and proportionality of sentences; (2) Challenges to reforming drug policies; (3) Marijuana in Latin America: Has the time come to open the debate?; and (4) Options and debates in international and regional organizations. There was also a discussion on the impact of the decriminalization of drug consumption in Portugal.

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  • Latin America Drug Policy Dialogue 2009 Buenos Aires

    Buenos Aires, October 22-24, 2009

    buenos-airesThe sixth meeting was held near Buenos Aires and was organized by WOLA and TNI, and sponsored by the Argentine Government through the Chief of Cabinet and its Scientific Advisory Committee with the support of Intercambios. Participants included people involved in the reform processes of national and international legal instruments related to drug issues. Debates centered on three key areas: (1) Reforms in policies regarding the prevention and treatment of problematic use of substances; the future of Harm Reduction programs in Latin America; (2) Decriminalization of possession; limits to and extent of current penal reforms; and (3) Legal reforms in the international arena: the case of the coca leaf.

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  • Latin America Drug Policy Dialogue 2009 Rio de Janeiro

    Rio de Janeiro, February 26-28, 2009

    rio-largo-do-machadoThe fifth meeting of the Informal Drug Policy Dialogues in Latin America took place in Rio de Janeiro, and was organized by WOLA and TNI, in cooperation with the Department of Mental Health of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Justice of Brazil. The discussion focused on the UNGASS review process and the Political Declaration to be adopted at the high-level segment of the 52nd session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna on March 11-12, 2009. The dialogue focused on three key issues: (1) Latin American Perspectives on the Political Declaration; (2) The Effectiveness of the Conventions: The Case of Latin America; and (3) Human Rights and Policies Related to Drug Law Enforcement.

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  • Latin America Drug Policy Dialogue 2008 Cochabamba

    Cochabamba, 29-30 August 2008

    The fourth meeting in the series of Informal Drug Policy Dialogues in Latin America was held in Cochabamba and was organised by WOLA and TNI with the support of the Government of Bolivia, in coordination with CONALTID (Ministry of Foreign Relations). People who are directly or indirectly involved in the debates on current policies participated in the meeting. Three sessions covered the following topics: (1) Progress and Challenges in the UNGASS Review Reflection Period; (2) Coca Leaf and Integrated and Sustainable Development: What are the options for the future? (3) No Escape? The Prison Problem and Drug Policy in Latin America: proposals for change.

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  • Latin America Drug Policy Dialogue 2008 Quito

    Quito, February 21-23, 2008

    sangolquiThe third meeting of the Informal Dialogue on Drug Policy in Latin America took place in Quito and was organized with the support of the Ministry of Internal and External Security and the Ministry of Government of Ecuador. It focused on the evaluation of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs in 2008 and 2009, and the high level meeting of the Commission on Narcotics Drugs (CND) in March 2009. The dialogue had four sessions: (1) From the Andean Initiative to Plan Colombia (1989-2005); (2) Perspectives for Latin America in the 2008 – 2009 UNGASS review; (3) Criminal justice, the prison system and drugs: a human rights perspectives; (4) Proposals and strategies for the 2008-2009 reflection period and for the UNGASS review.

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  • Latin America Drug Policy Dialogue 2007 Montevideo

    Montevideo, September 10-12, 2007

    montevideoThe first meeting of the Informal Dialogue on Drugs Policy in Latin America took place in Montevideo, Uruguay. The meeting had the support of the National Drugs Council in Uruguay (Junta Nacional de Drogas or JND). Twenty-five people took part from eight countries in Latin America, Europe and the US. Three sessions centred around: (1) Consumption of base paste and crack in the South of Latin America; scientific and political responses. (2) Overview of the UNGASS review and evaluation process for the period 2008/2009, and discussion of the contributions from the point of view and practices of Latin American countries. (3) The prison problem in the region associated with drug related crimes: realities, problems and proposals.

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    informal drug policy dialogues

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