The Rights Reporter Foundation (RRF) was founded in 2014 by Hungarian human rights activists to improve the human rights situation of vulnerable populations, such as drug users and sex workers, through public education and advocacy. RRF is a newly created NGO but took over the Drugreporter brand, website and its experience video advocacy team from the HCLU, that has a decade-long experience in advocating for drug policy reform and harm reduction in global, regional and national level. We launched several international campaigns, produced hundreds of short videos on drug policy and edit one of the most popular drug policy websites.

Rights Reporter Foundation (RRF) fue fundada en 2014 por activistas húngaros derechos humanos para mejorar la situación de los derechos humanos de las poblaciones vulnerables, como los consumidores de drogas y los trabajadores sexuales, a través de la educación pública y la promoción.

Rights Reporter Foundation (RRF) a été fondée en 2014 par des militants hongrois en faveur des droits humains pour améliorer la situation des populations vulnérables tels que les utilisateurs de drogues et les travailleurs du sexe, par l'éducation du public et la défense des droits de l'homme.

Rights Reporter Foundation

At its bi-annual gathering the European harm reduction movement addressed the multiple challenges of our time: rising populism, shrinking space for civil society, changing drug markets and changing needs of people who use drugs. Watch our film we produced at the conference!

The 6th European Harm Reduction Conference took place at the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland, on 2-4 December 2024. As Alex Lakhov, director of the European Network of People Who Use Drugs (EuroNPUD) mentioned in his speech, to have this conference at this venue, built during Stalin’s years to represent totalitarian power, is a message of defiance. It would make Stalin furious to see that people discuss human rights under the roof of his former palace. Unfortunately it is not only the architecture of totalitarianism that survived but the spirit of Stalin is also alive and well. Civil society activists face the new threats of populism and repressive policies across Europe. The Drugreporter team filmed some key moments and interviewed several participants to learn how harm reductionists respond to new challenges in various European countries – please watch and share our conference video!

The conference marked the 20th anniversary of its main organiser, the Correlation European Harm Reduction Network (C-EHRN). On this occasion, the network published a report with the title “

“, highlighting a selection of key people and organisations. It is my honour that as one of the founder of Drugreporter, I am one of them. Happy birthday Correlation!

Opening Session + Polish Drug Policy: Persistence and determination towards drug law reform and putting people who use drugs at the centre.

Global paradigm shift: navigating human rights in drug policy reform

Medication assisted therapies in EECA: status and progress

Legally grey? Discovering loopholes in the national laws for drug checking services

Scaling up HIV and HCV prevention treatment and care in community-based settings

Think Global, Act Local – the important role of cities in innovating drug policy and practice + Wrap-Up Session

Satellite Event: Dealing with drugs II – Cities and the international pursuit of sensible regulation

How to regulate substances: detailed blueprints for local level experiments

Little things mean a lot: 6h European Harm Reduction Conference video highlights

Drug Consumption Rooms are safe spaces where people can use drugs under hygienic conditions, with support, and without fear of violence or legal repercussions. Today, more than 140 legally-sanctioned DCRs operate in 11 European countries, as well as in Australia, Canada, Mexico and the USA. Join us on a global video tour to discover why they were established, how they support their local communities and how these life-saving harm reduction facilities have evolved over time. Watch the full film co-produced by Drugreporter and Correlation - European Harm Reduction Network.

Drug consumption rooms around the world - Video

The recent backlash against the decriminalisation of drug use is a worrying sign of decision-makers’ short-sightedness. We, as a society, need to reconnect with marginalised people and not re-criminalise them.

Just four years after voters in Oregon approved Measure 110, a law that effectively decriminalised the use of illicit substances, legislators decided to change the law and re-criminalise drug use (

watch our interview with Theishia Naidoo, legal expert of the Drug Policy Alliance

). Furthermore, just one year after the Canadian province of British Columbia launched a 3-year experiment of decriminalising drug use, its government announced a few days ago that it will ban drug use in public spaces again.

In its 

, called decriminalisation “a qiuet revolution”, with a growing number of countries introducing various de facto and de jure alternatives to the criminalisation of drug use. Unfortunately, we cannot take the continuation of this trend for granted. We are now dangerously close to the point when re-criminalisation becomes a new trend, making the public see decriminalisation as a “failed experiment”. This will have a very harmful impact not only in the West but also in other parts of the world, where the proponents of much more repressive policies can use the “they tried it and it did not work” argument against reformers.

