Search

Abstract Background On January 31st, 2023, the province of British Columbia (BC), Canada, was granted a federal exemption allowing adults (aged 18 +) to possess up to 2.5 g of select illicit drugs. The exemption will be in place for three years (2023–2026), marking the first formal decriminalization of illicit drug policy reform in Canada. BC’s decriminalization initiative is premised on several goals. This project seeks to evaluate each of these goals and their individual and combined contributions to determine the overall success of this policy. Methods The following protocol paper provides a detailed outline of a five-year (2022-2027) national evaluation of BC’s decriminalization initiative, as well as the specific objectives, methodologies, and planned analyses for eight interrelated sub-studies that comprise the evaluation. These sub-studies fall under the following five topical areas of research: 1) people who use drugs (PWUD), 2) the police and the criminal justice system, 3) the general public, 4) the health services system, and 5) an economic analysis. Additional research activities may also be explored. Results The overall evaluation and specific sub-study designs were informed by intensive stakeholder engagement. The evaluation was developed in collaboration with an international expert committee who came together to undertake a nominal group technique to decide on the final evaluation design and corresponding logic model. The evaluation will also employ an advisory board and individual sub-study working groups comprised of experts and PWUD who will oversee the development and implementation of the overall evaluation as well as each sub-study. Discussion This evaluation will draw on implementation science research practices to evaluate and understand the full impacts of this novel drug policy experiment. Results will be widely disseminated through manuscripts, reports, presentations, and infographics, which will be adapted and tailored for specific audiences. The protocol identifies several anticipated challenges and limitations. This evaluation’s evidence-based findings will be poised to offer pivotal insights that can shape and refine the discourse on drug policy and will serve as a critical resource for understanding the multifaceted impacts of decriminalization.

Nabin Pathak,1,2 Shreya Dhungana,3 Bijaya Basyal,4 Prabhat Kumar Jha,5 Sunil Shrestha,6 Panna Thapa,7,8 Vibhu Paudyal9,10 1Drug Information Unit and Pharmacovigilance Cell, Department of Pharmacy, Hetauda Hospital, Madan Bhandari Academy of Health Sciences, Hetauda, Bagmati Province, Nepal; 2Department of Pharmacy and Clinical Pharmacology, Madan Bhandari Academy of Health Sciences, Hetauda, Bagmati Province, Nepal; 3Department of Pharmacy, National Model College for Advanced Learning, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal; 4Pharmacy Unit, Prithvi Chandra Hospital, Nawalparasi, Nepal; 5Pharmacy Officer, Province Health Logistic Management Center, Dhanusha, Nepal; 6Department of Research and Academics, Kathmandu Cancer Center, Bhaktapur, Province Bagmati, Nepal; 7Department of Pharmacy, Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, Kavre, Nepal; 8Multidimensional Cannabis Research Centre (MCRC), Kathmandu University, Dhulikhel, Nepal; 9School of Pharmacy, College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK; 10Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Palliative Care, King’s College London, London, UKCorrespondence: Nabin Pathak, Drug Information Unit and Pharmacovigilance Cell, Department of Pharmacy, Hetauda Hospital, Madan Bhandari Academy of Health Sciences, Makwanpur, Hetauda, Bagmati Province, Nepal, Email nabin.pathak@mbahs.edu.np; pathaknabin89@gmail.comAbstract: The unique historical and cultural background of Nepal has shaped its perspective on cannabis usage. Narcotic Drugs Control Act 1976 of Nepal prohibits the cultivation, production, manufacture, sales, and distribution of narcotic drugs, which also include various forms of cannabis. With proponents for cannabis legalization increasing in the country, it is equally crucial to analyze context and practices in countries already adopting legalization. As such, this article contextualizes the current debates in Nepal with global policies and practices and talks about the possible impacts of changing the laws on society, the economy, and public health. Policymakers in Nepal must make decisions based on evidence and facts when deciding how to regulate cannabis.Keywords: cannabis, legalization, decriminalization, Nepal

