Drug Policy Archive

Poland’s harsh policy on drugs, in place for nearly two decades, has not been effective. Now civil society groups are pushing for a new approach. Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing series about national drug policies in various countries around the world. Poland’s strict drug laws, in place for nearly two decades, are considered among the harshest in Europe. But criminalizing even minor drug possession has proven ineffective, and the president who signed the measures into law has admitted they are a policy failure. In an email interview, Kasia Malinowska, director of the Global Drug Policy Program […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing series about national drug policies in various countries around the world. This summer, Canada is expected to become only the second country in the world to legalize the recreational use of marijuana nationwide. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s new drug policy is both a break from his conservative predecessor and from the hard-line stance taken by the Trump administration in Washington, which has bucked state-level trends toward marijuana decriminalization in the United States. In an email interview, Daniel Bear, a professor of criminal justice at Humber College in Toronto, explains why the […]

Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing series about national drug policies in various countries around the world. On Jan. 18, authorities in Sri Lanka destroyed $108 million worth of cocaine seized from a single shipment in the port of Colombo, which is a growing hub for international drug trafficking. While Sri Lanka does not appear to be a final destination for many of the drugs transiting the country, drug abuse has spiked in recent years, prompting the government to launch ambitious measures aimed at mitigating, and possibly eliminating, drug use by 2020. In an email interview, Sunimalee […]