Decriminalisation has always been the result of decades-long advocacy efforts by professionals and activists, using arguments informed by both scientific evidence and lived experience. However, the arguments in favour of re-criminalisation are frustratingly shallow. The same old arguments for the war on drugs, which have never been backed up by evidence, are being reloaded and refurbished.

Proponents of re-criminalisation argue that, without a certain “nudge” from the criminal justice system, people who struggle with drug dependence will not be able to access treatment. However, if you look at research evidence on this issue, you will realise that coercion is not effective in boosting access to drug treatment. Furthermore, criminalisation leads to stigma, which is one of the most significant barriers to accessing services among people who use drugs. Police intervention may make people hide their drug use, but claiming that arrests are the only way to get people into treatment is nonsense. 

, the exact opposite is true: “criminalisation results in significant barriers to access to health services.”

Opponents of decriminalisation also argue that decriminalisation has not been successful in reducing drug use and related nuisances. They claim drug use is “out of control” after decriminalisation. This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of what decriminalisation is about. After decades of the war on drugs and its devastating effects on generations of marginalised communities, it is unfair to expect that simply removing criminal sanctions against drug users will magically solve all problems. Despite the decriminalisation of drug use, selling drugs remains illegal (they are out of control indeed, just like they have been before), with heavy consequences for public health and safety. Therefore, although decriminalisation has not led to increased drug use or overdoses, it also has not been able to reverse negative trends. The rise in overdose deaths correlates with a deadly drug toxicity crisis in North America. This crisis is dominated by extremely potent and toxic substances like fentanyl.

I believe that the single most important factor behind re-criminalisation is not a genuine concern for public health or the well-being of people who use drugs. Rather, the re-criminalisation efforts are spurred by the aesthetic concerns of upper- and middle-income people. It is not about social justice but about urban remodelling. It is no surprise that the campaign for re-criminalisation in Oregon was funded by 

 who think that the presence of marginalised people is bad for business. These businessmen realised that criminalisation of drug use would help the police get rid of these people. But people who think that re-criminalising drug use is a solution will be disappointed because the real problem is not drug use.

As a filmmaker, I had the privilege of visiting both Oregon and British Columbia in the past to document the drug situation (for instance, 

). After interviewing several professionals, activists and people with lived experience, I came to the conclusion that cities like Portland or Vancouver do not have a “drug crisis” per se. Instead, they have a social inequality and social exclusion crisis. The real problem is poverty, lack of housing, poor mental health, unresolved childhood trauma and all the suffering that comes with surviving street life. The sad truth is that drug use is the only way to ease this suffering for too many people abandoned by dysfunctional families, dysfunctional education, and dysfunctional healthcare systems.

Middle-class Europeans and Americans like me feel very uncomfortable even witnessing this suffering as passersby. We are disturbed by seeing homeless people scoring a fix in dark alleys and underground locations. Not only because we are disgusted (surely, we are), but also because we feel a certain moral insecurity in our own privileged position. We want to believe that we live in a just world where everyone gets what they deserve. We like to believe that everything we have achieved is because we are talented and virtuous. We are afraid to be reminded that the world we live in is unjust and that if we happened to be born into a less advantaged family, we could end up exactly where they are.

Although concerns about growing homelessness and street drug use can be valid, using the criminal justice system and law enforcement as tools for urban remodelling will lead to a dead end. Decriminalisation is necessary to connect marginalised people who use drugs into society; however, it will not change anything overnight, and it is not sufficient. It needs to be supplemented with a long-term strategy to improve social inclusion, invest in housing and create protected workplaces, educational institutions, treatment centres, and harm reduction programs that are sensitive to the specific needs of local communities. 

 to regulate substance use and provide controlled access to people who struggle with dependence should be introduced.

It is reasonable to expect that innovative social policies, such as decriminalisation or regulation experiments, should be carefully monitored and evaluated. However, these evaluations should be made by professionals, researchers, and people with lived experience. Policymakers should listen to those who present evidence rather than to those who can generate negative press coverage through political and business interests. The evidence is there, 

published by researchers in peer-reviewed papers

, demonstrating that the reform in Oregon has produced positive results. Thanks to Measure 110, more people can access services.

Drug policy reformers and harm reduction advocates should learn from the dangerous trends of re-criminalisation too. Educating the public about what decriminalisation is is just as important as explaining what it is not: it is not a universal panacea (IDPC has 

). We should be careful about using international examples, such as Portugal, to raise false expectations. The public should understand that the main problem is not drug use. The main problem is that large segments of society are traumatised and excluded and feel isolated, alienated, and disconnected. This is what really fuels the so-called “drug crisis”, whether it manifests in overdoses or crime.