Abstract In January 2023, the province of British Columbia (BC) decriminalized the possession of certain illegal drugs for personal use. The province’s primary intent was to reduce the stigma associated with drug use, as well as barriers for people who use drugs (PWUD) to access treatment and supports. However, less than ten months into the decriminalization policy, due to growing concerns about public safety voiced by municipal governments and communities, the provincial government made amendments to the policy to ban the public consumption of illicit drugs in additional locations, and subsequently introduced additional legislation, Bill 34, aimed at regulating public consumption of drugs in public spaces. Some communities have also implemented local bylaws similarly regulating public drug use. Bill 34 and local bylaws may serve as tools to promote community health and safety and minimize direct and indirect harms associated with public drug use. However, such legislation may re-criminalize PWUD and reinforce negative perceptions surrounding drug use, especially if these policies are not paired with strategies to expand the availability and accessibility of critical harm reduction and housing services. Without ample access to these services, limitations on public drug use can potentially displace individuals to areas where they are more likely to use alone, further exposing them to substance use-related harms, and undermining the goals of decriminalization. The potential effects of these restrictions may also disproportionately impact marginalized populations. As of April 2024, Bill 34 remains on hold. Moving forward, it will be important to monitor this bill, as well as other public consumption bylaws and legislation, and their impact on BC’s overall decriminalization initiative. Decision-makers are urged to increase engagement with PWUD and relevant stakeholders in the design and implementation of policies pertaining to public consumption to ensure that they effectively address the evolving needs and realities of PWUD, and align with decriminalization goals.

Background Despite the legalization of cannabis use for medical purposes in Thailand in February 2019, illicit providers are still widespread and accessible. This study aimed to understand why people still chose to receive medical cannabis treatment or products from unlicensed or illegal providers. The practices of unlicensed or illegal providers in provision of medical cannabis products or treatment services were also examined. Methods Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted among medical cannabis providers and users, including 36 unlicensed and 7 licensed providers and 25 users in 2019-2021. Snowball sampling was used to recruit participants until saturation of data was achieved. Interviews included open-ended questions about the providers’ practices and attitudes towards medical cannabis. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and thematic analysis was performed. Results Overall, six reasons were identified to answer why unlicensed/illicit providers were still popular, including: 1) easy accessibility; 2) familiarity with the unlicensed providers before the legal scheme became available; 3) favorable characters (kind, supportive, non-judgmental) of unlicensed providers; 4) affordable treatment fees; 5) trust in the quality of the medicines; and 6) lack of knowledge and negative attitudes towards cannabis from healthcare professionals. Most providers started their career as medical cannabis providers by using it themselves or with their relatives and being satisfied with the results. They used cannabis products to treat all diseases, including skin, eyes, HIV/AIDS, non-communicable diseases and all kinds of cancers. Additionally, they believed that it was effective, with no or minimal adverse effects. Conclusions This study suggests that some patients will continue receiving medical cannabis treatment and products from unlicensed or illegal providers. More attention should be paid on increasing the capacity of medical cannabis service systems within public health hospitals, and the certification of unlicensed providers, so as to integrate them into a regulated system.

Abstract Background In January 2023, British Columbia implemented a three-year exemption to Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, as granted by the federal government of Canada, to decriminalize the personal possession of small amounts of certain illegal drugs. This decriminalization policy, the first in Canada, was announced in response to the overdose emergency in British Columbia as a public health intervention that could help curb overdose deaths by reducing the impact of criminalization and increasing access to health and social services through stigma reduction. Methods The current multi-method study examines people who use drugs’ awareness and knowledge of British Columbia’s decriminalization model through cross-sectional quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews among people who use drugs from September–November 2022, immediately prior to the implementation of decriminalization. Results Quantitative findings show that two-thirds (63%) of people who use drugs were aware of the policy, but substantial knowledge gaps existed about the legal protections afforded (threshold amount, substances included, drug trafficking, confiscation). The qualitative findings suggest that people who use drugs misunderstood the details of the provincial decriminalization model and often conflated it with regulation. Results suggest that information sharing about decriminalization were minimal pre-implementation, highlighting areas for knowledge dissemination about people who use drugs' rights under this policy. Conclusions Given that decriminalization in British Columbia is a new and landmark reform, and that the success of decriminalization and its benefits may be undermined by poor awareness and knowledge of it, efforts to share information, increase understanding, and empower the community, may be required to promote its implementation and benefits for the community.

