niedziela, 11 września 2016

Medical Marijuana

I would like to address you with an important question. Shall we include Medical Marijuana issue inside of the text of our Convention?

We have there variety of Harm Reduction programs. Programs that in some cases would be impossible from effectively implement without decriminalization/depenelisation of possession for personal use.

But shall we also address painful issue of medical marijuana? Shall we guarantee rights to this unconventional medicine for patients that are lacking it desperately? Is not medical marijuana another form of reducing harms? Reducing pains?

There are no many occasions to amendment international laws and maybe in this one we are creating is a right also to take care of marijuana patients?

If so, in what form we shall express our support? How the medical marijuana point shall be encoded in our Convention? Please think little bit on this issue and make your proposal before November 2016.

We are waiting for your comments. Please distribute this letter widely to all interested parties.

sobota, 10 września 2016

Send Postcard

Harm Reduction Charter has just opened its own... Postal Center. Thanks it you can now send a postcard to any of your friends, public persons, MEP's or organizations inviting them to sign the Harm Reduction petition...

Thanks to Send Postcard action you can inform others of our project and at same time support it financially by little donation. Do not wait. Send your postcard now!

środa, 17 sierpnia 2016

środa, 10 sierpnia 2016

Invitation to public consultations


More than 55 years have passed since UN have adopted the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and almost three decades since its last update. Since then, many things have changed. Illicit drugs, instead of disappearing, have become a wide and mass experience. Unfortunately, it resulted in many casualties because of many reasons, like Hepatitis C and AIDS, that has taken its deadly harvest.

From that moment mankind has developed new ways of handling the drug issues. Harm Reduction has started just as a brave idea, but now has become a leading ideology in the Western world. Still though, even in the European Union, some of the Member States from Central and Eastern Europe are denying its effectiveness in tackling harms made by consumption of narcotic drugs.

For that reason, we in Europe and beyond, need a single act - a set of obligations for international community- that would unite the continent and the whole world so that the Harm Reduction would become a standard. Many, not only in Asia or Africa, are still denied access to basic Harm Reduction services like needle exchange or methadone therapy.

On the other hand, more progressive countries are introducing Harm Reduction measures such as drug consumption rooms or even heroine distribution. Activities, that in the light of UN Drug Convention, are somehow in the 'gray zone'.

There is also an issue of cannabis. Relative harmless drug for possession of which users are still punished, sometimes even in the prison terms.

And that is why we are coming with the idea of the Harm Reduction Convention, that would be at the beginning introduced by the Council of Europe and the European Union to later become the fourth Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

We are just on the beginning of long road towards this goal and we need Your help in that. As the very first step of our action, we have started public consultations on the draft of the core text of the Harm Reduction Convention. We believe that a lot of you have a lot of knowledge and experience in Harm Reduction and Drug Policy and therefore we are asking you to join us in this fight for the greater good.

Please, read the original text of our proposal, discuss it among your members and send us your comments, corrections and proposals at the address: consultations@hrconvention.org.

We ask you to help us and if you for some reasons do not want or cannot join our team, we understand, but would be thankful for distributing this letter to your acquaintances and friendly organizations.

You can find more on the project here: http://hrconvention.org/

Best Regards,
HR Convention team

poniedziałek, 8 sierpnia 2016

Wanted: Graphic Designer


The newly born Harm Reduction Convention project is looking for a talented graphic designers that would like to take care about visual side of it.

Our project aims at creating a new Convention on Narcotic Drugs that would guarantee all drug users and addicts equal access to Harm Reduction measures, as well that they will be no longer punished for possession of their favorite substances for personal use.

We cannot yet offer you a salary but we offer you our respect and prominent place among our members.

If you think you are right person for this task please contact us at info@hrconvention.org. If you know somebody that would be interested please tell him about this opportunity.

You can read more on our project here: http://hrconvention.org/


niedziela, 7 sierpnia 2016

Newsletter

If You are not yet ready to join the Harm Reduction Convention team but want to stay informed on the news of it development You can now subscribe to our Newsletter.

poniedziałek, 1 sierpnia 2016

Official Website

After months of silence we are coming out with great news. The Harm Reduction Convention have its own website. We have also extended a time for which we are waiting for Yours comments, amendments and proposals regarding text of the convention.