I have learnt from Dr. Gabor Mate, a friend and mentor of mine, that trauma is disconnection, and healing from trauma is reconnection to ourselves and others. To live an authentic life and find what the renowned psychologist Viktor Frankl identified as the most important element of happiness: meaning, we need the same healing on a societal level. We, as a society, need to reconnect with marginalised people and not re-criminalise them.

Peter Sarosi

P.s.

There is a joke about a policeman who is patrolling the streets late one night when he sees a drunk man down on all fours, crawling on his hands and knees on the road, searching for something on the ground under the streetlight.

“Hello, what have you lost?” the policeman asks.
“I am searching for my key,” the drunk man answers.
“Ok, I will help you look,” says the policeman and joins the drunkard in his search.

After a while, the policeman asks, “Are you sure, sir, that you dropped your key here?”
“No, actually over there, in front of my house.”
“So why are you searching for it in the street?”
“Because there is more light here.”

When governments design drug policies, they often do the same as this drunk man. They look for an explanation and a solution where there is none. Because they feel more comfortable solving complex social problems with simplistic tools rather than exploring difficult territories where the real solutions lie: to build solidarity, social equality and justice.

Don’t blame decriminalisation for the failure of a hundred years of prohibition

This blog item is a cross-post with the Rights Reporter Foundation and was originally 

The EU’s drug monitoring agency organised a meeting with civil society in Lisbon to discuss future cooperation outlined in its new mandate. Read this short report about the meeting by 

The transformation of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) into a new agency, the European Drug Agency (EUDA), is a major development in European drug policies in 2024. The EMCDDA, the Lisbon-based agency that is in charge of collecting and analysing data about drugs and feeding them to decision makers, received a 

 from the EU Commission and Parliament in June 2023 and will become the EUDA from July 2024. This is more than just a simple name/brand change: the agency will receive considerably more power and budget to support decision makers in three areas: monitoring, preparedness and competence development.

Part of the new EUDA’s mandate is the commitment to establish a new partnership with civil society. In the past, the relationship between the EMCDDA and civil society has traditionally been close and cordial, but rather informal and ad hoc. For example, during the COVID-19 crisis, the EMCDDA organised several online meetings with civil society – including us, Drugreporter – to collect data on drug trends/access to services during lockdown (

we wrote extensively about this issue on Drugreporter

). Now the new mandate has opened the doors for a new opportunity to create a formal platform and mechanism for the EUDA to work more systematically and formally with civil society and community organisations.

As members of the Core Group of the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs (CSFD), the expert group of the European Commission on drug affairs, we were invited by the EMCDDA to Lisbon to discuss how this new partnership may take shape between civil society and the EUDA. The meeting was a hybrid event: other EMCDDA researchers and civil society representatives from several European countries joined us online.

Danilo Ballotta, the EMCDDA’s Principal Drug Policy Analyst, presented the framework created by the new mandate. The document requires the EUDA to work with civil society in three forms: first, with civil society organisations, second, with communities affected by drug crime, and third, with communities of people with lived experience/people who use drugs.

Alexis Goosdeel, the Director of the EMCDDA/EUDA, assured civil society representatives that the process of involvement will be fully transparent and open. It will also facilitate the inclusion of civil society in consultations with third countries and international relations.

On behalf of the CSFD, we presented the work of the working groups of the Forum, including the one I chair on civil society involvement. We pointed out that the CSFD produced several guidelines and studies in recent years that will prove to be very helpful for the EUDA as it designs its own mechanism to work with civil society. For example, our 

Quality Standards for Civil Society Involvement

 report includes recommendations on how to ensure that the engagement is meaningful for both parties.

Civil society representatives pointed out that one of the key barriers identified by our studies is the lack of funding: most organisations have very limited resources for advocacy and consultations with decision makers. Unfortunately EU funding has been significantly curtailed by the EU Commission after the EC JUST Drug Policy Program was ended, with available funding since then having almost exclusively been allocated to supply reduction and drug prevention projects (

). Although Mr. Goosdeel emphasised that the EUDA will not be able to solve the funding crisis, many of us argued that even limited funding from EUDA could make a big difference for us.