The legal framework governing abortion in India is, at its core, a cis-hetero-patriarchal framework that regulates pregnant persons' bodies using a punitive criminal justice system. The criminal framework encompasses Sections 312-318 IPC, provisions of the POCSO Act, and the PCPNDT Act, which prescribe significant state surveillance and allow for largely unchecked intimidation by law enforcement of both abortion providers and abortion seekers. Several case laws show the “chilling effect” of criminalization on healthcare providers, leading them to hesitate to provide safe abortion services. The stigma around abortions perpetuated by criminalization, leaves pregnant persons with limited reproductive choices – these include either availing of safe abortions and risking prosecution, availing of unsafe abortions and risking adverse health outcomes, or carrying unwanted pregnancies to term and avoiding prenatal and maternal healthcare. Criminalization disproportionately affects marginalized communities, with examples of legal reform showing carceral approaches' disregard for structural factors affecting certain groups' access to fundamental rights and healthcare services. It is, therefore, imperative to decriminalize abortion completely, framing avenues for redressal within a reproductive justice framework. The proposal to completely abolish penal provisions that govern forced abortions begets concerns about leaving marginalized pregnant persons who frequently experience forced abortions with no legal recourse. This feminist dilemma that ensues requires the adoption of decarceral, intersectional approaches that maintain structures of accountability for harm done, without posing any risk to the rights of marginalized pregnant persons. El marco jurídico que rige el aborto en India es fundamentalmente una estructura cis-heteropatriarcal, que utiliza un sistema de justicia penal punitivo para controlar los cuerpos de las personas embarazadas. Las secciones 312-318 del Código Penal indio, junto con la ley de Protección de los niños contra los delitos sexuales y la ley de Técnicas de diagnóstico prenatal y antes de la concepción, componen este marco penal, promoviendo una vigilancia estatal que intimida por igual a quienes practican el aborto y a quienes lo solicitan. Los casos judiciales ilustran vívidamente el perjudicial “efecto amedrentador” que tiene la penalización tanto sobre los proveedores de atención sanitaria como sobre quienes buscan abortar. El estigma vinculado a los abortos penalizados limita la autonomía de decisión reproductiva, obligando a las personas a elegir entre procedimientos seguros pero perseguibles, abortos inseguros con riesgos para la salud, o llevar a término embarazos no deseados. Esto afecta de manera desproporcionada a las comunidades marginadas, lo que pone de relieve la inadecuación de los enfoques carcelarios para abordar las barreras estructurales a la realización de los derechos reproductivos. Los activistas piden la despenalización completa, impulsando una transición hacia un marco de justicia reproductiva. La propuesta de abolir por completo las disposiciones penales que regulan los abortos forzados suscita la preocupación de dejar sin recursos legales a las personas embarazadas marginadas que suelen sufrir abortos forzados. El dilema feminista que se plantea exige la adopción de enfoques descarceladores e interseccionales que mantengan las estructuras de rendición de cuentas sin poner en peligro los derechos de las mujeres embarazadas marginadas.

Decriminalization and legalization of illicit drugs have been hot topics ever since they hit the black market, and they have progressed a long way since. The history and subject of drugs continues to be a controversial topic, but it is evident that we still need change. This essay differentiates the concepts of decriminalization and legalization, their effects on drug policy, and their impacts on the user, and argues for the legalization of illicit drugs in Canada. It is argued that the legalization of illicit drugs allows for proper addiction treatment, safe consumption, addresses the large amounts of overdoses and opioid crisis and reduces stigmatization. Systemic and fundamental change is needed in order to prioritize the health, safety, and well-being of society as a whole.

