Expert Seminar on the Future of the UN Drug Control Treaties

25-26 January 2012, Prague

Amanda Feilding, Director of the Beckley Foundation, will be attending the Information Expert Seminar on the Future of the UN Drug Control Treaties, organised by the TNI (http://www.tni.org) and the IDPC (http://www.idpc.net) in Prague, 25-26 January. The seminar will examine the current status of the UN Drug Conventions, and explore the rationales and options for their revision, including possible mechanisms. Present at the Prague seminar will be the foremost world experts on this subject. Prof. Robin Room will be presenting the report Rewriting the U.N. Drug Conventions, commissioned by the Beckley Foundation. A part of this report was presented at the House of Lords meeting on 18th November 2011, at which were present high level representatives from 12 countries interested in drug policy reform. This meeting was organised by the Beckley Foundation and the All Party Group on Drug Policy Reform.

Second Annual Alison Chesney and Eddie Killoran Memorial Lecture

19^th October 2011, at 17.45, the John Snow Lecture Theatre, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT

Organised by Knowledge Action Change, in association with the Centre for Research on Drugs and Health Behaviour and supported by the World Bank.

The lecture, chaired by Professor Peter Piot, will be delivered by Dr Rosalie Pacula, Co-director of the RAND Drug Policy Research Centre, California, on the theme:

‘Substance Use and Recessions: Insights from economic analyses of alcohol and how drug use differs’.

The lecture is free to attend, but those wishing to do so should register by sending an e-mail to Rachael Parker (Rachael.Parker@lshtm.ac.uk) to book a place.

Please visit http://kachange.eu/news-and-events/12-events/6-wednesday-19th-october.html for more details.

The lecture forms part of a day of events around the issues of economic recession, drugs and health, organised by Knowledge-Action-Change, a new organisation committed to the development and promotion of evidence-based policies and interventions in the field of substance use and related areas of public health and public policy.

The day will comprise a press conference and parliamentary seminar, addressed by amongst others Dr David Wilson (World Bank) Dr João Castel-Branco Goulão (Portugal’s Drug Czar) and Dr Claudia Storti (EMCDDA) as well as the lecture in the evening. The aim is to draw attention to and stimulate debate on the subject amongst policy makers, the media, academics and the general public, and we hope that you and your colleagues will join us to support this.

Horizons:  Perspectives on Psychedelics

October 14-16, 2011
Celebrating Five Years of Horizons

Horizons is a conference about psychedelics that is held annually in New York City.  Its goal is to open a fresh dialogue on their role in medicine, culture, history, spirituality, and creativity.

See  speaker line up, video, join.

Winter Meeting of the British Pharmacological Society

13-15th of December 2011

Conference streams include:

Therapeutic potential of family B G protein-coupled receptors. Organizers: Dr Debbie Hay, University of Auckland and Dr David Poyner, Aston University.

Pharmacology in drug development and regulation. A joint symposium with the AHPPI. Organizers: Professor David Webb, University of Edinburgh and Dr Martin Todd, AstraZeneca.

Medical cannabidiol – is there anything it can’t do? Organizers: Dr Karen Wright, Lancaster University, Dr Saoirse O’Sullivan, University of Nottingham and Professor Roger Pertwee, University of Aberdeen.

To download a pdf of preliminary programme for the conference click here

Cannabinoid Conference 2011

The International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines and the European Workshop on Cannabinoids will hold a joint meeting “Cannabinoid Conference 2011″ on September 8-10 at the University of Bonn.

A programme of the conference can be found here

Past Events

Speakers

Contact: John Witton
Email:john.witton@kcl.ac.uk

Vienna UNODC Conference:

Fifty-fourth session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Vienna, 21-25 March 2011

The Economic and Social Council established the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in 1946 as the central policy-making body of the United Nations in drug related matters. The Commission enables Member States to analyse the global drug situation, provide follow-up to the twentieth special session of the General Assembly on the world drug problem and to take measures at the global level within its scope of action. It also monitors the implementation of the three international drug control conventions and is empowered to consider all matters pertaining to the aim of the conventions, including the scheduling of substances to be brought under international control.

