Drug Policy and Russia:  Russian International Drug Policy

Watching Russia host a side event on science at the UN General Assembly Special Session on the world drug problem in New York on April 20 was akin to watching climate change denialists host a look at global warming.

Russian representative suggests methadone and heroin are the ‘same narcotic drug’ as outside experts condemn country’s take on treatment: ‘They’re the world leader in denying the science’

This week, diplomats gathered at the United Nations in New York will adopt a document outlining the future of global drug policy — a text that may have been better in the eyes of many advocates if it weren't for one country: Russia.

Why does ‘harm reduction’ continue to be such a problem for global drug policy when it’s a proven way of reducing cases of HIV?

On the 8th and 9th of March 2016, South Africa hosted the Russia-Africa Anti-Drug Dialogue at the ICC in Durban. Why would Africa want to share experiences with Russia, and why would they even consider issuing a joint declaration of recommendations on international drug policy?

Harm Reduction International has examined the draft UNGASS outcome document and has serious concerns surrounding the harm reduction/HIV language that we want to bring to your attention.

Foreign policy makes unsavory bedfellows, but few instances of bedsharing are more disheartening than that of the U.S. and Russia on the issue of illicit drugs. U.S. drug czar R. Gil Kerlikowske and his Russian counterpart, Victor Ivanov, recently joined in a statement from the World Forum Against Drugs condemning drug legalization and urging commitment to policies based on "evidence and research." For the Russians, this hypocritical posturing is business as usual. For the U.S. to put its name next to the Russians in such a statement is a credibility-threatening step, and shows how easily international politics bend the aims of public servants who know better.

Morales presented a Coca-show, the self-criticism of the US drug czar has its limits and the Russian drug czar likes to think big

"Viktor Ivanov thinks big!" - states the author of this article. But to think big doesn't mean to think right. The article is praising the "wise" Ivanov's international drug policy but at the same time gives the opportunity to understand some of its today trends.