Subject: Session 2 in 'A World with Drugs' Series: Cultural, Traditional, and Indigenous Rights

Session 2 in 'A World with Drugs' Series: Cultural, Traditional, and Indigenous Rights
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Dear reader,

As many of us know, the structures that uphold the War On Drugs are rooted in racist and cultural imperialism. For over 60 years, prohibition-based drug policies have disproportionately impacted Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour, as well as various communities in the Global South. This has been done through racially targeted law enforcement, mass incarceration, crop eradication, and socioeconomic exclusion - to name only a few. Yet in many parts of the world, the cultivation and use of drugs is in fact central to people’s culture.
We are delighted to invite you to the second webinar of 'A World with Drugs' series, on Cultural, Traditional, and Indigenous Rights, organised in collaboration with Health Poverty Action, International Drug Policy Consortium, Transform Drug Policy Foundation, Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, Instituto RIA, and Interdisciplinary Centre for Cannabis Research. Register to receive more details.

This webinar, taking place tomorrow on 23 September at 17.30 CEST (10.30 Bogotá / 22.30 Bangkok), will cast a look at the various cultural, traditional, and indigenous uses of substances such as cannabis, coca, and opium. We will also discuss the colonially rooted structures that uphold the war on drugs and its impact on communities on the ground. In so doing, our conversation will revolve around the following central question:

How do we ensure that the legal regulation of drugs decolonises structures of oppression, while at the same time placing cultural, traditional, and indigenous rights at the centre of policy reform?

Activists from Jamaica, Bolivia, and Myanmar will share their experiences and insights at the webinar.

5.30pm CET, 23 September 2020





Panellists:
  • Sai Lone, Senior Adviser at Myanmar Opium Farmers’ Forum, Myanmar

  • Ras Iyah V, Chair of Westmoreland Hemp and Ganja Farmers Association, Jamaica

  • Patricia Chulver Benítez, Executive Director of Fundación Acción Semilla

  • Vicki Hanson, Coordinator for Interdisciplinary Centre for Cannabis Research


This webinar series is organised by Health Poverty Action in collaboration with TNI, Transform Drug Policy Foundation, International Drug Policy Consortium, Instituto RIA, Interdisciplinary Centre for Cannabis Research, and Canadian Drug Policy Coalition

    Formed in 1996, the TNI Drugs & Democracy programme explores the underlying causes of drug production and consumption and advocates for evidence-based policies that respect the human rights of producers and consumers.

     
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