According to the mandate, the EUAD will work with civil society in three ways: first, it should provide information to civil society, second, it should create a pool of knowledge, gained from civil society, and third, it should consult with civil society. The EUDA will create a dedicated communications platform, where civil society will be able to submit information. A contact person will be appointed by the Agency to coordinate the dialogue with civil society.

A possible area of cooperation is communications: civil society and the EUDA can mutually support each other to improve the dissemination of their findings and messages among the general population. The EUDA will create a new e-learning educational and training platform, PLATO, as well as a platform to provide information on safer festivals (SAFestivals). These two platforms already provide plenty of opportunities for civil society to feed into the work of the EUDA.

Another important avenue for collaboration between the EUDA and civil society relates to international cooperation (with the UN as well as third countries), for which the EUDA will now have dedicated resources. The EUDA has the opportunity to bring a stronger focus on human rights and health to the positions usually adopted by EU institutions, with support from the CSFD (which has a dedicated working group on international policy) and other civil society representatives.

In fact, a key issue highlighted by civil society as fundamental for the EUDA to push for within its new mandate relates to human rights, in particular the need for a systematic assessment of the impacts of drug policies on the lives, well-being and freedoms of affected communities. And in general, most civil society organisations would like to see more impact assessment of drug policies through 

 (including the negative public health and social impacts of drug control), rather than just focusing on the usual process evaluations (such as how much drugs are seized, or how many people are arrested and incarcerated for drug offences).

For example, when a new substance is brought under control after a risk assessment conducted by the EMCDDA/EUAD, there is no follow up: did the measures taken by governments to respond to new substances reduce access to the drugs or did they only replace one drug with another, potentially more risky, substance? Were the health and social risks identified prior to the reforms reduced in any way? How did government measures affect the drug market overall, and the health and well-being of people who use drugs?

These questions lead us to another urgent, but largely ignored issue: how do we measure the success of supply-side interventions? Unlike with demand and harm reduction interventions, where relatively strict indicators are required, and where health and human rights indicators have slowly started being used by governments in various countries, there is no such thing happening for supply reduction interventions. Civil society representatives present at the meeting made it clear that a human rights impact assessment of supply-side policies was urgently needed, and the EUDA can play a fundamental role in pushing this agenda forward in the coming years.

One thing is clear: civil society, including the International Drug Policy Consortium and Rights Reporter Foundation, stand ready to support the EUDA as it is delineating the framework of their new mandate. At a time where the EU is shifting towards a 

, the EUDA will surely play a key role in ensuring that EU drug policy continues to prioritise health, social justice and human rights as its core – and this will only be possible with the strong and meaningful participation of civil society and communities.

The new EU drug agency seeks stronger partnership with civil society

After decades of advocacy by civil society, the government finally approved the opening of the first drug consumption room in Slovenia. On this occasion we interviewed Katja Krajnc from the 

, a leading harm reduction organisation in the country.

Drugreporter: Can you talk a bit about your own background? How and why did you choose to work in the field of harm reduction? What work do you do for the organisation?

: I think that in choosing this field, the work, in a way, chose me. Even when I was a student and occasionally passed by the drop-in centre of the NGO Stigma, I often envisioned working for this organisation. After completing my studies, I had the opportunity to be employed by the association, and I have stayed here ever since. In my opinion, working in the field of harm reduction is not for everyone. Anyone who takes a job in harm reduction must start from the belief that drug use is a matter of personal choice and a human right to bodily integrity. It is necessary to be aware, without moral judgments and a patronising attitude, that there are people who, for various reasons, cannot or do not want to stop taking drugs.

The NGO Stigma is one of the leading harm reduction organisations in Slovenia. What is the story of Stigma? When and why was it established?

That’s right. The Harm Reduction Association Stigma is the first organisation that began operating in the field of harm reduction in Slovenia. The NGO was founded in 1990, and through its collaboration in the project ‘Preventing AIDS through the organization of aid and self-help for drug users,’ we established a framework for harm reduction in Slovenia. During this period, drug use increased, reflected in a higher number of overdose deaths and more frequent responses to drug issues in the media. Initiatives by drug users began to emerge as a reaction to repressive policies and moralistic treatment. With these initiatives, they sought to assert the right to health care, soon followed by the right to protection against infectious diseases, and, ultimately, destigmatisation of their social role. Stigma was formed as a collaboration project between drug users and professionals, with the aim of reaching out to those drug users who were labelled as “hard to reach”.