The emergence of a new ground for closing criminal proceedings in the current Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine – in connection with the decriminalization of an act committed by a person – has caused ambiguous assessments by scholars. The application of the new procedure in judicial practice necessitates a thorough scientific study of the problem in order to prevent violations of the law. The purpose of the study was to determine the practical feasibility of the adopted amendments for pre-trial investigation and court proceedings. To achieve this goal, the following methods were used: dialectical, systemic and structural, comparative legal, formal and logical, and modelling. The study describes the actions of participants in criminal proceedings at the stage of pre-trial investigation and in court during consideration of the said procedure. The author compares the new procedure with other existing special investigative procedures and emphasizes their differences. The author calls into question whether the legislator has singled out this procedure as a type of special procedure. The author comes to the conclusion that the subject under study is an exclusively improved basis for closing criminal proceedings or further continuation of their consideration, depending on the right of the defence to close or continue the proceedings in court. The author analyses the court practice of application of this criminal procedural institute. Attention is focused on the need for investigators, prosecutors, and judges to take into account the requirements of the new grounds for closing criminal proceedings and to prevent violations of the law, since during its consideration the suspect and the accused are granted an additional alternative right to agree or disagree with the closure of proceedings, which is a guarantee of human rights and freedoms. The author's conclusion that it is inappropriate for the legislator to classify the procedure for closing proceedings as a separate type of special procedure is justified by haste and lack of appropriate scientific research. The study provides the basis for improving the methodology of procedural actions of the prosecution during the closure of criminal proceedings and may be used by the legislator for further regulation of the criminal proceedings' procedure

Abstract Background In May 2022, Health Canada approved a three-year exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act decriminalizing possession of certain illegal substances for personal use among adults in the province of British Columbia. The exemption explicitly includes a cumulative threshold of 2.5 g of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA. Threshold quantities are commonly included in decriminalization policies and justified within law enforcement systems to delineate personal use among people who use drugs versus drug dealers who are carrying for trafficking purposes. Understanding the impact of the 2.5g threshold can help define the extent to which people who use drugs will be decriminalized. Methods From June-October 2022, 45 people who use drugs from British Columbia were interviewed to gain an understanding of their perceptions on decriminalization, particularly on the proposed threshold of 2.5 g. We conduced descriptive thematic analyses to synthesize common interview responses. Results Results are displayed under two categories: 1) Implications for substance use profiles and purchasing patterns, including implications on the cumulative nature of the threshold and impacts on bulk purchasing, and 2) Implications of police enforcement, including distrust of police use of discretion, potential for net widening and jurisdictional discrepancies in enforcing the threshold. Results illustrate the need for the decriminalization policy to consider diversity in consumption patterns and frequency of use among people who use drugs, the inclination to purchase larger quantities of substances for reduced costs and to guarantee a safe and available supply, and the role police will play in delineating between possession for personal use or trafficking purposes. Conclusions The findings underscore the importance of monitoring the impact of the threshold on people who use drugs and whether it is countering the goals of the policy. Consultations with people who use drugs can help policymakers understand the challenges they may face when trying to abide by this threshold.

