Péter Sárosi is the Executive Director of the Rights Reporter Foundation. He is a human rights activist and drug policy expert, the founder and editor of the Drugreporter website since 2004, the author of countless articles, co-author of books and director of films about harm reduction and drug policy reform. He was the Director of the Drug Policy Program at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union between 2004 and 2015. He is experienced in working at international drug policy forums such as the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. He was twice elected to the Core Group of the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs. He is the co-chair of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network. He has been representing the Hungarian Harm Reduction Network at the government’s drug advisory body in Hungary since 2007. Peter also contributed to building a network of advocacy NGOs in Europe: the European Drug Policy Initiative. He provided technical assistance to several NGOs, and launched several campaigns on drug policy reform. As a member of the Drugreporter video advocacy team, he has produced videos about drug policy issues in a number of countries. These videos are now part of a unique online drug policy video library.
President Duterte has given law enforcement agents licence, with impunity, to kill hundreds of drug suspects in the Philippines. This clearly breaches human rights conventions, as well as the drug control principles adopted by member states at the UNGASS on drugs in April. The international community must stand up and give teeth to its own laws and conventions!
The Pride movement is about fighting social exclusion and discrimination – but what if the Pride organisers themselves exclude and discriminate against those who are in the greatest need of support – LGBTI sex workers? This is what happened in Budapest, where a workshop on sex work was banned from the festival.
The exclusion of non-governmental representatives from the UN High-Level Meeting on AIDS is not an isolated incident, but part of a global crackdown on civil society. To fight back, we need to understand the crucial role of NGOs in policy development.
The research with psychedelic drugs can change our understanding of the human mind. Watch our video report from the International Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research! Watch some of the key presentations too!
Medical cannabis activists formed an alliance with a political party, in order to contest the parliamentary elections in Serbia. Read Irena Molnar’s report from Belgrade, and watch the video!
After a long gestation, the UN drug reform experiment suffered a miscarriage. It seems the UN is not the catalyst of change but its mirror. Reformers can learn many lessons – but can also be proud of their achievements.
The UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs (UNGASS) adopted the outcome document without a debate, right before the real discussion could have started.