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drugs

The drug trade is taking over Latin America

The lucrative cocaine business is booming worldwide, after a contraction due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the interesting positions of some of the countries in the region, Latin America has yet to seriously discuss its drug policy and abandon once…

Profiting from the Pandemic: Will Pharmaceutical Giants Use Patents to Limit Access to COVID Drugs?

As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide approaches 4 million and the pandemic could be with us for months or years, we look at who can access drugs like Remdesivir, being developed by pharmaceutical giant Gilead, which has the patent…

Human Lives. Human Rights: President Duterte’s War on Drugs

By Karina Lagdameo President Duterte’s war on drugs is just that—a war and deadly. For over a year now, every day brings news of killings in the streets of the capital and in other parts of the archipelago. The pattern…

Berlin likely to semi-legalize marijuana

A coalition of political parties in the German capital has agreed to push for partial decriminalization of cannabis. The initial effects will be limited, but marijuana legalization advocates are still pretty stoked. Almost completely obscured by the US election was…

Philippines: 700 assassinated by “death squads” under “cleansing”

During moment of great crises, people’s fears are accentuated. People begin to be burdened with so many worries. Concomitant to these worries and fears is the consciousness’ search for the culprit, that unknown something that surely is behind their suffering.…

USA: Side-effects, popping pills and pop-up politics

Used to be, when I flipped channels, I’d go from one movie to another, one drama to another, one news show to another, etc.  These days, I’m more likely to go from one commercial to another—and more likely than not,…

South Africa’s future leaders destroying themselves

South Africa- The accompanying photo above shows a typical scene of our vulnerable youth which is seen at any corner of any township, shopping centre or rural villages of the country. All as busy as a bees sniffing what is…

International Overdose Awareness Day — 180,000 Drug Related Deaths… Each Year

  Human Wrongs Watch 31 August 2014 — According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) World Drug Report 2014, there are approximately 180,000 drug related deaths each year, most of them due to preventable overdoses. Opioid overdose makes up the…

Calls for a Ceasefire in the War on Drugs

The production of opium increased by 102% and cocaine by 20% from 1998 to 2007, despite efforts to destroy crops around the world; in the US close to 500,000 people are in jail for drug offenses, compared with 41,000 in…

Asian Countries Easing Access To Cheap Drugs

By Martin Khor* Recent government actions by Indonesia and India to issue compulsory licenses are extending the trend in Asia to increase access to cheaper medicines to treat serious ailments, especially HIV/AIDS, cancer and hepatitis B. The supply of generic…