Abstract Introduction Canada and the United States continue to experience increasing overdose deaths attributed to highly toxic illicit substances, driven by fentanyl and its analogues. Many bystanders report being hesitant to call 9-1-1 at an overdose due to fears around police presence and arrests. In Canada, a federal law was enacted in 2017, the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act (GSDOA), to provide protection from simple drug possession and related charges when 9-1-1 is called to an overdose. There is limited evidence, however, that the GSDOA has improved rates of intention to call 9-1-1 at overdose events. We therefore sought to examine intent to call 9-1-1 among persons who received GSDOA education and were at risk of witnessing an overdose. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted with people at risk of witnessing an overdose recruited at 19 Take Home Naloxone (THN) program sites across British Columbia as well as online through Foundry from October 2020 to April 2021. Descriptive statistics were used to examine intention to call 9-1-1 at future overdoses. Multivariable logistic regression models were built in hierarchical fashion to examine factors associated with intention to call 9-1-1. Results Overall, 89.6% (n = 404) of the eligible sample reported intention to call 9-1-1. In the multivariable model, factors positively associated with intention to call 9-1-1 included identifying as a cisgender woman (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 3.37; 95% CI: 1.19–9.50) and having previous GSDOA awareness ([AOR]: 4.16; 95% CI: 1.62–10.70). Having experienced a stimulant overdose in the past 6 months was negatively associated with intention to call 9-1-1 ([AOR]: 0.24; 95% CI: 0.09–0.65). Conclusion A small proportion of the respondents reported that, despite the enactment of GSDOA, they did not intend to call 9-1-1 and those who were aware of the act were more likely to report an intention to call at future overdose events. Increasing GSDOA awareness and/or additional interventions to support the aims of the GSDOA could address ongoing reluctance to seek emergency medical care by people who use drugs.

Abstract Background Decriminalizing suicide may decrease overall suicide rates because then individuals who are at risk of suicide would be more willing to seek help from the community and from mental health professionals, therefore enabling early interventions for preventing suicidality. We aimed to examine the suicide trends over the last 20 years in 20 countries that still criminalize attempted suicide, and to compare the suicide rates of these 20 countries against the global average suicide rate and to a comparison sample of 20 countries that do not criminalize suicide, matched according to region and majority religion. Methods Age-standardized suicide rates were extracted from the WHO Global Health Estimates, available for the period 2000-2019. Population data were extracted from the World Bank. We analyzed only countries which criminalize attempted suicide under its criminal justice system. Countries were further categorized according to their membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and countries in Africa. Countries from the same region and with the same majority religion were chosen as a matching group. Joinpoint analysis was used to compare the trends of the two groups with the global average. Results Based on the 2019 WHO Global Health Estimates data, there is a large range in the suicide rates of the countries that criminalize attempted suicide, from 2.5 (Brunei) to 40.9 (Guyana) per 100,000 population. The mean suicide rate was 8.3 (Standard Deviation = 10.6). Out of the 20 countries, seven have suicide rates higher than the global average, covering a total population of about 387.3 million. Of these seven countries, five are in the African region. The other thirteen countries have suicide rates between 2.5 to 8.2. Mean scores of the countries which criminalized attempted suicide was lower than the global average and 20 comparison countries over the 20 years, but average annual percentage in the decrease of suicide was greater for countries in which attempted suicide was not criminalized. Conclusions Based on our review, there was no substantial evidence here to indicate that countries which criminalized attempted suicide had consistently lower suicide rates compared to the global average. There is a need to acknowledge that the currently available evidence is inadequate to definitively claim that criminalizing suicide is beneficial or harmful for the reduction of suicide rate for the entire populations. Future studies should continue to evaluate the unique effects of decriminalizing attempted suicide while controlling for other key associated factors.

Abstract Introduction Bystanders to drug overdoses often avoid or delay calling 9–1-1 and cite fear of police involvement as a main reason. In 2017, the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act (GSDOA) was enacted by the Canadian government to provide people present at an overdose with legal protection from charges for simple drug possession, and conditions stemming from simple possession. Few studies have taken a multi-methods approach to evaluating the GSDOA. We used quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to explore awareness, understanding, and perceptions of the GSDOA in people at risk of witnessing an overdose. Methods Quantitative cross-sectional surveys and qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with adults and youth at risk of witnessing an overdose across British Columbia. Cross-sectional survey participants were recruited at 19 Take Home Naloxone sites and online through Foundry. Multivariable logistic regression models were constructed hierarchically to determine factors associated with GSDOA awareness. Telephone interview participants were recruited by research assistants with lived/living experience of substance use. Deductive and inductive thematic analyses were conducted to identify major themes. Results Overall, 52.7% (n = 296) of the quantitative study sample (N = 453) reported being aware of the GSDOA. In multivariable analysis, cellphone possession (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.19; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.36, 3.54) and having recently witnessed an opioid overdose (AOR = 2.34; 95% CI 1.45, 3.80) were positively associated with GSDOA awareness. Young adults (25 – 34 years) were more likely to be aware of the Act (AOR = 2.10; 95% CI 1.11, 3.98) compared to youth (16–24 years). Qualitative interviews (N = 42) revealed that many overestimated the protections offered by the GSDOA. To increase awareness and knowledge of the Act among youth, participants recommended adding the GSDOA to school curricula and using social media. Word of mouth was suggested to reach adults. Conclusion Both awareness and knowledge of the GSDOA remain low in BC, with many overestimating the protections the Act offers. Dissemination efforts should be led by people with lived/living experience and should target those with limited awareness and understanding of the Act as misunderstandings can erode trust in law enforcement and harm reduction policy.

