The Drug War Theatre is in Latin America

Inaugural Meeting of the Latin American Network of People who Use Drugs – LANPUD

The International Network of People who Use Drugs – INPUD, Psicotropicus – Brazilian Drug Policy Center (organizer) and Brazilian Association for Social Studies of Psychoactive Substances – ABESUP (local organizer) are pleased to announce the launch of the Latin American Network of People who Use Drugs (LANPUD) on the 25^th and 26^th of October 2012, in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The event will take place at the Leopoldo Amaral Auditorium of Escola Politécnica of Federal University of Bahia (UFBA).

Some 30 users and former users from Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica and Brazil will present a comprehensive view of drug policy and drugs users’ organization in their countries at the conference “The Drug War Theatre is located in Latin America”, which will be held on the 25^th of October 2012. On the second day, the organizers, guests and prospective members of the network will meet to set its course and address its organizational and operational issues.

The deepest need to set up this network comes from the fact that no group of oppressed people has ever achieved liberation without the involvement and organization of those directly affected by that oppression. The Latin American Network of People who Use Drugs (LANPUD) is here to change once and for all the uninformed, obsolete and prejudiced mentality regarding plants and drugs that have been classified as illegal.

The only way to solve our societies’ psychoactive substances problematic use and the growing violence born of archaic and ineffective drug policies is through evidence-based policies that respect human rights and dignity of people who use drugs. We are not part of the problem; we are part of the solution.

Please contact us (lanpud@psicotropicus.org) for further information. _________________________________________

Institutional support : Núcleo de Estudos Interdisciplinares sobre Psicoativos – NEIP, Coletivo Antiproibicionista Cannabis Ativa (RN, Brasil), ESPOLEA (México), Red Argentina por los Derechos y Asistencia de los Usuarios de Drogas (RADAUD), Acción Técnica Social (ATS/Colômbia), PROLEGAL (Uruguai), Red Argentina de Usuarios de Drogas y Activistas (RARUS), Colectivo por una política integral hacia las drogas, AC (CUPIDH/México), Red Mexicana de Reducción de Daños (REDUMEX), Mama Coca (Colômbia), Intercambios Asociación Civil (Argentina), Núcleo de Estudos Avançados sobre Álcool e outras Drogas – NEAAD/CETAD, Observatório Baiano sobre Substâncias Psicoativas - CETAD Observa, Frente Nacional Drogas e Direitos Humanos – FNDDH, Conselho Federal de Serviço Social – CEFSS, Associação Soteropolitana de Usuários: em Defesa dos Direitos e da Dignidade da Pessoa que Usa Drogas, Associação Brasileira de Saúde Mental (ABRASME), Estudiantes por uma Politica Sensata de Drogas (EPSD), Grupo Candango de Criminologia-GCCRIM, Frente Estadual Drogas e Direitos Humanos-RJ e BA, Princípio Ativo (RS, Brasil), Centro de Convivência É de Lei (SP, Brasil), Asociación Civil Centro de Estudios de la Cultura Cannabica(CECCa/Argentina), Centro de Estudos e Terapia do Abuso de Drogas - CETAD/UFBA, Grupo Interdisciplinar de Estudos sobre Psicoativos - GIESP/FFCH/UFBA

Support: International Network of People who Use Drugs - INPUD, Psicotropicus/GDPP/LAP/Open Society Foundations, Universidade Federal da Bahia - UFBA