YOUTH PROMISE TO ADVOCATE FOR HUMANE DRUG POLICY IN GHANA

Until recently, the West Africa region has been perceived as only a transit zone of drugs from Latin America to European Countries Markets. This general perception started changing since June 2014 with the release of WACD flagship reports titled ‘’Not just in transit, drugs, the States and Society in West Africa’’.

Early 2013, Kofi Annan (Former UN General Secretary) conveyed the West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD) chaired by the former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo. The Commission comprised of commissioners from diverse background in West Africa such as politics, civil society, health, security and the judiciary.

After 18 months of research, looking at the evidence, consulting experts from the region and visiting some of the most affected countries and communities in the region, WACD in June 2014, released its flagship report, including a series of evidence-based recommendations for drug policies across the region.

The report shed lights on the impact of drug market in West Africa. According to the report, drug trafficking is a new threat to the development of West Africa. West Africa region is not only a transit zone of drugs from Latin America to Europe but also local production and consumption are on the rise which continues to be a major issue. Organised crime syndicates exist at all levels of society in West Africa and pose a threat to good governance, peace and stability, economic growth and public health in West Africa, a region that has only recently emerged from decades of violent conflict.

A pervasive situation that is corroborated with statics from the United Nations (UN) and the United Nations Organisation on Drug and Crime (UNODC). According to the UNODC, the yearly reports on the world drug problem, the prevalence rate of cannabis uses in West and Central Africa combined (12.4%) is higher than Africa and the global average, 7.5% and 3.9% respectively.

In the above statistics, the youth mostly formed the majority of the affected population. Per the Narcotics Control Board Statistics, the youth in Ghana make up the majority of the drug user community particularly youth in the Junior/ Senior High Schools and tertiary institutions.

It is in light of this worrying situations and also, recognizing the specific needs of young people, and that they are more vulnerable to drug-related harms, the Ghana chapter of the West Africa Drug Policy Network (WADPN) set to increase the level of youth awareness and engagement on drug policy debates and calls for decriminalization and support for harm reduction measures in the region.

The initiative by WADPN-Ghana is also to strengthen youth advocacy in the area of Human Rights and Drug Policy Reform.

In view of these challenges, the West Africa Drug Policy Network, Ghana Chapter (WADPN-Gh) with support from Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and in collaboration with civil society activist in the country recognized the need to bring together youth, particularly, students, and other stakeholders who are the most vulnerable to the dangers of drugs and the need for drug policy reform to trigger drug and policy reform debates and processes. The forum focused on various approaches to effectively respond to the drug challenges with possible commitments to educating them on the need to contribute to playing advocacy role, building their capacity on understanding Ghana’s  drug policy and how to engage with their institutions to develop effective campus based strategies and not the usual 'Just say No" to drugs and also  engaging policy makers and lobbying for drug policy reforms and finally sensitizing the public and communities about the impacts of drugs on democracy, governance and the society.

Present at the forum was the African consultant for the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) who sensitized the groups about the current state of global drug policy as well as Ghana; and called on them to engender interest in advocacy and research among them. She further explained that, the youth forum was part of an advocacy within the region for evidence -based drug policy that is grounded on public health and human rights and to promote the active participation of young people in drug policy development by building the capacity of youth organizations to advocate for the rights of vulnerable people who use drugs.

Mrs. Loglo further called on the youth to join the advocacy platform for Humane Drug Policy for people suffering from problematic drug use and the need to engage in smart drug prevention programmes.

At the end of the program, the participants committed to a series of actions within their own communities including raising awareness of the rights of people who use drugs, involving community leaders, organizing social and health campaigns on drug use and facilitating activities in schools with teachers and students.

Leaders from the various youth groups pledged to called on the relevant authorities to promote the rights and inclusion of people who use drugs including establishing links between prisons, health services and civil society to ensure follow ups and continuation of services for people who use drugs after release from prison.

The day also saw the inauguration and birth of Youth Rise for Drug Policy Reform Ghana, a youth movement whose aim is to mobilize young people concerned with the impact of drugs and drug policies on individuals, families and communities in Ghana.  

PRESS RELEASE Drugs: has criminal justice failed us?

Drugs: has criminal justice failed us?

MONDAY 26^TH JUNE – FRIDAY 30^TH JUNE

#CLASSFMdrugsweek

Drugs: has criminal justice failed us? is a week-long series of powerful and informative discussion and debate on the need for drug policy reform in Ghana. The debate will take place on the Executive Breakfast Show (EBS) of Class FM 91.3 from Monday 26^th June to Friday 30^th June.

Using the hashtag, #CLASSFMdrugsweek EBS will explore the critical issues on the failure of the current (punitive) approach to drug problem in Ghana while putting in perspective the need for drug policies grounded in public health approach safeguarding human rights. The radio show will engage former drugs addicts, healthcare professionals, personnel from the National Law Enforcement Agency Members of parliaments, policy makers, civil society representatives working on drug related issue, and the general public throughout the week, starting at 7.30 am every morning.