Introducción: la relación entre el consumo de cannabis y la aparición de síntomas psicóticos está suficientemente fundamentada. La legalización y/o despenalización del cannabis podría aumentar la frecuencia y la cantidad de su consumo entre sus usuarios. Objetivo: esta revisión sistemática pretende resumir los hallazgos de los estudios que investigaron el riesgo, la precocidad y la intensidad de la psicosis en los consumidores de cannabis, teniendo en cuenta el estado de legalización y/o despenalización del consumo de cannabis en diferentes países. Metodología: fueron incluidos artículos publicados hasta mayo de 2018, en lengua inglesa, portuguesa y española, todos extraídos de las bases de datos PubMed y SciELO, respetando los criterios de inclusión y exclusión. Resultados: se incluyeron 19 estudios de 18 países. La relación entre el consumo de cannabis y el inicio de síntomas psicóticos estuvo suficientemente fundamentada. Sin embargo, no hubo datos que respaldaran un aumento en el riesgo, la precocidad o la intensidad de la psicosis en los consumidores de cannabis de países con niveles más altos de legalización/despenalización del uso de cannabis hasta la fecha del presente estudio. Conclusión: el consumo de cannabis está asociado con el desarrollo de psicosis. Hasta el momento, no hay datos que indiquen un aumento en la precocidad, el riesgo o la intensidad de la psicosis en usuarios de cannabis, debido a la legalización o despenalización del uso de cannabis. Sin embargo, la ausencia de datos hasta la fecha no excluye estas posibilidades, ya que ninguno de los estudios analizados en esta revisión evaluó específicamente los efectos de las políticas de legalización/despenalización en esos resultados. Por ello, los estudios prospectivos centrados en los efectos de las políticas de legalización o despenalización deben llevarse a cabo en países como Canadá, España, los Estados Unidos de América (algunos estados), los Países Bajos y Uruguay.

Abstract After decades of criminalization, psychedelic substances such as psilocybin and LSD are experiencing their comeback in science and Western culture more broadly. While psychedelic plants and fungi have a long history of use in Indigenous cultures, the Western prohibitionist reality instantiated around 1970 has stigmatized psychedelics as medically useless and a threat to society. Yet studies are increasingly demonstrating their potential to treat widespread mental health conditions such as PTSD, depression, or anxiety in combination with psychotherapy. Most of this research is currently taking place in the US, where additionally decriminalization and legalization efforts and religious exemptions have paved the way to make psychedelics legally accessible. Based on 3 years of ethnographic research in the US (both in-person and virtual), this article explores contemporary US-American socio-psychedelic imaginaries, i.e., collective visions articulated and enacted to reintegrate psychedelics legally and responsibly into society. Four socio-psychedelic imaginaries are identified, described, and interpreted: the biomedicalization imaginary, decriminalization imaginary, legalization imaginary, and sacramental imaginary. These imaginaries diverge and converge around several politics: politics of access, politics of responsibility, politics of naming, politics of assimilation and social change, and politics of epistemic credibility. Contemporary socio-psychedelic imaginaries are co-evolving, mutually shaping, and amplifying each other. Together they function as societal corrective to the politically motivated prohibition of psychedelics. Although enacted by humans, the radical imagination expressed in socio-psychedelic imaginaries has its roots in human-psychedelics entanglements.

