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The purpose of this paper is to describe and summarize the recent emergence of NPS onto the drug market. To show the international and national responses, legal and guidance. To indicate some of the challenges NPS present to jurisdictions. To indicate some of the challenges NPS present to treatment agencies. To outline what is known about prevalence and effects.

A narrative account of the substances becoming known and the response made by jurisdictions.

The use and effects of NPS are slowly becoming known and exchanged between jurisdictions and treatment agencies. The user group appears to differ from the “traditional” substance users groups with which agencies are familiar. The use of the internet is a characteristic of this new market and user group.

New substances are constantly being identified. Previous treatment approaches may not be fully relevant to NPS. The new area of cognition enhancement is being gradually realized.

Treatment agencies need to develop new approaches, both to treat the effects of NPS use and to attract NPS users, who do not identify as “drug users”.

A new user group appears to be emerging. Cognition enhancement is a feature of NPS composition and use/attraction.

An attempt to summarize existing understanding of NPS use and marketing and to predict future trends and needs.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the opportunities for tobacco farmers in Malawi from diversifying to cannabis, and the potential benefits for reducing deforestation by producing a cannabis based alternative fuel. It further argues that there are tensions between the conflicting objectives of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control and the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.

Field interviews were conducted with cannabis farmers, traders and sellers in different parts of Malawi.

The findings of this study show that there are opportunities for cannabis farmers but they have been blocked by legal impediments. Now that legislative reform have made cannabis cultivation possible, farmers need support in developing products.

Any attempt to provide a precise assessment of the cannabis market in Malawi is constrained by the criminalised status of the product. The suitability of cannabis briquettes as an fuel has yet to be trialled in Malawi.

There is an urgent need to revise the drug control conventions to address environmental degradation and deforestation.

The linkage between tobacco farming, deforestation and desertification in Malawi has not been made. This is the first time that hemp has been suggested as an alternative crop for farmers and as a solution to deforestation.

In the years leading up to United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS), Southeast Asia drew the attention of the drug policy world because of its refusal to drop the goal of becoming a drug-free region and for the extreme methods used in striving to achieve it. This chapter presents an analysis of the official positions taken by governments in the regional body known as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations from before until after the UNGASS in the context of one of the most punitive drug policy environments in the world and offers a perspective on what we could expect from them in 2019.

This paper aims to illuminate the diverging approaches to marijuana-related drug enforcement at the federal and state levels in the USA, which have facilitated a boom in the US medical cannabis industry (i.e. the “Green Rush”). It further sheds light on how the USA’ aggressive extraterritorial approach to anti-money laundering (AML) enforcement might simultaneously suppress the banking of cannabis-related businesses in Jamaica due to the lingering fear of de-risking.

An international and comparative legal and policy analysis was conducted of the nexus among shifting drug enforcement policies, AML laws and the banking of cannabis-related businesses.

This study found that the constitutional relationship between the US federal government and states has created a de facto comparative advantage for the US medical cannabis-related businesses that benefit from limited access to financial services. This was found to pose far-reaching implications for the banking and development of the Jamaican cannabis sector due to the dependence of the country’s financial institutions on correspondent banking relationships with the US banks that are regulated by federal AML statutes.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first of its kind to examine the extraterritorial regulatory risks to the banking of cannabis-related businesses in Jamaica.

The negotiations leading to the UN Special Session (UN General Assembly Special Session on drugs (UNGASS)) on drugs have highlighted the lack of consensus among the global players, with some strengthening the prohibitionist approach and others seeking policy reforms. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the Russian Federation’s national policies and diplomatic activism to influence the outcome of the negotiations at the multilateral level.

A systematic review of the federal legislation on drug control and the legislation on HIV/AIDS has been undertaking in October 2016. Peer-reviewed, grey literature, policy documents, UN reports and news reports were used to gather information on the country’s response to drugs internally and externally.

Despite its limited regional influence on harm reduction and declining financial power, the Russian Federation has been successful in preserving its international priorities by opposing harm reduction and maintaining the prohibition paradigm in the UNGASS outcome.

Every effort was made to identify valid sources of information on the levers of influence of the Russian Federation. Little data were available on the real outcome of the efforts deployed in influencing the BRICS and other regional and international assemblies.

This paper presents an overview of the national policies of the Russian Federation, a global player, and provides a better understanding of how the national approach to illicit drugs and their perception influences its international position. It analyses the geographic, economic and diplomatic sphere of influence of the country in drug policies, and provides explanations on the successes and shortcomings of the Russian influence at the multilateral discussions on drugs.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the response to HIV/AIDS and drug use (drugs harm reduction) with tobacco harm reduction.

Analysis of historical and contemporary sources, combined with personal knowledge of key stakeholders in the history and development of both fields.

Both drugs harm reduction and tobacco harm reduction share a similar objective – to reduce health risks for people who are unwilling or unable to stop using their drug of choice. Both also share a broader public health aim of helping people to make healthier decisions. Drugs harm reduction – as a response to HIV/AIDS – included the adoption of a wide range of radical harm reduction interventions and was a public health success. It became an established part of the professional Public Health agenda. In contrast the Public Health response to e-cigarettes and tobacco harm reduction has ranged from the negative to the cautious. A recent Public Health England report is exceptional for its endorsement of e-cigarettes.

Highlights contradictions in Public Health responses to drugs and tobacco; and that public health interventions can be implemented without and despite the contribution of professional Public Health.

The purpose of this paper is to indicate the outcomes, implications and possibilities for responses arising from the April 2016 UNGASS meeting and statement and to identify areas for future continuation of the debate and dialogue established at UNGASS.

This paper is a practitioner and participant commentary on the implications and openings for governments and jurisdictions of a revised international policy framework.

The UNGASS statement represented an increased emphasis on health and human rights considerations and a de facto flexibility of interpretation and implementation by national governments. The statement reconciled considerable differences of approach and expectation by the participating governments and organisations. Future developments are identified and practical responses outlined. There has been some move away from rigid prohibition and authoritarian stances.

The points made could be developed and expanded by academics and NGOs.

Future areas for continued international policy development and governments’ activity are identified. Governments are encouraged to consider their national needs and priorities and the ways in which these can contribute to and be strengthened by and in the international conventions.

The ability of governments to respond to national needs and situations has been strengthened and an increased emphasis on public health and harm reduction practices is implied. Policy pluralism is recognised.

The paper represents an assessment of the outcomes and future potential for development of the international conventions. It is written by a long-standing participant in the international drugs policy debate and is an early contribution to the practical and formative response to UNGASS.