Martin Jelsma

🌿 Scientists call on WHO to distinguish coca from cocaine and support evidence-based reform rooted in science and culture.

🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aeb2948

#Coca #WHO #DrugPolicy #IndigenousRights

Drug policy reform: A powerful tool to prevent serious human rights violations The event will explore how drug policy reform can prevent serious human rights violations, broaden discussions beyond health, and highlight pathways toward decriminalisation, the abolition of the death penalty, and international cooperation.

The Human Rights Council could break new ground by adopting a resolution on drug policy under its own authority. 

Our #HRC60 side event will explore reform as a tool to prevent human rights violations.

📅 Join us NEXT WEEK - 16 Sept, 14:00 (Geneva)
🔗 Info & online access:

Dutch hashish only in 10 towns as legal marijuana trial moves on - DutchNews.nl The next stage in the Dutch experiment with regulated marijuana protection starts on Monday, with “coffeeshops” in 10 different local authorities now only allowed to sell legally produced hashish. The...

Moroccan hash is “irreplaceable” on the Dutch #cannabis market - imports should be allowed once all the legal and political objections are overcome www.dutchnews.nl/2025/09/dutc...

A historic opportunity: Why the global liberation of the coca leaf matters on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, IDPC's Ann Fordham highlights how the international drug control regime harms Indigenous communities, and how the WHO’s coca leaf review offers a chance to right a longstanding injustice.

The #coca leaf is food, medicine & tradition. Its criminalisation violates intn'l norms. The @WHO.int review can set the record straight:

The UN Coca Leaf Review and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights: Can the WHO Meet the Moment? | Transnational Institute Will the WHO confront its colonial legacy and right a historic wrong? The critical review of the coca leaf could transform global drug policy and marks an important moment for Indigenous rights and tr...

The coca leaf is sacred. UN drug policy must stop criminalising Indigenous traditions. The current WHO review is a rare chance to align drug policy with human rights.

Will the UN meet the moment? More in our Coca Chronicles #5 with @wola-org.bsky.social. www.tni.org/en/article/t...

European Research Council's most prestigious and competitive grant awarded to TNI researcher | Transnational Institute Dr Daniel Chavez, a Senior Researcher at the Amsterdam-based Transnational Institute (TNI) has been awarded a prestigious Advanced Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). The 2.5 million Euro gr...

So very proud of my colleague @tninstitute.bsky.social Daniel is brilliant and his research on transformative potential of state-owned oil companies will beva pioneering effort. www.tni.org/en/article/e...

YouTube video by Mckenna Academy of Natural Philosophy Martin Jelsma: Descheduling Coca: Challenges and Outcome Scenarios of the WHO review

Descheduling #Coca: Challenges and Outcome Scenarios of the WHO Review www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxxA... Video of my presentation at the mckenna.academy Wisdom of the Leaf - Coca Summit in Cusco, Peru (3-7 February 2025)

Too Little Too Late | Transnational Institute Israel is committing genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza, yet the EU maintains its trade agreement. This double standard exposes Europe's complicity and moral failure. Only an immediate suspension, ...

If the EU cannot suspend an agreement with a state accused of genocide, its human rights framework is not just flawed—it is fraudulent. Anything short of suspension now is not neutrality; it is complicity.

More by @luciabarce.bsky.social: www.tni.org/en/article/t...

'When the going gets tough’: Leadership change at UNODC amidst global turmoil, UN reforms and drug policy opportunities Ghada Waly’s resignation offers the UN Secretary-General a chance to appoint a leader who will align UNODC with human rights-based drug policies and the broader UN system.

🚨 Ghada Waly, UNODC Executive Director, has resigned. 🚨

The UN's drugs agency stands at a crossroads, and Secretary-General António Guterres now has a rare opportunity to appoint a champion of human rights-based drug policies.

Ann Fordham - @idpc.net, explains in our blog: idpc.net/blog/2025/06...

Dutch company eyes import of Moroccan cannabis amid supply shortage As Dutch media reported the government’s interest in importing regulated Moroccan cannabis, Hespress has learned that a leading Dutch company has already

A Dutch investor emphasized that multiple companies are eager to import Moroccan #cannabis, and local stakeholders are urging both the Dutch and Moroccan governments to facilitate the process. 1/3
en.hespress.com/109954-dutch...

La OMS decidirá en octubre si la hoja de coca debe ser legal: Bolivia y Colombia lideran su defensa La hoja ancestral de los Andes podría dejar de ser tratada como heroína. El veredicto se acerca y la historia podría cambiar en Ginebra

La OMS decidirá en octubre si la hoja de #coca debe ser legal: Bolivia y Colombia lideran su defensa www.infobae.com/america/mund...

Hace un mes en la #CND se aprobaba la resolución de 🇨🇴 para la revisión del régimen global de drogas, consolidando su voz y la percepción del país como la “delegación rockstar”. ¿Somos el nuevo liderazgo en temas de drogas?

Columna de @pauaguirreo.bsky.social 🔗 www.elespectador.com/colombia-20/...

The world feels like it's cracking open, so we created Fractures: a global teach-in to help us understand, resist, and rebuild. Tomorrow’s first session dives into the changing world order and asks: what comes next? Join us: www.tni.org/en/event/fra...

Una nueva sustitución de cultivos arranca coja con las comunidades Tras el incumplimiento del Pnis en Putumayo y la falta de representación en los diálogos de paz, las comunidades son escépticas de que un nuevo plan funcione.