The choice of the name Stigma is aimed at drawing attention to the problems of the marginalisation and exclusion of a population, which, due to its hidden nature and life on the social fringes, is even more exposed to risks and dangers resulting from drug use.

What kind of services do you provide to people who use drugs?

Our NGO has two drop-in centres where needle exchange takes place, which is the basic measure and starting point for all other harm reduction approaches. Unhindered access to sterile equipment is a preventive measure and at the same time provides access to the largest number of intravenous drug users. The program provides free sterile equipment such as insulin syringes, various needles and syringes, cookers or spoons with filters, condoms, needle disposal containers, and informational materials.

Returning used needles is part of the needle exchange program, but returning a used needle is not a condition for issuing a sterile one. In the drop-in centre, we also provide counselling and practical assistance. Counselling is initiated by users who have contacted us personally, by phone, or online, within the framework of the drop-in centre program or mobile needle exchange through outreach. We assist people who use drugs access various services, such as opioid agonist treatment, and support them to find housing and jobs.

In addition, we have an outreach program to contact drug users in the initial phase of their drug use and try to reduce the harm that drug use could cause them. Our outreach workers step out of offices and counselling rooms to meet drug users in their environment, providing them with sterile injection equipment, necessary information, and incentives to follow safety instructions in drug use. If a need for more targeted treatment arises during a conversation, the person is invited to visit the drop-in centre, where we continue to address their situation.

Drug consumption rooms are coming to Slovenia – an interview with Katja Krajnc

We were very glad to welcome the Correlation European Harm Reduction Network’s Expert Meeting in Budapest, on the 4-6 of December 2023. We produced a short summary video of the network’s 2023 activities, and live streamed several sessions, that you can watch now!

C-EHRN was established in 2004 in Amsterdam as a European civil society network and centre of expertise in the field of drug use, harm reduction and social inclusion. C-EHRN is hosted by Foundation De Regenboog Groep (FRG) – a non-governmental low-threshold service organisation in Amsterdam, providing harm reduction services to people who use drugs and other individuals and communities that are affected by social and health inequalities. Drugreporter is a long time partner of the network. The summary film of the 2023 activities of C-EHRN, which we produced during the meeting, can be watched here:

Péter Sárosi, director of the Rights Reporter Foundation and editor of the Drugreporter website, gave the keynote speech at the opening ceremony. he spoke about the situation of drug policy and harm reduction in Hungary. Harm reductionists face different political and cultural realities in different geographical regions of Europe. In some countries in the West the question today is mainstreaming and innovation. But in other countries, mostly in the East, even basic harm reduction programs are confronted with a more existential question: that of mere survival. There is a growing populism and shrinking space for civil society. On top of this, the drug scene is changing and constantly challenges us to find new methods, to reach out to new groups and to redefine what harm reduction means. The keynote speech addressed the challenges and highlighted some opportunities ahead of the harm reduction movement in Europe.

We live streamed several sessions, you can access them below. We divided the video to chapters on YouTube, so you can easily find the specific parts.

Moderator: Tony Duffin (Ana Liffey Drug Project) Speakers: Gabor Kerpel-Fronius; Deputy Mayor (on video) of Budapest & Katrin Schiffer, C-EHRN Director.

 This session included welcome words and an introduction to C-EHRN activities and results.

Keynote Speech – Drug Policy and Harm Reduction in Hungary

Moderator: Tony Duffin (Ana Liffey Drug Project) Panel Members: Ákos Topolánszky (European Social and Economic Committee / Hungarian Federation of the Drug Therapy Institutions), Róbert Csák (Hungarian Association on Addiction), Anna Tarján, Péter Sárosi (Rights Reporter Foundation)

 According to its last national drug strategy, Hungary was supposed to become “drug-free” by 2020. Despite this ambitious goal, the government failed to eliminate drug use – it only succeeded in nearly eliminating funding for treatment and harm reduction programs. Several key programs had to close down and the philosophy and practice of harm reduction became a taboo. Panellists in the policy dialogue outlined the current drug policy situation in Hungary, addressed the ethical dilemmas of civil society in a hostile political climate and presented some survival strategies.

Civil Society Monitoring & Data Collection

Moderator: Rafaela Rigoni (C-EHRN) Speakers: Iga Jeziorska (C-EHRN) – Harm Reduction Essential Services, Tuukka Tammi (THL) – Hepatitis C, Daan van der Gouwe (Trimbos)- New Drug Trends, Guy Jones (TEDI) – New Drug Trends via TEDI, Laoise Darragh (C-EHRN) – Mental Health, Rafaela Rigoni (C-EHRN) – City Reports.

