The third conference on drug policy in Latin

America will be held in Mexico

The regional meeting will be held on September 13 and 14 in Mexico City along with the First Mexican Conference on Drug Policy. The objective is to focus debate, critical reflection and international solidarity in one of the countries suffering from the greatest intensity of consequences from the “war on drugs.”

Buenos Aires, August 2011 .- After the first two  meetings held in Buenos Aires (2009) and São Paulo (2010), this year the Third Latin American Conference on Drug Policy will be held in Mexico City. The dates are September 13 and 14 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Mexico City, and top experts of the region and others parts of the world will be present, as well as officials, legislators, academics and activists who will discuss various aspects related to the subject.

The expectation for the materialization of the Conference on Mexican soil has been preceded by the the important role that the Conference played in previous years in its respective sites. In 2009 in Argentina, the debate foreshadowed the Supreme Court ruling known as the Arriola Amendment, which declared the criminalization of drug possession for personal consumption unconstitutional.

Last year, the Second Latin American Conference in Brazil anticipated both decriminalization proposals and the debate about the involvement of armed forces in the fight against drug trafficking.

2011 edition in Mexico, a country that has endured more than 40,000 deaths so far due to the paradigm called the “war on drugs,” seeks to become a strong signal both within and outside its borders about the importance of an informed social debate in order to promote alternative policies.

Precisely one of the most important panels that will deal with the topic is the ”Consequences of the War on Drugs”, given that this policy has led to a series of impacts that have aggravated the problems in the region: violence, overcrowded prisons, money laundering, increased poverty and insecurity of rural populations due to forced eradication of crops, and health and environmental problems caused by aerial spraying, among others. The objective is to size up these problems with certainty and discuss the best way to address them.

Other panels will be devoted to questions such as ”The prospect of international intergovernmental organizations”, “Drugs, Identities and Cosmogony”,  ”Drugs, Security and Human Rights”, “Socio-health responses: Experiences and Challenges” and “Latin America in the international context.”

On September 12^th, a day before the beginning of the Conference, a Seminar for Journalists named “Drug Policy in Latin America,” ​​organized by the Intercambios Civil Association with guidance from the Pan American Health Organization(PAHO), will be held .

Among the organizations sponsoring the conference are: the International Consortium on Drug Policy (IDPC), the Research Center “Drugs and Human Rights” (CIDDH),  the Caritas Training Center Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), the Latin American Drug Policy  Group (GRULAD), Espolea; the Harm Reduction Coalition (HRC), the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE), Harm Reduction International (HRI), the Working Group Program - Latin American Social Sciences Council , CLACSO; Psicotropicus, the Brazilian Center for Drug Policy, the Transnational Institute (TNI) and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).

Intercambios Civil Association is a key organization in Latin America regarding issues of harm reduction and drug policy. It develops policy advocacy, research and training in order to influence drug policies of various government and multilateral agencies. Intercambios organized the First and Second Latin American Conferences on Drug Policy (Buenos Aires 2009, Rio de Janeiro 2010), coordinated the process of discussion of civil society in the region on the targets set by the Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Drugs (UNGASS) and has organized nine national conferences of Drug Policy.  Some of its publications include: ”Contributions to a new drug policy. V and VI National Conference on Drug Policy ”(2010) and “Knowledge and practices about drugs, the case of cocaine base paste”(2007).

CUPIHD is a civil society organization dedicated to research, education, action and dissemination aimed at transforming culture and drug policy with a focus on multidisciplinary, comprehensive, and scientific harm reduction and respect for human rights.

Press Contacts

For Mexico

CUPIHD: +52 (55) 5658 6518

Silvia Solís: +04455 1006 7647

For all other countries

Intercambios Asociación Civil: +54 11 4954 7272

Eva Amorín: +54 9 11 15 4401 4630

Horacio Torres: +54 9 11 15 6794 6315

Romina Ruffato: +54 9 11 15 54884033

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