Last week saw a remarkable event in Warsaw, Poland, organised by the City of Amsterdam in collaboration with Transform, and the Correlation Network European Harm Reduction Conference. The Dealing with Drugs II: Cities and the International Pursuit of Regulation conference delved into how responsible regulation of currently prohibited drugs can help provide solutions to the social and health challenges locally and globally, and how initial experiments can be designed and implemented at a city level. Hosted by Transform's Steve Rolles, it included contributions from the Mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, and the Colombian Ambassador to the UN in Vienna, Laura Gil.

The event built on the outcomes of the first Dealing with Drugs conference held in Amsterdam at the beginning of this year. The focus was on the interactions between cities and the European and international community, highlighting cities as innovation hubs and European and international organizations, like the United Nations, as key players in changing international laws and treaties.

Cities have always been on the front line of the "War on Drugs", where prohibition's systemic failures have been most visible and acutely felt. But cities have also been where key innovative responses and reforms have been pioneered. A key message of the Dealing with Drugs conference was to highlight the critical importance of local innovations in wider reforms. Looking at the history of drug reform - from the early harm reduction innovations in the 1980s in response to the HIV crisis, through innovations such as OPCs and drug checking, to law reforms including decriminalisation, and more recently cannabis regulation - change has always been a bottom up process. Leadership has rarely been shown by national governments or multilateral bodies - instead, it has invariably come from local actors. It has been courageous individuals, groups, activists, local agencies, NGOs, local councils, and municipal government that have driven change. They have taken the political and legal risks, and weathered the media storms, to gather the data, establish best practice, and win over the public by making communities safer for everyone. Only after, often years of, battles have these innovations slowly percolated up into national and eventually international best practice guidelines.

The same has been true with legalisation and regulation. The seismic changes in global cannabis policy - moving from zero people living in legal cannabis jurisdictions a decade ago to more than 500 million today - have been enabled by years of protests, NGO campaigning, and activist-led local innovations. Now the regulation debate is expanding beyond cannabis - a key message from the dealing with drugs conference was that it will be local actors, civil society and cities and local government leading the way again.

This message was powerfully reinforced by the day's speakers. Following opening comments from the events host, Transform's Senior Policy Analyst Steve Rolles, the Mayor of Amsterdam spoke powerfully about why she has committed to drug law reform and regulation as she pursues the health, wellbeing, and safety for her City. (You can watch the whole opening session below: Steve's opening remarks at around 6.30, Mayor Halsema's speech around 12.00, and Neil Wood's keynote around 1.00.00).

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was unable to attend the conference in person, but did send a prepared video message (you can watch below). The text of his speech title “The international pursuit of sensible regulation of drugs” was also shared on the OHCHR website, on twitter/x here (75,000 views and counting), and on LinkedIn here, and was reported on the UN News site under the headline ‘War on drugs has failed, completely and utterly’. Please link and share!

"Criminalization and prohibition have failed to reduce drug use and failed to deter drug-related crime. These policies are simply not working – and we are failing some of the most vulnerable groups in our societies. We need a transformative approach, and the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy provide a framework for developing human rights-based approaches that prioritize health, dignity, and inclusion. Instead of punitive measures, we need gender-sensitive and evidence-based drug policies, grounded in public health. Instead of scapegoating, we must ensure inclusive access to voluntary medical care and other social services. Harm reduction measures, which prevent drug overdose related fatalities, are essential. Decriminalisation is another crucial step towards a more humane and effective drug policy – accompanied by support for social reintegration. We need to start treating the person, not punishing the drug use disorder. At the same time, responsible regulation should aim to take control of illegal drug markets, and eliminate profits from illegal trafficking, criminality and violence. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to responsible regulation, but collaboration is crucial. Events like this are so important – gathering city leaders, municipalities, civil society, and experts from across Europe and indeed the world to share best practices and expertise. Most importantly, communities, youth, and people who use drugs must be included in this process. Historically, people who use drugs are marginalised, criminalised, discriminated against and left behind – very often stripped of their dignity and their rights. We are destined to fail unless we ensure their genuine participation in formulating and implementing drug policy."