 The session briefly presented the different publications for the C-EHRN Civil Society-led Monitoring in Europe 2023. These focus on 1) The state of implementation of harm reduction essential services in the cities covered by C-EHRN Focal Points, 2) The state of implementation of the continuum of care for Hepatitis C for people who use drugs in the same cities, 3) New Drug Trends captured by harm reduction providers and trends captured by drug checking services members of the TEDI network, 4) Mental Health of harm reduction staff, and 5) Emergent issues and harm reduction innovations in five European cities. Short presentations focusing on key messages will be provided by the authors, followed by a Q&A session.

C-EHRN activities: Civil Society Involvement Case Studies, Harm Reduction in Prison, Advocacy, Drug Consumption Rooms, Harm Reduction and Gender

Moderator: Tony Duffin (Ana Liffey Drug Project) Speakers: Péter Sárosi (Rights Reporter Foundation), Graham Shaw (Consultant), Beatrix Vas (UNITE), Roberto Perez Gayo (C-EHRN).

 This session highlighted different C-EHRN activities, which were carried out in 2023. Short presentations were provided by C-EHRN experts, followed by a Q&A session.

Civil Society Involvement & Advocacy workshop

Moderator: Péter Sárosi (Rights Reporter Foundation)

 This session focused on the meaningful involvement of civil society in the field of drug policy. We presented the findings of a qualitative research, carried out by C-EHRN in 2023. The study consisted of focus group discussions, both with decision-makers and civil society representatives in four countries, including Finland, Ireland, Hungary and Greece. After the presentation of the findings, we discussed the potential impact and follow-up activities.

The plenary sessions on Wednesday the 6th of December included:

 The SEMID-EU project focuses on marginalised migrants who use drugs in the EU. The aim of the project is to see into the needs and (harm reduction) service access of various groups with a migration background. During this plenary, we will present the results from a literature research and Delphi round, from a community-led participatory research (100 interviews + focus groups across the cities of Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin and Paris) and a series of policy documents and fact sheets. A panel will discuss the implications of the project and will look for opportunities to improve the health and rights of migrants who use drugs in the EU.

Moderators: Tony Duffin (Ana Liffey Drug Project) Speakers: Katrin Schiffer (C-EHRN), Péter Sárosi (Rights Reporter Foundation) & Marta Pinto (University of Porto)

 This session summarised and wrapped up the outcomes of the Member and Expert Meeting 2023.

Support, inform, share and act: Video report from C-EHRN's expert meeting

It was my first time visiting South Africa. My first impressions about the country were mixed. I was astonished by the abundance of natural beauty. Table Mountain, a sacred site for the original inhabitants of this land, dominates the landscape, with a splendid view from the top to the meeting point of two oceans. But I was also shocked by the extreme social inequalities that are very much visible as you cross the town. I have seen inequality before but nowhere so sharp and definite than in South Africa. I learned later that it is the most unequal society on Earth.

Even though Apartheid may be officially over, the poverty line (often but not always corresponding with the colour line) divides society. There are those who have – and those who have not. Those who have protect their property with barbed wire, CCTV, security guards, and high fences. And those who have nothing often sleep on the street, a few blocks from the luxury palaces and hotels of the rich, unprotected and exposed to extreme cold and heat, to hunger and sickness, to unhealed wounds and unprocessed childhood trauma.

It is a no brainer that drug use is very polarised, just like everywhere else in the world where society is so unequal.. The upper and middle-classes use good quality drugs, mostly to relax, to play, and to enhance pleasure. They are rarely bothered by the police, they have access to good health care, and they have a strong social network that holds them even when they lose control. But those who were born on the wrong side of the poverty line often use cheaper and lower quality substances to forget and ease the pain and desperation of everyday life. They are often arrested by police, get imprisoned, and experience discrimination at all levels of health and social care.

For a long time, the response of South Africa to illicit drugs was very one-dimensional: tough law enforcement and abstinence-based treatment. But as we learned, inevitable social change forces its way forward, thanks to the unwavering efforts of civil society. In the past ten years, peer activists, professional service providers, and researchers, with the support of international donors, were able to set up the first harm reduction programs, including opioid agonist treatment sites. The Constitutional Court, in its 2018 judgement, found that criminalisation of cannabis (or dagga, as locals call it) use and cultivation for personal use is unconstitutional. Decriminalisation of sex work is on the agenda of the parliament.

