Support. Don’t Punish is a global advocacy campaign calling for better drug policies that prioritise public health and human rights. The campaign aims to promote drug policy reform, and to change laws and policies which impede access to harm reduction interventions.
The campaign aligns with the following key messages:
- The drug control system is broken and in need of reform
- People who use drugs should no longer be criminalised
- People involved in the drug trade at low levels, especially those involved for reasons of subsistence or coercion, should not face harsh or disproportionate punishments
- The death penalty should never be imposed for drug offences
- Drug policy in the next decade should focus on health and harm reduction
- By 2020, 10% of global resources expended on drug policies should be invested in public health and harm reduction
On the occasion of the 26 June also the United Nations’ International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking the Global Day of Action of the Support Don’t Punish Campaign is organised in more than 150 cities in the world.
The Drug Policy Network South East Europe coordinates activities of the campaign in South East Europe, where our member organizations are pushing actions in countries and cities with activities that vary from the film screenings and street actions to public debates and dialogues with the different government bodies.
Annually, the campaign was organised in 10 countries, in 11 cities, by more than 20 organisations and 200 volunteers, through more than 40 activities, reaching up to half a million people through variety of action, public and social media.
For the launch of the Global Day of Action, DPNSEE organised the “Kick-off event” every year to mark the start of the campaign in South East Europe.
More about the campaigns is available from DPNSEE webpage following links to pages for 2017>>>, 2018>>>, 2019>>>, 2020>>>, 2021>>>, 2022>>> and 2023>>>.