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!

Public discussion of harm reduction in Poland – especially the country’s attitude to injecting drug users – is stuck in the 1990s. Read what needs to be done, in terms of the realities described by Polish drug policy experts, to save lives and lower the costs of treating users.

On 6-10 July, 2015, fifteen activists participated in video advocacy training provided by the HCLU and the Indonesian Drug Users’ Network (PKNI) in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Folosirea în comun a echipamentului de injectare de către consumatorii de droguri duce la răspândirea bolilor infecțioase precum hepatita C sau HIV. Persoanele care locuiesc în zonele respective nu privesc cu ochi buni seringile aruncate pe stradă. Soluția nu poate veni de la poliție – arestarea persoanelor care consumă droguri nu reduce numărul acestor, ci îi împinge către comportamente mai riscante și la aruncarea seringilor cât rapid după folosire. Vechile metode de luptă împotriva problemelor legate de droguri nu funcționează. Aceasta este o campanie de găsire a unor noi soluții – de a fa…

Zdieľanie pomôcok na injikovanie medzi ľuďmi, ktorí injekčne užívajú drogy vedie k infekciám, akými sú hepatitída typu C alebo HIV. Pohodené striekačky sú na ulici nevítaní hostia a spôsobujú nevôľu okolitým obyvateľom. Riešenie však neleží v rukách polície – zatýkanie ľudí, ktorí užívajú drogy nepomôže znížiť počet užívateľov drog. Naopak, núti ich užívať drogy rizikovejším spôsobom a použité striekačky zahodiť čo najskôr po použití. Starý spôsob boja proti drogám nefunguje. Toto je kampaň pre nové riešenia – toto je Room for Change (Miesto pre zmenu).

Razmena pribora za injektiranje među korisnicima droga dovodi do širenja krvno prenosivih infekcija, kao što su Hepatitis C ili HIV. Bačene igle po ulicama izazivaju gađenje sugrađana. Rešenje ovog problema se ne nalazi u rukama policije – privođenje osoba koje koriste drogu ne smanjuje broj korisnika droga, već ih navodi da droge koriste na mnogo rizičniji način, kao i da što pre bace iskorišćen pribor za injektiranje. Tradicionalne metode borbe protiv droga nemaju efekta. Ova kampanja je namenjena pronalaženju novih rešenja – da se napravi mesto za promenu.

Sharing of injecting equipment by people who use drugs leads to infections, such as Hepatitis C or HIV. Discarded needles on the streets are not welcomed by people who live in the area. The solution does not lie in the hands of the police – arresting people who use drugs does not reduce the number of drug users, but pushes them to use in a more risky way, and to discard their needles as soon as possible. The old ways of fighting drug problems don’t work. This is a campaign to find new solutions – to provide room for change.

A partilha de material entre utilizadores de drogas pode levar a infeções, como a Hepatite C e o VIH. As seringas deixadas no chão não são bem vistas pelos habitantes de determinadas zonas. A solução não passa pela intervenção das forças policiais e a detenção dos utilizadores de drogas não reduz o consumo. Na verdade, pode levar as pessoas a consumos mais perigosos e a pensar que se devem ver livres das seringas o mais depressa possível. Os métodos antigos de combate às drogas já não são eficazes. Esta é uma campanha para se encontrarem novas soluções e promover uma mudança.

Η ανταλλαγή εξοπλισμού συριγγών από άτομα που χρησιμοποιούν φάρμακα οδηγεί σε λοιμώξεις, όπως Ηπατίτιδα C ή HIV. Οι σύριγγες που αφήνονται στους δρόμους δεν είναι ευπρόσδεκτες από τους ανθρώπους που ζουν στην περιοχή. Η λύση δεν βρίσκεται στα χέρια της αστυνομίας – η σύλληψη ατόμων που χρησιμοποιούν ουσίες δεν μειώνει τον αριθμό των χρηστών, αλλά τους εξωθεί να κα΄νουν χρήση με πιο ριψοκίνδυνους τρόπους, και να ξεφορτωθούν τις βελόνες τους όσο το δυνατόν πιο γρήγορα. Οι πιο παλιοί τρόποι καταπολέμησης των προβλημάτων των ναρκωτικών δεν έχουν αποτέλεσμα. Αυτή είναι μια καμπάνια προκειμένου να…

Drugreporter, in cooperation with seven other NGOs, proudly presents the new international campaign Room for Change—because we need to change the way we respond to urban drug problems.