Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-menu.php on line 130
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-menu.php on line 130
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-menu.php on line 130
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-menu.php on line 130
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-menu.php on line 130
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-menu.php on line 130
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-menu.php on line 130
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-menu.php on line 130
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-menu.php on line 130
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
Warning: Creating default object from empty value in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-content/plugins/menubar/wpm-tree.php on line 182
- Inicio
- About the Conference
- Support
- Program
- Program Day 1
- Program Day 2
- Panels
- Speakers
- Tarcisio Andrade
- Luis Astorga
- Luciana Boiteux
- Manuel Cardoso
- Pedro Chequer
- Mónica Cuñarro
- Jorge da Silva
- Yago Di Nella
- Ann Fordham
- Luiz Paulo Guanabara
- Pedro Gabriel Godinho Delgado
- José Gomes Temporão
- Dirceu Greco
- Juan Carlos Hidalgo
- Javier Hourcade Bellocq
- Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch
- Monica Malta
- Bo Mathiesen
- Inés Mejía
- Pien Metaal
- Carlos Minc
- Reynaldo Molina Salvatierra
- Claudio Morgado
- Ethan Nadelmann
- Freddy Antonio Pavón Vásquez
- Jorge Ruibal Pino
- David Ruiz Villafranca
- José Serrano Salgado
- Domiciano Siqueira
- Aloíso Teixeira
- Paulo Teixeira
- Luiz Paulo Teles Ferreira Barreto
- Francisco Thoumi
- Graciela Touzé
- Paulo Vannuchi
- Pedro Vieira Abramovay
- Marcelo Vila
- Paulo Roberto Yog de Miranda Uchoa
- Mauricio Zorondo
- Moderators
- Panels' Summaries
- Newsletter
- Location
- Previous Conferences
- Press
- Registration
- Useful Information
- About Rio de Janeiro
Warning: mktime(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected the timezone 'UTC' for now, but please set date.timezone to select your timezone. in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-includes/functions.php on line 41
Warning: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected the timezone 'UTC' for now, but please set date.timezone to select your timezone. in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-includes/functions.php on line 50
Warning: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected the timezone 'UTC' for now, but please set date.timezone to select your timezone. in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-includes/functions.php on line 52
Warning: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected the timezone 'UTC' for now, but please set date.timezone to select your timezone. in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-includes/functions.php on line 54
Warning: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected the timezone 'UTC' for now, but please set date.timezone to select your timezone. in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-includes/functions.php on line 55
Warning: mktime(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected the timezone 'UTC' for now, but please set date.timezone to select your timezone. in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-includes/functions.php on line 41
Warning: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected the timezone 'UTC' for now, but please set date.timezone to select your timezone. in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-includes/functions.php on line 50
Warning: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected the timezone 'UTC' for now, but please set date.timezone to select your timezone. in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-includes/functions.php on line 52
Warning: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected the timezone 'UTC' for now, but please set date.timezone to select your timezone. in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-includes/functions.php on line 54
Warning: date(): It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected the timezone 'UTC' for now, but please set date.timezone to select your timezone. in /home/lista/public_html/2010/wp-includes/functions.php on line 55
Opening
“There’s a new conversation about drugs in Latin America. The Challenge is that it is transformed into policies that reach people”
Graciela Touzé. President of Intercambios Civil Asociation.
Allow me to express my great pleasure in being here and opening this II Latin American Conference and I Brazilian Conference on Drug Policy, here in this beautiful city that is Rio de Janeiro.
We are joined by many old friends, government officials, multilateral agencies, experts, and activists, who have participated in years past in conferences that we organized in Buenos Aires. For those who are here with us for the first time, let me tell you something about the history of the Conference, and about how we arrived where we are.
In 2003, Intercambios decided that in our country, Argentina, it was necessary to begin a forum for discussing drug policy, keeping in mind the changes in context, the effect of implemented policies, and the crisis of some intervention paradigms in this area.
So we galvanized political leaders, academics, and nonprofits to engage in a debate that quickly began to show the need for finding new forms of regulation for drug problems and incorporating the human rights perspective.
In subsequent years six national conferences were held, and in each of them, the presence of participants from brother countries in Latin America and other regions continued showing their interest and the need to establish a medium for contact and dialogue that would permit us to bring to light different realities and experiences of our Latin America.
It was in this way that last year we saw the opportunity to organize the first Latin American Conference on Drug Policy, with the intention of promoting a well-planned and coordinated action in the region that represents a more adequate position in the cultural needs and practices of our populations.