The comments reflect a remarkable recent change in tone from UN entities, and a breaking of the prohibitionist consensus within the UN system itself. This stands in notable contrast to the position of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime overseaing the global drug control regime under the overtly prohibitionist treaties. Turk's call for 'Transformative change' and an end to the "War on Drugs" marks a watershed in the high level drug reform discourse - helping create space for other voices in the UN, amongst member states, and in civil society to engage in the regulation debate with newfound confidence.

We were also fortunate to have Zaved Mahmood, the Drug Policy and Human Rights Advisor of the Office of the UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to discuss the statement of the High Commissioner, specifically how International Human Rights law can inform and guide drug law reform generally, and the quest for regulation specifically. He noted the key role of civil society in informing the OHCHR's evolving position on drugs policy and law reform and how the International Guidelines on Drugs and Human Rights had already informed drug policy around the world.

There then followed a video message from Laura Gil, the Colombian Ambassador to the UN Vienna - highlighting the key role of Colombia in promoting the high level debate around reform of the global drug control regime, transformative change and regulation:

Three breakout sessions have been brilliantly captured in real time by local graphic reporting artists:

1. ‘How to regulate substances: detailed blueprints for local level experiments’

By zooming in to the practical aspects of regulation, the debate can move from the "why" to the "how" of regulation. This session explored the design of experiments at the local level with regulation of different drugs - focusing on perhaps the most challenging but urgent question of cocaine regulation. (Some video of this session is available here)

• Steve Rolles – Senior policy analyst, Transform Drug Policy Foundation
• Pieter Walinga – Programme Manager Dealing With Drugs, City of Amsterdam
• Zoë Garbett - Member of the Greater London Authority
• Philippe Close - Mayor of Brussels

2. ‘From Call to Action - International and European collaboration’

The second breakout explored how to connect debates, systems, and institutional knowledge at the local, the European and the international level, how to set the agenda for experiments with controlled legal regulation, the role of cities, and the role of different UN organizations. Representatives of various organizations and networks explored how to cooperate on the topic of regulation and drug policy reform.

• Jamie Bridge - Host, International Drug Policy Consortium
• Lynn Ruane - Unite Parliamentarians Network (tbc)
• Allan Casey - Councillor Glasgow
• Zaved Mahmood - Advisor for the High Commissioner of the Human Rights
• Pavel Bém - Former Mayor of Prague, Global Commission for Drug Policy
  
  

3. Building the case for legal regulation

The quest for regulation is grounded in multiple, sometimes contradictory, arguments. Without a coherent framework, the debate often defaults to preexisting moral and political positions. A coherent and comprehensive framework can unite stakeholders from different perspectives and move the debate beyond the "if" and towards the "how". Viktor Mravčík and Jana Michailidu from Czechia recently helped draft, advocate and pass legislation to regulate "pschomodulatory substances" (drugs not controlled under the UN conventions) achieving a broad cross party consensus for regulation in their parliament. They presented the detail and background of the new legislation, and how they made the case for legal regulation with many surprising political audiences.

• John Peter Kools – Moderator, drug policy expert
• Viktor Mravčík - Scientific Advisor, National Drug Coordinator Czechia
• Jana Michailidu - University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague (UCT Prague), Advisor to the National Drug Coordinator Czechia

The closing panel included feedback from the breakout groups - and reflections of the day's discussions from Pieter Walinger (Mayoral advisor, City of Amsterdam), Pavel Bém (Former Mayor of Prague and member of the Global Commission on Drugs), Lynn Ruane (Independent senator from Ireland), Philippe Close (Mayor of Brussels), and Zoë Garbett (Member of the Greater London Authority). You can watch the session here.

Stay tuned from more updates on the Dealing with drugs - Cities and the Quest for Regulation Initiative, and what you can do to support it.