István Gábor Takács is a human rights activist, videographer and trainer. He ran the Video Advocacy Program of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union between 2007-2015. He worked as a needle exchange program counselor for 5 years. He is author of several articles on harm reduction and cameraman, editor, director and co-director of more than 700 online videos, among them longer documentaries, such as “Kostya Proletarsky” (2020), “Taking Back What’s Ours: An Oral History of the Movement of People who Use Drugs” (2020) ”A Day in the Life: The World of Humans Who Use Drugs” (2016), “Without Rights” (2009), “Without a Chance” (2014), “Room in the 8th District” (2014) and “The Invisible” (2011). Since 2016 he works at the Rights Reporter Foundation, where besides producing films, he is training activists in video advocacy.
How can international human rights standards influence real-world drug policy reforms? From the abolition of the death penalty for drug offences in Pakistan to policy changes in Latin America and beyond, Drugreporter’s new short film explores how experts, activists, and policymakers have used the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy to advocate for more humane and evidence-based approaches around the world.
In April 2026, drug user organizations, human rights advocates, researchers, and policymakers from across the Nordic region gathered in Oslo for the conference Nordic Mobilization on Human Rights and Drug Policy. The event marked the launch of a new Nordic network committed to promoting drug policies based on human rights, democracy, public health, and social justice.
At ICPR 2024, we talked to psychologist and psychotherapist Marc B. Aixalà about how so-called “bad trips” can be reframed as difficult but potentially transformative experiences, and the importance of integration in psychedelic therapy.
On 7 May 2026, PAREA convened the first European Forum of National Psychedelic Societies in Brussels, bringing together representatives from organisations in 25 countries working on psychedelic research, policy, and access across Europe. Watch key presentations on the state of psychedelic access in Europe, filmed by Drugreporter.
How could evidence-based psychedelic therapies help address war-related mental health challenges in Ukraine, particularly PTSD among veterans? This was the main question of the European Parliament event held on 6 May, which Drugreporter captured on video in its entirety. Watch the full session now!
As civic space shrinks and organized crime grows, the Nordic countries are at a crossroads. This conference brought together activists, researchers, policymakers, and people who use drugs to discuss solutions rooted in Nordic values. Watch all presentations filmed by Drugreporter here!
Tadeusz Hawrot is the founder of the Psychedelic Access and Research European Alliance (PAREA), a Brussels-based initiative working to prepare Europe for the integration of psychedelic-assisted therapies into healthcare systems. In this interview, he reflects on the policy landscape, regulatory challenges, and the future of access to these emerging treatments in the EU.
With the new EU drug strategy now adopted, key questions remain about its direction and implementation—especially the balance between public health, human rights, and security. We spoke with Anna Dovbakh, Chair of the Civil Society Forum on Drugs, about what the strategy means in practice and the role of civil society moving forward.
A new guidance note by UNAIDS, UNDP, INPUD, Release and HRDP outlines how decriminalizing drug use and possession for personal use can strengthen the global HIV response through more effective, rights-based drug policies.
The global drug control system is under growing pressure, as countries experiment with regulation and long-standing assumptions are being challenged. Martin Jelsma, who is stepping down from the Transnational Institute this year after decades of work, has been at the forefront of these debates. In this interview, we discuss the WHO’s coca review, inter se treaty reform, and what these shifts mean for the future of global drug policy.