Una nueva sustitución de cultivos arranca coja con las comunidades www.lasillavacia.com/silla-amazon... La Silla Vacía #coca #Colombia #PNIS

The world is breaking- and being remade 💥
Join TNI's Fractures: 8 weeks of radical teach-ins on empire, climate, capitalism & resistance.
A space for activists, organisers, and critical thinkers.
✨ More info & registration: www.tni.org/en/event/fra...

MAGA 2.0 upends international narcotic drug policy - ICWA ICWA fellow Roland Robinson records a new US isolationism introduced at the global narcotics conference in Vienna.

MAGA 2.0 upends international narcotic drug policy www.icwa.org/commission-n... "The 68th CND tore apart the Vienna consensus and it doesn’t seem like it will be returning anytime soon", according to Rowland Robinson, "an unwilling witness to the end of the American-led global order" #CND68

Energy-intensive indoor cultivation drives the cannabis industry’s expanding carbon footprint
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs has fundamentally changed – for good After decades of stalemate, global drug policymaking is experiencing seismic shifts, as voting replaces consensus and hardliners lose their seats.

🇺🇳 🧞‍♂️ At the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the voting genie is out of the bottle — and it grants no wishes to hardliners.

🗳️ IDPC Deputy Director, Jamie Bridge, on recent votes that spell transformation in global #DrugPolicy 🗳️

Read & share!

The Secret History of Coca Coca is still classified among the world’s most dangerous drugs, the equivalent of heroin, fentanyl, and crack cocaine. That could change soon

The Secret History of #Coca
This fall, a global regulatory body could move to decriminalize the demonized plant for the first time in more than 60 years, giving everyone access to sacred, medicinal leaves with proven health benefits
www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...

WHEN THE ADULT IN THE ROOM IS GONE: Trump’s Budget Cuts and Global Drug Policy The Trump administration's slashing of foreign aid is already having a devastating impact on harm reduction and HIV services around the world. But the harmful effects extend far beyond that. Drugrepor...

WHEN THE ADULT IN THE ROOM IS GONE: Trump’s Budget Cuts and Global Drug Policy - The Trump administration’s slashing of foreign aid is already having a devastating impact on harm reduction and HIV services around the world. new video! drogriporter.hu/en/when-the-...

la diaria la diaria es un medio de comunicación independiente que se edita en Uruguay.

Las políticas de drogas y el arte supremo de la guerra ladiaria.com.uy/opinion/arti... Milton Romani Gerner en Posturas - La Diaria - Uruguay

La coca, la ONU, y la región Andina Los países andinos aceptamos la condena internacional de la planta de la coca bajo argumentos falaces, errados y contradictorios.

La clasificación de la coca en la lista uno de la Convención Única de Estupefacientes de 1961 se basó en conceptos racistas y coloniales que en su momento consideraron la masticación de la hoja como una forma de adicción.
www.elespectador.com/colombia-20/...

World Health Organization Review Could Lead To International Rescheduling Of Coca Leaves - Marijuana Moment “The views in the past that led to coca’s current classification are indefensible on the basis of today’s scientific, ethical and legal standards.” By Mattha Busby, Filter Calls to eradicate coca fiel...

“The views in the past that led to coca’s current classification are indefensible on the basis of today’s scientific, ethical and legal standards,” says @martinjelsma.bsky.social, program director at the Transnational Institute, a progressive think tank. 1/2
www.marijuanamoment.net/world-health...

Voces del Rif sobre el #Cannabis Una producción multimedia sobre la historia de resistencia del pueblo amazigh en Marruecos, su lucha por mantener el cultivo del cannabis y el impacto de la regulación en 2021. TNI & LolaMora sandracomunicacion4.wixsite.com/voces-del-rif

Review Essay: The flexible or inflexible nature of the international drug control system: drug prohibition regime or drug regulatory regime? Review of John Collins Legalising the Drug Wars: A Regulatory History of UN Drug Control. Neil Boister in Journal of Global Health Law. doi.org/10.4337/jghl...

As a tribute to David Bewley-Taylor, our 2024 top 10 downloads at number 3

Fair Trade cannabis: a road map for meeting the socio-economic needs and interests of small & traditional growers

Sylvia Kay @martinjelsma.bsky.social & David Bewley-Taylor

www.scienceopen.com/hosted-docum...

#cannabis

🌿 Want to know more about the cultural & scientific value of the coca plant, and its review by WHO:

🗓️ Friday, 31 Jan.
⏰ 13:15 - 14:45
📍 UNHQ, Conference Room 8 / Online

Register here: https://buff.ly/4ghBa93
SPA-ENG interpretation available.

Cannabisgesetz: Kiffen für die Wissenschaft Die Forschungsprojekte zu Cannabis zu Genusszwecken sind durchgeplant. Diverse Kommunen wollen Verkaufsstellen einrichten. Aber was passiert nach der Bundestagswahl?

In Germany, pilot projects on #cannabis for recreational purposes are being planned. Various municipalities, such as Frankfurt, Hanover and districts in Berlin, want to set up sales outlets for research purposes. But what will happen after the general election? 1/5
taz.de/Cannabisgese...

"Human Rights Day is a timely reminder of the need to better safeguard human rights protections and place people at the heart of drug policies." Statement by Jallal Toufiq, #INCB President www.incb.org/incb/en/news...

Human rights and drug policies: Reflecting on a year of successes and frustrations - International Human Rights Day 2024 IDPC marks Human Rights Day 2024 by shining a light on setbacks, key progress and promising avenues to better align drug policies and human rights standards.

With 2024 ending, it’s time to reflect on successes and challenges in pushing for #DrugPolicies aligned with #HumanRights #SupportDontPunish @idpc.bsky.social idpc.net/blog/2024/12...