On 16th October 2008 Members of the European Parliament and national Parliamentarians met through an initiative of the Transnational Institute and the Andreas Papandreou Foundation at the European Parliament in Brussels to discuss the ongoing review of the goals and targets adopted at the United Nations General Assembly's Special Session on Drugs in 1998.
'Decertifying Bolivia: Bush Administration 'Fails Demonstrably' to Make its Case' has been published by the Andean Information Network and the Washington Office on Latin America in response to the Bush administration's announcement on September 16, 2008 that Bolivia had "failed demonstrably during the previous 12 months” to adhere to its "obligations under international counternarcotics agreements.\
This BFDPP Briefing paper provides an overview of Cannabis Policy: Moving Beyond Stalemate, the Report of the Beckley Foundation Global Cannabis Commission. The report was produced after a group of international experts were commissioned to undertake a review of the current evidence regarding cannabis and its place in the international drug control system.
The Cannabis Commission was an international group of academics and experts in drug policy analysis, commissioned by the Beckley Foundation to produce a Report on cannabis policy in a global perspective.
TNI have released a new report entitled "Withdrawal Symptoms: Changes in the Southeast Asian Drugs Market”. The studies findings are that the significant decline in opium production in Burma and Laos, which has been heralded as a major success for international drug control policy, is having a devastating effect on farmers and is triggering worrying consequences for drug users.
This Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme briefing paper presents a critical assessment of Plan Colombia. Originally proposed as a peace programme, this soon became a military strategy aimed at weakening the link between illicit drugs and insurgency.
On June 19, 2008, WOLA Senior Associate John_Walsh testified before Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress (chaired by Senator Jim Webb, Democrat of Virginia) on U.S. drug policy.
These two briefings focus on the current domestic and international debates regarding the Bolivian government's defence of the indigenous practice of coca chewing.