At this point we began to think: we need a space every year to come together to deepen these debates and to establish strategic alliances for work and cooperation. And at the same time, we need to continue replicating these forums in different countries throughout the region.
The dream of a regional initiative began to solidify when the friends of Psicotropicus accepted the challenge of co-organizing the second Latin American Conference in Rio de Janeiro, which we hope will be only a step in a long path.
2009 in Buenos Aires, 2010 in Rio de Janeiro, the same goals:
- To promote a social and informed debate with the goal of pushing for non-punitive policies, based on scientific evidence, that respond to the diverse problems associated with drugs, and
- Generate an exchange on the regional level among academics, political leaders, and nonprofits, with the hope of maintaining an up-t-date understanding of drug consumption, associated problems, policies, and interventions in the region.
These goals have oriented the Conference’s agenda around seven main points.
The first, human rights, because we want to emphasize the fact that people who use illegal drugs confront situations of discrimination, rejection, and violence that lead to violations of their rights. Many of these incidences are hidden or are justified behind the argument that drug users are “dangerous” or “incapable,” blaming them for the abuses to which they are subjected. We cannot go on tolerating these situations.
The second is the multilateral organizations’ agendas, and what place drug users occupy in them. Multilateral organizations are a key actor in the development of regional policies, contributing to the construction of a public agenda through their technical and financial assistance programs. Both the General Assembly of the United Nations and various agencies of the U.N. system have come up with a series of resolutions, declarations, and documents oriented toward helping drug users from a public health and human rights. Nevertheless, there is still the concern that their actions may be neither sufficient nor systematic enough in Latin America, and we would call for better attention and higher priority for these populations.
The third point is socio-sanitary policy. An important aspect of the current drug policy reform debate centers on the right to healthcare as inseparable from the respect of fundamental human rights. The most recent advances that we have seen in the region toward avoiding criminal persecution of drug users demand a clearly central role for social and health policies, and we wonder how to minimize the existing gap between innovative discourse that respects human rights and the effective implementation of drug-related policies.
The fourth point examines the structural forces and socio-cultural contexts for understanding the particular vulnerability of drug users. The complexity of the drug phenomenon and its multiple facets include aspects such as the production and trafficking of drugs, the role of the armed forces, and political corruption, among others. At the same time, it is essential that we frame the issue in a broader context that takes into consideration structural aspects of Latin American societies, characterized by conditions of poverty and inequity, and that considers the interaction with social and economic policies carried forth in the region.
The fifth point is oriented toward fully integral attention for drug users, which we understand to be the development of comprehensive, complementary, and multi-disciplinary strategies that are concerned with prevention, aid in cases of problematic consumption, harm reduction, and social integration. We are all familiar with the difficulties that our most affected populations continue to suffer in our region in access to quality services.
The sixth point concerns the consequences that the paradigm of the War on Drugs has brought along with it - consequences that have aggravated problems in the region: overcrowded prisons, money laundering, growing poverty and insecurity for rural populations with the forced eradication of crops, and environmental and health problems due to aerial fumigants, among others.
Lastly, the hope that legislative reforms currently being debated in multiple countries in the region represent, which include, among others, aspects such as proportionality of sentencing and the application of human rights standards in legislation and judicial practice.
We are certain that the large group of panelists that are with us over the next few days - to whom we are enormously grateful for their presence - not only will enrich this debate but also will bring even more concrete perspectives for action.
Because this Conference constitutes a center of progressive conversation that hopes to strengthen reform processes for drug policies.
It is true that there are many encouraging signs in the region, but it s also true that there are many challenges still left to face. We must recognize that the discursive change that recognizing the failure of the War on Drugs necessitates has still not translated into concrete policies that reach the people. We must insist upon the necessity of establishing non-repressive security policies; our countries are all too familiar with the disastrous consequences of militarizing conflicts, as we see today in Mexico. And we must, once and again, implement federal long-term policies that are not subject to electoral swings.
We believe that this Conference occupies an unprecedented space in Latin America: reaching a critical mass that raises an alternative voice to the one that for so long has established itself as a hegemony.
Contact Press /
In Brazil: + 55 21 9627-8129
Monica Cavalcanti: + 55 21 9627-8129 / Nextel 55 21 7856-1651 ID: 83*53456
prensabrasil@conferenciadrogas.com / monica@psicotropicus.org / www.psicotropicus.org /
Pablo Cymerman: 55 21 9892 2888 / Graciela Touzé: 54 9 11 5013 5159
