Research Activities on Drug Policy and Harm Reduction in Latin America

1. International Confederation of ATOD Research Associations (ICARA) ICARA Annual Meeting Budapest, August 30-31, 2015 Diana Rossi Intercambios Civil Association Buenos Aires, Argentina

2. Intercambios research activities Intercambios Civil Association is an Argentinean non governmental organization that has developed research activities for 20 years related to 3 key issues: - Research conducted with drug users about vulnerabilities and risk for blood borne and sexual transmitted infections. - Studies of treatment services and of the accessibility of drug users. - Analysis of drug control policy in Argentina and in other countries of Latin America.

3. Intercambios research activities • The Intercambios team integrates knowledge from various disciplines of social sciences to study legal and illegal drugs. • Interdisciplinary work and networking with other teams and institutions, has been a constant that enriched the analysis and the scope of the studies, such as the work with: - The Research Consortium on Drugs and the Law (CEDD), - Different teams from universities in Latin America and Asia connected with Intercambios through the International Federation of Catholic Universities (IFCU), - Researchers from the National Development & Research Institutes or the Washington Office on Latin America in the USA, - Researchers from the Transnational Institute in the Netherlands.

4. Some context about Latin America • Latin America is at the forefront of a growing global movement to decriminalize drug use. • Civil society organizations in Latin America have played an increasingly important role in drug policy reform at both regional and national levels. The fifth Latin American Conference on Drug Policy and the first Central American Conference on Drug Policy took place in September 2014 in Costa Rica, organized by the Asociación Costarricensepara el Estudio e Intervención en Drogas (ACEID) and theconsortium CONFEDROGAS, which is composed of six civil society organizations committed to significant change in drug policy. Ref.: Stone, K. (2014) The Global State of Harm Reduction 2014. Harm Reduction International.

6. Different groups needing input from researchers in Latin America • Regional organizations of Latin American and Caribbean governments as UNASUR, MERCOSUR or CELAC. • Local and national governments from the region.

7. Some important Milestones on Drug Policy Debate In October 2012, the Latin American Network of People Who Use Drugs (LANPUD) was formed. In 2013, the 10th Hemispheric Forum of Civil Society and Social Actors held a special session with the Committee on Inter-American Summits Management and Civil Society Participation in the Organization of American States (OAS), and produced recommendations. In two successive declarations, the Declaration of Antigua adopted in June 2013, and the Declaration of Guatemala agreed in September 2014, OAS has also called for balanced drug policy that is respectful of health and human rights. Ref.: Stone, K. (2014) The Global State of Harm Reduction 2014. Harm Reduction International.

8. Some important Milestones on Drug Policy Debate In November 2013, an open letter signed by 52 Latin American civil society organizations was handed to ministers at the Fourth Meeting of Ministers of Public Security of the Americas. Seventeen civil society organizations in the region also requested a hearing at a meeting of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in March 2014 to analyze the serious impact of current policies on human rights. The International Federation of Catholic Universities policy brief Drug Policy in Latin America and Asia: Towards the Construction of Responses Focused on Human Rights was signed by academics from Catholic universities in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Philippines and Thailand, together with Intercambios Civil Association. Ref.: Stone, K. (2014) The Global State of Harm Reduction 2014. Harm Reduction International. Listing these milestones shows how much has the focus on drug policy and human rights been discussed in Latin American scenarios.

9. We need collaboration from ICARA to improve research on drug related problems: A member of Mexico’s Federal Investigative Agency arrests a woman on suspicion of drug possession during an antinarcotics operation in Guadalajara, Mexico. Ref.: Héctor Guerrero / Reuters In: Rossi, D.; Harris, S.; Vitarelli-Batista, M. (2009) “The impacts of the Drug War in Latin America and the Caribbean” In: Open Society Institute – International Harm Reduction Development Program. At what cost? HIV and human rights consequences of the global “war on drugs”. New York, p. 111.

10. We need collaboration from ICARA to improve research on drug related problems: violence and militarization in a Buenos Aires province neighborhood Ref.: María Eugenia Cerutti In: Pol L., Tordini X. El impacto de las políticas de drogas en los derechos humanos. La experiencia del continente americano. Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales – CELS y otros, 2015, p. 8.

11. We need collaboration from ICARA to improve research on drug related problems: An airplane fumigates coca and poppy plantations in Colombia. The pesticides used have been implicated in health defects and damage to food crops. Ref.: J.B. Russell/Panos In: Rossi, D.; Harris, S.; Vitarelli-Batista, M. (2009) “The impacts of the Drug War in Latin America and the Caribbean” In: Open Society Institute – International Harm Reduction Development Program. At what cost? HIV and human rights consequences of the global “war on drugs”. New York, p. 117.

12. Research infrastructure in Latin America • The most valuable contribution from Latin American settings are the quality of research teams and the persistence of their work in many adverse situations including the lack or diminish of the needed funds to develop research activities. • Even with the difficulties, internal and external crisis, or the harmful impact of neoliberal policies, when the State moved away and neglected key public health spaces, many of these teams have managed to survive and continue their networking.

13. ¡Muchas gracias! www.intercambios.org.ar