Meetings in 2011

• Fifty-fourth session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Vienna, 21-25 March 2011
• Meetings of the subsidiary bodies of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs
• Standing open-ended intergovernmental working group on improving the governance and financial situation of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (CND resolution 52/13 and CCPCJ resolution 18/3)

For more information visit the UNODC website

Addiction: What to Do When Everything Else has Failed:

On Tuesday 22 March at 1pm Event at the Royal Society of Arts, London

The stark reality is that, beginning in the 19th century, western society has tried all the religious, coercive, medical, and compassionate solutions that we have on addiction but the problem is, if anything, getting worse.

Now what?

Join distinguished psychologist Bruce Alexander as he argues that soon we will be forced to recognise the problem as social, rather than individual, and face the full implications of that realisation.

Bruce Alexander is professor emeritus, department of psychology at the Simon Fraser University and author of The Globalisation of Addiction (OUP, 2010).

This event will take place at:
RSA, 8 John Adam Street, London, WC2N 6EZ

A Cease Fire on the War on Drugs

A growing number of people in public life are saying the unsayable and calling for the decrimilalisation or even legalisation of drugs. The University of Bedfordshire invites you to join prominent figures in the field in two FREE debates about this controversial political and social issue.

11th Annual Conference – Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP):

Mar 17 2011 – Mar 19 2011 : University of Maryland

This hands on conference will provide students with everything they need to know about lobbying, running campaigns, campus organizing and much more. It’s not the typical SSDP conference! We’re focusing on helping our chapter members become even better activists and giving them the tools to manage long lasting chapters and run successful campaigns. You will also attend a lobby training before meeting with your representatives in Washington, D.C. to discuss drug policy issues and legislation. Registration Open!

In association with the Beckley Foundation. 2^nd – 3^rd April, 2011. University of Kent at Canterbury. TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW!

The success of The Beckley Foundation and of MAPS is booming, the science is ever more supporting, groups such as the UKC Psychedelics Society are sprouting, and university courses on psychedelics are manifesting. Alongside these scientific pursuits the psychedelic culture is stirring – ayahuasca is spreading around the world through Santo Daime branches. This symposium will see data from current research and questions about where the future of psychedelics lies. What are the far reaches of research? What political problems present themselves? What limitations and lessons have we learnt from the past? What is the future of psychedelics in society? Find out more…

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS: Amanda Feilding – Dr. Rick Doblin, PhD. – Dr. Franz Vollenweider, MD. – Graham Hancock – Andy Roberts

Launch of   Rethinking US Drug Policy

10th February, 2011 at the Inter-American Dialogue, Washington, USA

This paper, co-published by the Inter-American Dialogue and the Beckley Foundation, is a wide-ranging and detailed evaluation of the current failures of US Drug Policy, both in the domestic and international sphere.  This seminal document  is to be launched in the US and the UK and it will be widely distributed both online and directly mailed to the major personalities of the  drug policy arena.

The event will be hosted by Representatives Connie Mack (R- FL) and Eliot Engel (D-NY). University of Maryland drug policy expert Peter Reuter will provide commentary along with other experts.

Registration for this event is by invitation only.

Democracy, cities and drugs conference – New challenges, new solutions:

23 Feb 2011 – 25 Feb 2011, Vienna, Austria

The partners of the Democracy, Cities & Drugs II project will hold the conference ‘New challenges, New solutions‘ in Vienna on 23-25 February 2011.

This conference will approach the working groups dealt with during the project, as well as the new challenges and solutions the local partnerships acting in the drug field will have to tackle with. The conference will see the participation of European Mayors, local elected officials, representatives of International and European Institutions as well as practitioners, researchers and experts active in the field of drug policies.