1. Principles of Modern Drug Policy - "The three United Nations drug control conventions are the foundation of the global effort to reduce drug use and its consequences." This document is a summary of those principles by the United States Office of National Drug Control Policy.
2. Drug War Statistics - Information about drug use, its effects and policies on it, especially in the United States, by the Drug Policy Alliance, a US organisation that opposes the 'war on drugs'.
3. Drug Laws and Drug Enforcement Around the World - A short article from the Drug Policy Alliance arguing for medical approaches to controlling the use of drugs rather than a criminal justice approach
4. The Global Drugs Trade - An introduction from the BBC
5. The War on Drugs A fairytale story about the failure of the war on drugs from the Global Commission on Drugs
6. Losing the War On Drugs A short report from AL Jazeera.
7. Opioid addiction is the biggest drug epidemic in U.S. history. How’d we get here? - PBS Newshour - read the transcript here
8. Teen Health: Substance Use and Abuse from Penn State PRO Wellness
Fentanyl: America's Grim New Opioid Addiction, Wall Street Journal, 2017
2. Breaking Down the Stigma of Addiction: A Witness's Story Through Art,National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), 10 Aug 2022
3. Philippines drug war: Manila's brutal nightshift, BBC Stories, 2016
1. Illicit Drugs form the Global Issues website. Looks at the global trade in drugs, the levels of use of both illegal and legal drugs (alcohol and tobacco) that are addictive, and discusses criminalisation and de-crimilaization as approaches to the drugs problem.
2. Drug Prevention, treatment, care and rehabilitation from UNDOV (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime)
3. Drink & Drugs - BBC Radio 1 Advice.
4. World Drug Report 2014 from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
5. Get the Facts on Drugs - Information on illegal drugs only that emphasises their negative effects, from the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime
6. Drug Facts from the Drugs Policy Alliance which claims that much information on drugs is too simplistic and designed to scare people. It argues that, "To understand a drug, you need to understand its effects, why people use it, and the risk it poses in terms of both health and criminal penalties."
7. Drug Policy Reform from the Open Society Foundation Prohibition-based policies have led to a rise in drug-related violence, prison overcrowding, and an increase in HIV epidemics. The Open Society Foundations support organizations that put forward alternatives.
8. Drugs Policy - News stories and discussion about policies on debugs in the UK and around the world from the British newspaper, the Guardian
9. Taking Control: Pathways to Drugs Policies that Work - Summary of a 2014 report from the Global Commission on Drugs Policy (including Kofi Annan, Richard Branson, and the former presidents of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Poland, Portugal and Switzerland) that calls for decriminalisation of drugs, alternatives to imprisonment for drug users, and greater emphasis on public health approaches to drugs and responsible legal regulation of currently-illegal drugs. Read the full report here.
10. Cannabis Commission of the Berkeley Foundation has looked at alternatives for policies on cannabis which is the most widely used of illegal drugs, has been de-crimilaised in some places, and is also used for medical purposes.
11. Best practice in drug interventions from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. "Discover what works (and what doesn't work) in the areas of drug prevention, treatment, harm reduction and social reintegration." Looks at policies for prevention, treatment, harm reduction and social reintegration for different groups of people.
12. Information on the drugs situation and policies in European countries from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
13. Article from The Japan Times: Dealing with addiction: Japan's drug problem
14. The Cost of the War on Drugs in the United States, from the Foundation for Economic Freedom.
15. Women and drug use in Europe - a video from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.
16. Battling Addiction During a Pandemic - Current situation in US with this issue, published by VICE.
17. How America Got Hooked on Opioid: The War on Drugs, Vice, 2020
18. The War on Drugs: Crash Course Black American History #42, Crash Course, 2022
1. Drug Abuse Prevention Centre Japan
2. Project Towards No Drug Abuse (TND)
3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Persons Who Use Drugs (PWUD)
4. United States Office of National Drug Control Policy Read about the United States' 2014 National Drug Control Strategy
5. Drug Policy Alliance is a New York based organisation that argues the war on drugs is not an effective policy on drugs, that supports medical treatment for drug users rather than imprisonment, and that calls for the legalisation of marijuana for medical purposes.
6. RAND Drug Policy Research Center conducts research to help decisionmakers in the United States and throughout the world address issues involving alcohol and other drugs.
7. Global Commission on Drugs Policy an organisation that calls for a rethink on drugs policy and an end to the war on drugs
8. Beckley Foundation’s Global Initiative for Drug Policy Reform A British organisation that argues that the global war on drugs has failed and a new approach is needed
9. PIVOT - an organisation in Canada protecting the rights of people who use drugs
10. DARC (Drug Addiction Rehabilitation Center) in Japan