In our movie we salute the courage and creativity of SANPUD, the 

, a community-driven organisation that is an inspiration and a beacon of hope not only in Africa but for us, living in other parts of the world.

Text and interviews: Péter Sárosi
Video: István Gábor Takács

Putting People First - The Africa Policy Week 2023 in a snapshot

 urges countries to stop the war on drugs and provide full rehabilitation to the victims! On 26 June, the Andrey Rylkov Foundation joins the global advocacy campaign, 

, to shed light on the devastating consequences of the War on Drugs in Russia and its expansion into Ukraine. Collaborating with Drugreporter, the Foundation releases a short video exposing the atrocities inflicted by punitive drug policies, aiming to raise global awareness and demand urgent change.

The War on Drugs, a failed and harmful approach to drug policy, has faced widespread criticism for its ineffectiveness, racism, lack of scientific basis, and inhumane nature. Despite these concerns, conservative politicians worldwide continue to embrace this ideology, perpetuating human rights violations against people who use drugs and creating fertile ground for authoritarian leaders.

Russia serves as a tragic example of the consequences of global drug prohibition, where the Putin administration’s War on Drugs has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and countless others facing imprisonment, torture, and discrimination. The government’s refusal to address public health issues, such as the spread of HIV/AIDS and limited access to essential medicines for drug dependency, further compounds the crisis.

 has been at the forefront of providing unauthorized harm reduction services in Moscow and documenting rights violations against people who use drugs countrywide. The Foundation’s work has shed light on the challenges faced by individuals with drug dependencies and the urgent need for adequate treatment and support. The Foundation strongly condemns the increasing criminalization and mass imprisonment implemented by the Russian government, as well as the suppression of information on harm reduction and effective drug treatments. It calls for accountability for the crimes committed in the name of the War on Drugs. It urges human rights and drug policy communities worldwide to seek justice and provide full political and social rehabilitation to the survivors of the War on Drugs.

As we observe Support Don’t Punish Day, the Andrey Rylkov Foundation remains dedicated to consolidating evidence, raising awareness, and advocating for a more humane and reasonable approach to drug policy. The dismantling of the War on Drugs ideology and the restoration of historical justice are crucial for a just and equitable society.

The global 'war on drugs' breeds monsters like Putin

Are you a drug policy reformer and harm reduction activist in Africa, who wants to make videos for change and learn to communicate with the media better? Would you like to take part at the Africa Drug Policy Week as well? This application is for you then! Apply now to take part in a 5-day Video and Media Training (9-13 August), and then use your newly acquired skills during the additional 3 days of the Africa Drug Policy Week (15-17 August) – all in Cape Town, South Africa.

The workshop targets drug policy reform, harm reduction and community activists who seek to build their campaigning and communications skills, are passionate about video-making, and want to build skills in pre-production, filming and post-production. Activists who are persons who use drugs are especially welcome!

Understanding of harm reduction/drug policy reform and its human rights dimensions;

Free capacities to make videos (i.e. preferable not executives or senior staff members who have no time/capacity to make movies);

Fluency in English (we apologise that translation is not available for this training);

Good communication skills (ability to make reports, give interviews in English);

Good working relationship with harm reduction/drug policy organisations from the country;

Commitment to make videos about drug policy/harm reduction in the longer run;

Commitment to produce at least one video, filmed at the Africa Drug Policy Week;

Access to basic equipment (at least an advanced phone with video recording capabilities and a computer capable of editing the videos).

The final selection will be made together by the Rights Reporter Foundation (RRF), the South African Network of People who Use Drugs (SANPUD) and International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC).

The organisers may request a Zoom call with applicants to finalise the selection process.

 activists in effectively communicating with video, to influence people’s thinking and public policies, and to build vibrant and tolerant communities that value human rights. 

Members of the Rights Reporter Foundation have been training activists in video advocacy and working with the media since 2009. We have held 2 to 5 day video advocacy training for more than a hundred drug policy, harm reduction, and human rights activists from around the world. We have successfully held training sessions in Austria, 

The International Drug Policy Consortium IDPC and the Rights Reporter Foundation – through the Harm Reduction Consortium, funded by the Robert Carr Fund (RCNF) – have planned a series of video advocacy and media training sessions for drug policy and harm reduction activists in Asia, Africa and South America. In 2019 the RRF 

 the training of 10 community activists in Asia, arriving from India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Malaysia, The Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia and Nepal. In 2020 due to the Covid 19 pandemic, we had to hold one of the training events online. In 2023 we finally have the opportunity to train harm reduction and drug policy activists in Africa. 