This week long Special Series is framed around the 2017 Global Day of Action – Drugs with the Support Don’t Punish Campaign on 26^th June. Every year globally, this day of action highlights the harms being caused by the current punitive approach on drug problem and invites the world to consider fresh approaches to dealing with the issue. The Support Don’t Punish campaign calls for the protection of the human rights of people who use drugs – including their right to health, life and the implementation of harm reduction services.

According to Maria Goretti Ane Loglo, Member of the West Africa Drug Policy Network – Ghana Chapter, the current drug policy in Ghana, continue to be very repressive, with the widespread marginalisation and treatment of people who use drugs as criminals, morally weak ‘addicts’ and/or social outcasts; while non-violent low level drug offenders generally make up the largest share of those sent to the criminal justice system. This approach has only succeeded in exacerbating human rights abuses, such as ill-treatment and extortion by police, mass incarceration and arbitrary detention, in many cases without trial or due process.

EAA Media Productions, West Africa Drug Policy Network – Ghana Chapter, West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI), Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and Class FM have come together to produce this Special Series. It is a multi-media project featuring on air discussions, social media engagement, a Twitter Poll and engagement from the general Public.

“I am proud that my company EAA Media Productions is the lead producer of this powerhouse series with this partnership”, said Esther Armah, Director of EAA Media Productions. She continued: “I strongly believe in media’s power to critically examine sensitive issues with care, clarity and bring those impacted, those dealing with addicts, those charged with creating policy and law to one mic in order to tackle the issue, grapple with the multiple perspectives and leave us all better informed and focused on resolution that serves a greater good.” She concluded, “My company’s specialism is local content with international standards for a global landscape”

DRUGS: has criminal justice failed us? will air every day from Monday 26^th June to Friday 30^th June 7.30am to 8.30am Executive Breakfast Show, ClassFM 91.3.

-ENDS-

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: EAA Media Productions Email: eaamediaproductions@gmail.com

SHAPING HUMANE DRUG POLICIES IN GHANA: A PROGRESS REPORT BY MARIA-GORETTI ANE

The drug policy debate is beginning to take shape in Ghana. What is fundamental is that the country’s policymakers have begun to put the debate on drug policy into practice and are making significant progress in developing and enforcing better drug laws.

Ghana is currently on the verge of decriminalising marijuana use to enable people who use drugs to freely access treatment. This was disclosed during the launching of a new report by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) , which listed Marijuana as the most abused substance in West Africa. According to the report, only one out of 18 of problematic drug users gets help as a result of the criminalization. Deputy Minister of Interior, James Agalga also gave hints that a bill will soon be presented to Parliament to address the issue on the decriminalising of marijuana.

Mr. Agalga also added that the current situation where only one out of 18 people receive treatment for suffering from problematic drug use is worrying and must be reversed.
This progressive move can be to the advocacy work carried out by the Ghana Chapter of the West Africa Drug Policy Network in 2015. The Networks’ success can largely be attributed to the capacity building support from International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), and the West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI).

In June 2015, the Ghana Chapter of the drug policy network organised a stakeholders dialogue with sponsorship from the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) to commemorate the world drugs day and also to launch the "Support Don’t Punish" Campaign in the country. With the support of WACSI, this dialogue brought together stakeholders from civil society working to promote harm reduction, government institutions notably the Narcotics Control Board, Ministry of Interior, religious institutions, lawyers, ex-drug users and the media.

The main objective of the forum was to raise awareness among the major stakeholders on the critical need to stop criminalizing people for using drugs in Ghana.

The forum triggered discussions aimed at ensuring that the current Narcotics Control Bill in the country promotes the rights of people who use drugs and supports their rehabilitation, reintegration into society rather than being an enforcer of harsh sanctions that would devalue the usefulness of people who use drugs to society.

After the June 26th celebration, there was a need to meet with policy makers, notably parliamentarians, for civil society to provide some recommendations. A 3-day workshop of the Ghana Chapter of the West Africa Drug Policy Network and the Parliamentary Committee on Interior and Defence, with sponsorship from the Open Society Foundation grant (OSF), was organised from 4th-7th December 2015. This saw a breakthrough as harm reduction was accepted by the legislators as a critical aspect that needs to be included in the draft bill currently before parliament.

During this meeting, legislators admitted how beneficial and educative the workshop had been and expressed the need for more of such enlightening meetings. They admitted that civil society plays an instrumental role as government’s watchdog. In June same year, the network received about $5,000 from OSIWA through WACSI to carry out some advocacy programmes in the country. The Ghana Chapter organised its first ever media workshop for about 20 journalists in the country, engaged and conducted public awareness campaigns on the gaps within Ghana’s current drug laws, drug prevention, treatment and harm reduction as the engagement also sought to raise awareness for the SUPPORT DON’T PUNISH campaign and the consequences of the repressive drug laws on Ghanaians.

