In Mexico, the most important meeting on drugs in Latin America has begun

The Third Latin American Conference on Drug Policy, which takes place on 13 and 14 September in the Federal District, aims to discuss alternatives to the war on drugs, which in the last twenty years of implementation resulted in increase in violence, displaced peasants, criminalization of drug users and, in the case of Mexico, more than 40,000 deaths.

The meeting is sponsored by the Pan American Health Organization. Collaborating on organization of the event are two civil society organizations: CUPIDH in Mexico Intercambios in Argentina. There will be simultaneous translation in three languages ​​(Spanish, Portuguese and English) and you can follow on twitter @confedrogas and the tag # confedrogas. View the full program http://conferenciadrogas.com/2011/programa

(September 12, 2011) Government and United Nations officials, experts and NGOs from eleven countries will meet on the 13^th and 14th of September at the Third Latin American Conference on Drug Policy, which be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel of Mexico City, to discuss methods of curbing violence as well as responsive methods to the consequences of the war on drugs. It is the largest and most important meeting on the topic of drug policy, this year held in Mexico, to call international attention to the situation in the country.

“Are Drugs the cause of poverty, insecurity and violence that affect entire countries, or is the problem that they support a military, warlike paradigm that deepens the contradiction between drug policy and democracy?” asked Graciela Touzé, researcher and president of Intercambios Civil Association, organizer of the conference at the regional level, introducing the axes that will guide the meeting.

Jorge Tinajero, director of the Colectivo por una política integral hacia las drogas (CUPIHD), a nongovernmental organization in Mexico, the local organizer of the meeting, added: “How far do the drugs go and where does drug crime and violence start? That is an essential question for Latin America. It’s time to seriously discuss ways to improve drug control systems from a perspective that protects human rights “.

The meeting is expected to allow a broad and purposeful reflection on security and human rights consequences of militarization, legislative reform to decriminalize the consumption, drugs, identities and worldviews as well as alternative health treatments.

The Third Latin American Conference and First Mexican Conference on Drug Policy will bring together more than thirty speakers from eleven countries, among them Alvaro Henry Campos Solorzano (Deputy Minister of Justice and Security of El Salvador), Robson Rodrigues da Silva (Police Peacekeeping Unit of Rio de Janeiro), Mary Ann Eddowes (Asociación Peruana de la Hoja de Coca), Steven Dudley (specialist in organized crime in the Americas) and Maria Elena Ramos (Compañeros de Ciudad Juárez).

Conference Sponsors: Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS); Alianza sobre Políticas de Drogas (DPA); Transnational Institute (TNI); Cátedra UNESCO “Transformaciones Económicas y Sociales relacionadas con el problema Internacional de las Drogas”; Oficina Latinoamericana de Washington (WOLA); Centro de Estudios Políticos de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México  (FCPyS - UNAM); Red Americana de Intervención en Situaciones de Sufrimiento Social (RAISSS) y Red Iberoamericana de ONGs que Trabajan en Drogodependencias (RIOD), as well as many others.

More information: program, exhibitors and registration forms are available at www.conferenciadrogas.com

Intercambios Civil Association is a key organization in Latin America on issues of harm reduction and drug policy. It develops policy advocacy, research and training. They organized the First and Second Latin American Conference (Buenos Aires 2009, Rio de Janeiro 2010) and coordinated the discussion of civil society in the region on the goals set by the Special Session of the UN General Assembly on Drugs (UNGASS). Among their publications are: “Contributions to a new drug policy. V and VI National Conference on Drug Policy “(2010) and” Knowledge and practices about drugs. The case of the cocaine base “(2007).

CUPIHD (Collective for a comprehensive policy towards drugs) is a civil society organization dedicated to research, education, and dissemination action aimed at transforming the culture of drug policy with a focus on risk reduction, multidisciplinary, comprehensive, and scientific with respect for human rights. Formed in 2009, seeks CUPIHD promote constructive dialogue nationally and internationally on drug policy reform, and propose regulatory alternatives to them.

Press Contacts

In Mexico: +52 (55) 5658 6518 CUPIHD

Silvia Solis (mobile): +04455 1006 7647 /

prensamexico@conferenciadrogas.com / capulin2000@gmail.com / jhernandez@cupihd.org

For all other countries: +54 11 4954 7272 (Intercambios)

Horacio Torres: +54 9 11 15 6794 6315 / Romina Ruffato: +54 9 11 15 5488 4033

prensa@conferenciadrogas.com / prensa@intercambios.org.ar / Twitter: @ confedrogas