. After the training, participants of the training will stay for the Drug Policy Week, to use their newly acquired skills, and make video reports of the event. Upon returning home, the trainees will edit their footage that they filmed at the Drug Policy Week, and will continue using video for change in their own activism.

 covers the whole spectrum of video advocacy, including video advocacy theory, camera handling, interview techniques, editing, and distribution. The video advocacy training consists of 4 major elements.

 Participants learn how to make plans for video production, how to think about their strategy, their objective, message and audience, how to find the right story and how to deal with security and consent. They watch examples of video advocacy and we analyse them together. 

 Participants learn about the necessary equipment, they learn the operation of the photo and video camera, how to frame and compose their shots, and how to conduct interviews. They practice interviewing on each other. 

Participants use their own cameras or smartphones.

 Participants break into 4-5 groups and visit sites in the Coty where they practice interviewing. After the interviews they film B-rolls in the city. 

 Participants learn editing by working on their own footage. We teach the use of the Adobe Premiere Pro CC editing software, or Davinci Resolve, based on the assessment of needs during the selection process. 

 Participants learn about how to distribute their work effectively. 

, participants learn to use traditional methods of communicating with the print and broadcast media, such as creating strong messages, understanding what is interesting for the media, writing press releases, organising press conferences, giving television interviews.

 is an introduction to media communication for NGOs, refuting common myths and false preconceptions about the media and outlining the structure, length and content of press releases and press conferences, how to organise communication within an organisation, tips about TV interviews, ethical issues and methods to evaluate the success of your communication. 

 of the workshop participants can practice what they have learnt. They break up into smaller groups which have to build a media campaign concept, write press release and give test TV interviews to a hypothetical evening news, played by our video/reporter crew. In the third, plenary part of the workshop we analyze the campaign plans, press releases and TV interviews together and discuss lessons learnt. 

All participants of the video training take part on this day, and additional persons from Cape Town will join as well.

The media training is followed by a one day break on the 14th, with the opening of the Africa Drug Policy Week happening on the evening of that day.

 brings together International Drug Policy experts, National Policy Makers, Government officials, Civil Society Organisations, Advocates, Project Funders and People who use Drugs community members all in one space. This year promises even more prominent speakers, high level discussions, interactive Panels and plenty of time to engage with one another and embrace a knowledge sharing and learning experience. This year, for the first time, we are expanding SA Drug Policy week from a Southern African focus to a broader African Policy event. The conference will run from the evening of the 14th to the 17th August and will be hosted in Cape Town, South Africa. This event is made possible through the generous support of many local and international organisations and hosted annually through ongoing collaborative efforts between 

Cape Town, South Africa, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Cape Town Upper Eastside.

 Logistics, including travel and visa costs will be organized and financed by the organisers, from the funding provided by the Robert Carr Civil Society Network Fund. During the training we will make travel arrangements and provide accommodation, breakfast and lunch for the participants.

Due to the length of the training and our limited budget, we are sorry that we CANNOT cover:

* Dinners (we only provide lunch and breakfast, and only one common dinner during the event).

* Travel to and from the airport in their country of residence.

* The payment of travel to and from the Visa Processing office in their country of residence.

* The cost of any vaccinations, immunisations or health insurance required prior to travel to South Africa. (Please note, however, that we strongly encourage participants to ensure they have these in place).

* Travel insurance for participants. We strongly recommend that participants confirm with their medical aid providers that they are covered for international travel, or that they take out their own short term travel cover for the duration of their trip to SA.

 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 “

Taking Back What’s Ours: An Oral History of the Movement of People who Use Drugs

A Day in the Life: The World of Humans Who Use Drugs

” (2011). Since 2016 he works at the Rights Reporter Foundation, where besides producing films, he is training activists in video advocacy.

 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 advisory board member of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) and the Steering Committee member of the Correlation European Harm Reduction Network. He was representing the Hungarian Harm Reduction Network at the government’s drug advisory body in Hungary between 2007 and 2015. 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.

The training is financed by the Robert Carr Fund, via the Harm Reduction Consortium, and is organised by the Rights Reporter Foundation in close cooperation with IDPC, TB/HIV Care and SANPUD.

Click here to fill out the online application form before 23:00h on

If you have any questions about the Workshop or the application process, please do not hesitate to write to us at takacsistvangabor@rightsreporter.net.

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