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 From: "Bia Labate" This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
 Sent: Friday, December 26, 2008

 (*) The 2nd Preparatory Meeting for Brazil's Position on World Drug
 Policy took place December 16th, sponsored by the Rio de Janeiro NGO
 Psicotropicus with the support of Reduc (a Harm Reduction NGO) and
 consulting from the anthropologist Bia Labate. The meeting lasted from
 10:00hs to 14:00hs in the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo.

 Close to 40 invited participants were in attendence and representing NGOs
 related to the movements of HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, and Harm Reduction,
 academic researchers, health agencies of the government, addiction
 treatment institutions, the LGBT movement and politicians (State
 Congressman Simão Pedro, Alderwoman Soninha and an aid to the Federal
 Congressman Paulo Teixeira), among others.

 The event was opened by the executive director of Psicotropicus, the
 psychologist Luiz Paulo Guanabara. He explained and presented the objective
 of redirecting the political declaration that represents the position of
 Brazil's civil society in the next meeting of the Commission on Narcotic
 Drugs (CND, the committee at the center of creating policy for the system
 of drug control in the UN), that will take place in Vienna in March of
 2009.

 Next, the lawyer Critiano Maronna, of the Brazilian Institute of Criminal
 Sciences (IBCCrim), gave a presentation on the conventions of the UN and
 the political problems of prohibitionism. Congressman Simão Pedro - who
 was instrumental in organizing the meeting in the Assembly - greeted all
 present and highlighted the importance of political debate on the topic
 of drugs.

 Before the activities started, one of the participants questioned the
 absence of drug users from the discussions of the public policies on the
 issue. Others noted that, because the consumption of drugs is considered
 a crime, it is difficult for drug users to "disclose themselves," but the
 lack of inclusion of the "native" perspective compromises the democracy
 of the process as well as hampering the establishment of efficacious
 proposals for dealing with the issue.

 The participants then split into three Working Groups: 1)HIV/AIDS; 2)
 Harm Reduction; 3) Human Rights. Each group had a discussion in which
 they outlined the limitations and successes of the current public
 policies on drugs, and they make suggestions for the declaration that
 will be read in the Vienna meeting. Next, the three groups presented
 their proposals in a plenary session.

 The Working Group for Harm Reduction, represented by the lawyer Maurides
 Ribeiro, emphasized with vigor the necessity of including the phrase
 "harm reduction" in UN declarations - a position that is still met with
 enormous resistance. The social scientist Maurício Fiore (of NEIP) was
 chosen to speak for the Working Group for Human Rights and he proposed
 "non-criminalization" and "regulation of drug use" as fundamental points
 to be raised and discussed in the next UN meeting. Teresino Pinto, of
 the AIDS Prevention and Treatment Association (APTA), reflected on the
 question of whether "the public policies of drugs in Brazil represent a
 de facto attack on person living with HIV/AIDS?"

 The representatives of the Working Groups committed themselves to
 submitting the minutes of their groups, so that they can be systematized
 by Reduc and Psicotropicus and whose results will be summarized in the
 similar meeting in Rio de Janeiro shortly before the Vienna meeting. A
 virtual debate to be held through the Internet will serve towards the
 consolidation of the final text to be presented in Vienna.
 The historian Henrique Carneiro (of NEIP), the activist Renato Cinco (of
 the Movement for the National Legalization of Drugs), and the student
 Thiago Moraes (of the March for Marijuana), proposed another meeting next
 year that would assemble many sectors of society for the creation of a
 broad movement for the reform of public policies and legislation on
 drugs.

 The objective of this national forum would be to consolidate a social
 movement of "resistance to the harms of prohibitionism." There was a
 debate on how such a movement should be named since not all of those
 present seemed to broadly and openly support the title
 "Anti-Prohibitionism."

 A general consensus appeared to permeate the meeting that it is
 necessary to take political stances in the context of today's debate on
 drugs, which is highly irrational and moralized. The case of the
 researcher Stella Almeida was brought up; Almeida is currently at the
 center of a political inquiry for having distributed a flyer with basic
 instructions on harm reduction for ecstasy users. The prohibition of
 debate, as is known, is also a characteristic of today's culture of
 prohibitionism.

 This initiative of Psicotropicus was warmly welcomed by the participants.
 There was a feeling of optimism in the air, a sense of hope for the
 development of something new, which at the same time seemed to coexist
 side by side with a healthy dose of skepticism in relation to the
 possibilities of transforming the official, international anti-drug
 bureaucracy of the UN (that, nevertheless, will probably be calmly
 greeted by the official delegation of the Brazilian government, which is
 composed of members of the National Anti-drugs Agency and the Ministry of
 Foreign Relations, among others).

 Daniela Piconez (of Reduc), the main speaker of the meeting, closed the
 day's session. She and João Pedro Padua, the legal director of
 Psicotropicus, urged those present to follow the progress of the harm
 reduction Law 1692/2007 proposed by Federal Congresswoman Cida Diogo,
 which is now being considered in the Legislature (the proposed Law is
 currently open for amendments).

 The results of this meeting will soon be made available on this website.

 (*Translated to English by Brian Anderson)