The network also developed a documentary entitled “SUPPORT DON’T PUNISH” which emphasised the need to give drug users the opportunity to seek treatment and rehabilitation instead of the continuous criminalization which only exacerbate their problem.

Beyond Ghana, multi-sectorial meetings were also organised in three countries, Benin, Ghana, and
Senegal and this led to a regional consultation in Ghana. The meetings were convened by WACSI, with support from OSIWA.

The regional consultation brought together over forty-one participants from eleven (11) West African
countries; Benin, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Guinea, Guinea-
Bissau, Cote d’Ivoire and Liberia.
Participants were drawn from relevant sectors including Ministries of Health, Interior, Justice, Foreign Affairs, National Inter-Ministerial Committees (IMC) on Drug Control, National Drug Law Enforcement Agencies, Police, National Human Rights Institutions, legal practitioners, commissioners of WACD and regional organisations, ECOWAS and UNODC, members of the West Africa Drug Policy Network in Ghana and civic activist

The meeting created an excellent opportunity for the countries to take a position as a sub-region for
UNGASS 2016 meeting. The deliberations climaxed with an acknowledgement by stakeholders that,
there is the need to take stringent measures to curb drug trafficking across the region. Participants
further called on governments of West African states to adopt policies to help drug users rather than
punish them.

Drug Policy in Africa-Towards a Human Rights -based Approach

The predominant drug control approach used around the world has been rooted in punitive criminal justice responses, at the expense of human rights and public health – with more resources being spent on police, judges, prosecutors and prisons now than ever before. Today, more people than ever are being imprisoned for producing, trafficking, selling or using drugs, and yet the problems remain unsolved: in the world today, there are more producers and consumers of drugs than ever before. The UNODC has openly identified a number of ‘unintended negative consequences’ of the so-called ‘war on drugs’, including severe human rights violations directly related to the criminalisation and stigmatisation of people who use drugs and vulnerable people involved in illicit drug production and trafficking.

This situation has led Paul Hunt (the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health between 2002 and 2008) to conclude that the UN human rights system and the global drug control regime behaved ‘as though they exist in parallel universes’. Global drug control is based on three international conventions from 1961, 1971 and 1988, which all open with a commitment to promote the ‘health and welfare of mankind’. Yet the 1961 and 1971 Conventions make no reference to human rights, and the term only appears once in the 1988 Convention in the context of crop eradication. As for the current UN human rights system, it dates back to the 1945 UN Charter, which is built on three pillars: human rights, peace and security and development. In Articles 55 and 56, the UN and its member states pledge to promote social development and universal respect for, and observance of, human rights and fundamental freedoms for all. Three years after the Charter was adopted, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was also approved, outlining 30 universal rights that set ‘a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations’. Several decades later, in 1981, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (also known as the Banjul Charter) was agreed and has since been ratified by every African country except South Sudan. The Banjul Charter outlines more than 20 rights.

Current drug policies in Africa continue to be very repressive, with the widespread marginalisation and treatment of people who use drugs as criminals, morally weak ‘addicts’ and/or social outcasts; while non-violent low-level drug offenders generally make up the largest share of those sent to the criminal justice system. This approach has often exacerbated human rights abuses, such as ill-treatment and extortion by police, mass incarceration and arbitrary detention, in many cases without trial or due process. In recent years, the media in Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone have documented incidents of people who use drugs being killed or injured by police officers during raids.

These issues require urgent redress across Africa. Both ECOWAS and the African Union have developed action plans on drugs which highlight the need to respect, protect and fulfil human rights. This IDPC advocacy note attempts to provide a non-exhaustive overview of how current drug policies violate universal human rights, and what a rights-based approach to drug policy looks like in practice, based on the Banjul Charter. 

You can access the entire advocacy note by following the link below;

http://idpc.net/publications/2017/04/drug-policy-in-africa-towards-a-human-rights-based-approach#.WQDDFi_uSyM.facebook

Decriminalizing Drug Use: Why it is Important for Ghana

In this article, Maria Goretti Ane-Loglo, a legal practitioner and IDPC focal point for Africa, provides a strong argument for the decriminalisation of drug use in Ghana. Ane-Loglo posits an evidence-based argument for the need to move towards a new policy approach in tackling drug use. The proposed approach moves away from current methods, and measures progress against public health indicators, such as the number of people receiving treatment, rather than against the number of seizures and arrests.  
Read full article here

Why Ghana needs to decriminalize drug use

I https://www.wacsi.org/en/site/newsroom/3010/WACSeries-Volume-2-Issue-2-Decriminalising-Drug-Use-Why-It-Is-Important-for-Ghana.htm