An interview with Anton Basenko, chair of the Ukrainian Network of People Who Use Drugs

The new German coalition government has announced its intention to legalise the use of cannabis and to create a strict regulatory system for the recreational cannabis market. There are few details known about how this system will operate in reality. We interviewed Georg Wurth, the chairman of the German Cannabis Association, to gain some insight into the political process.

The Maltese government launched a public consultation on a White Paper, proposing the full decriminalisation of the possession of up to 7 grams of cannabis. In this episode of Drugreporter Café, we discuss the chances of cannabis reform with Cyrus Engerer, a Member of the European Parliament, a politican representing the Maltese Labour Party, and Andrew Bonello, the president of ReLeaf, a cannabis reform NGO from the island.

What drugs people use in the remote island of Iceland? Is the Icelandic prevention model really a miracle? Why decision makers decided to introduce a drug consumption room and decriminalise drug use? Learn it from this episode of Drugreporter Café!

The Colombian government announced that it will restart is controversial aerial fumigation program to eradicate coca fields. But does it provide any alternative livelihood to coca farmers? Did it fulfil its promises to support poor rural communities? And what do we know about the risks of forced eradication on public health and the environment? Watch this next episode of Drugreporter Café learn the answers to these questions from our two guests, Isabel Pereira (Dejusticia) and Elizabeth Dickinson (International Crisis Group).

What can we learn from the failures of repressive drug laws? How can we convince the people that they are failed? What are the alternatives of punitive drug policies? A group of NGOs launched a campaign to mark the 50th anniversary of the Misuse of Drugs Act in the UK – and the 100th anniversary of the drug law in Belgium. We discuss lessons learnt with Ester Kincova from Transform and Stéphane Leclercq from Fedito Brussels.

Does LSD microdosing boost your mental health and improve your cognitive performance? How can we measure its effectiveness? In today’s episode of Drugreporter Café, we will discuss the results of the largest self-blinded placebo controlled study on LSD microdosing with its author, Dr. Balázs Szigeti, a researcher of the Imperial College, London.

The Mayor of Amsterdam is planning to ban tourists from buying cannabis in local coffee shops to reduce “over-tourism”. But are cannabis users the real problem? Is a ban effective to stop street nuisance? We discuss these issues with Joachim Helms, a coffee shop owner and cannabis activists, who has alternative ideas about how to improve public health and safety in Amsterdam.

Biotechnological innovations, such as long acting opioid drugs implants and injections, are increasingly marketed – but what are the ethical considerations? We explored this issue in the new episode of Drugreporter Café.

Cannabis legalization is coming to Mexico – but there are debates about how to regulate the market. Watch the lates episode of Drugreporter Café with two local experts, Zara Snapp and Lorena Beltran!