Please visit our site. Read the text and send your comments. If you think that you can help us even more, please join us and do not forget to share this great news with all of your friends.

Visit official page: http://hrconvention.org

środa, 24 lutego 2016

The Harm Reduction Charter (first draft)


We are presenting first draft of Harm Reduction Charter please distribute it widely and send us your comments and amendments.
The Harm Reduction Charter

  1. The European Parliament have in the account following facts:
    a) criminalization of drug users has proven to be ineffective and counter productive answer to the drug problem
    b) criminalization of drug users is leading them to further marginalization and social exclusion
    c) Harm Reduction is proven to be useful strategy in tackling many of drugs problems
    d) Harm Reduction measures are effectively reducing transmission of HIV/AIDS and other blood bonded diseases
    e) substitution programs and experimental schemes of drugs distribution are:
      aa) helping to stabilize lives and are leading drug users toward social inclusion
      bb) limiting founding of criminal and terrorist organizations
      cc) reducing crimes that are commit to obtain money for illicit drugs
f) drug consumption rooms that are existing in some Member States are limiting health risks of illicit drug use
g) alarming rise of new synthetic substances and the need to effectively handle their use through testing purity of drugs
h) inadequate access to Harm Reduction programs in some of the Member States, mostly in the Central and Eastern Europe
i) need to further expand accessibility and variety of Harm Reduction measures
j) some of the Harm Reduction measures requires depenelization or decriminalization of possession of illicit drugs for personal use
  1. The European Parliament is recommending following:
    a) establishment of Harm Reduction, as primary and leading strategy in all of the Member States
    b) create special budget line for Harm Reduction programs and support of further debate on drug policies
    c) guarantee equal and broad access to all Harm Reduction measures including but not limiting to:
      aa) needle and synergies exchange
      bb) substitution therapy
      cc) testing purity of drugs
      dd) consumption rooms
      ee) experimental drug distribution schemes
    d) stop punishing recreational and problematic drug users for possession of illicit drugs for personal use
 Download PDF version

You can also download PDF version of this Charter.

Please send back Your comments and share this document with Your friends.

poniedziałek, 22 lutego 2016

Our Mission


Our mission is to create the Harm Reduction Charter that will be for drug users like the Human Rights Charter for the common people. It will guarantee all drug users equal access to various Harm Reduction programs. It will also guarantee that non-one is punished or criminalized for simple possession of illicit drugs for personal use.

We are informal group of organizations and individuals working for Harm Reduction and Drug Policy Reform in Europe and beyond. Our goal is not to setup a new organization. We will work, as informal umbrella group to introduce the Harm Reduction Charter.

In our work we will focus first on the European continent to later introduce the Harm Reduction Charter to the United Nations. We will work with various governmental institutions and governments itself to enact the Harm Reduction Charter in their national and international legislations.

The Harm Reduction Charter is not a unified drug policy. Instead is a set of recommendations established to harmonize national and international drug policies in the countries all over the world.

Our ultimate goal is to introduce Harm Reduction Charter, as new International Convention on Drugs but we will first focus on the work with the Council of Europe, European Parliament and European Commission.


If You have any questions regarding the project or want to support it please contact us directly.

niedziela, 14 lutego 2016

Introducing myself


My name is Artur Radosz. Beside begin Java Developer for many years I was working on the drug policy in my country, Poland and more broadly in the Europe.

Many knows me from begin a coordinator of Kanaba – Polish Movement for Legalization of Cannabis  but with time I expanded my activities on whole topic of the American War on Drugs and supported work of  ENCOD –European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policy.

Begin quite successful with reform in my country that was supported by the Minister of Health Marek Balicki and also with work on the European stage (the Council of Europe and the European Parliament) I was forced by the life and lack of financial support to surrender this work. Moreover I was sent to jail for possessing 0.8g of cannabis what has completely destroyed my life. I lost a job and appartment and landed oo the streets.

Now. After break I want return to topic of drug policy with new international initiative. Stay tuned and folllow us on facebook, google+ and twitter.