And during the pandemic, the state continued to promote the security of society by amending the normative act. Taking into account the fact that the criminal policy has as a segment the supervision of the criminal law, we are witnessing its modification by incriminating some crimes or penalizing others.

Wendy McElroy is a Canadian anarco-capitalist and a feminist author. She advocates prostitutes and their rights over their bodies. The essay discusses the connection between McElroy’s ifeminism and libertarianism within prostitution and the relationship between all the figures around this profession, always referring to the current American debate between libertarian feminism and radical feminism. This analysis of McElroy’s thought explores a complex and multifaceted phenomenon such as the prostitution one, trying to return the ideas of “A Reasonable Woman”.

Emerging evidence suggests that sex workers face unique and profound risks arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. To illuminate the pandemic's effects on sex worker health and safety and identify intervention opportunities, from May–August 2020 in-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 15 sex workers, four service providers and two individuals who were both. Sampled sex workers included eight people of color, eight cisgender women, five cisgender men, three non-binary people, and one transgender woman. Using Conservation of Resources Theory to define impacts on sex worker resources and resulting health and safety implications, a deductive thematic analysis was conducted. Seven resources were threatened due to the pandemic: work opportunity, sex work venues, social support, health services, money, food, and housing. The loss of these resources was exacerbated by stigma – notably sex work criminalization – and significantly undermined health and safety by increasing food and housing instability, increasing risks of violence, and diminishing safer sex negotiation. Six resources were activated in response: social support, digital skills, health knowledge, non-sex work employment, money, and resilience. While social support had numerous benefits, investing digital skills and non-sex work employment were generally of limited impact. The pandemic's negative health and safety effects were most profound at the intersections of race, gender, class, and migration status. These findings suggest sex workers need urgent and ongoing support, with investments in social support and sex work decriminalization likely to have the greatest effects on health and safety relative to and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract We argue commercial sex workers have rights to healthcare and psychosocial support. While decriminalization is not legally enacted in most countries, we would suggest these workers rights include freedom from harassment and opportunities to lead healthy lives. The need for healthcare access for all is heightened in the COVID-19 pandemic where some people flout rules on lockdown by engaging with commercial sex workers and may unwittingly spread SARS-CoV-2 in so doing. Unrestricted healthcare access without stigma for commercial sex workers protects them, and has a beneficial societal effect on those who engage with them and on their contacts.

This autoethnography seeks to add to the growing body of sex worker focused literature by shedding light on the intersections between race, gender, and disability status in sex workers’ experience. I examine my experiences with educational, social, and medical institutions in Germany and the US through a Black Feminist and Disability Justice frame in order to illustrate the insidious nature of racism, sexism, and ableism in the daily experiences of Black bodies with disabilities. Drawing on existing disability justice frameworks, such as Puar’s concept of debility, I connect my experience with entering and surviving in the sex trade to my ability to understand and survive society’s hostility. I examine instances from my life where the intersections I occupy have worked to both propel and restrain my ability to attain in societies that are decidedly anti-sex-work, ableist, and misguided on issues of race and sex. I highlight the lessons learned from sex work to connect these institutions to the unique set of challenges racialized sex workers with disability face both on and off the job. This paper provides observations on the ways that community mitigates these harms and forms a safe space for those living in society’s margins to reassert their agency. Finally, I propose means of incorporating the philosophies and methods of radical Black sex worker community organizing into a mainstreamed agenda for equity.

Abstract Portugal decriminalized the public and private use, acquisition, and possession of all drugs in 2000; adopting an approach focused on public health rather than public-order priorities. Arguing that the Portuguese Drug Policy Model has not proven influential enough to emancipate drug use from the stigma that associates it either with crime or pathology, this article critically discusses the developments and current challenges the Portuguese drug policy confronts, namely the growing diversity of drug use patterns observed in Portugal as well as in Europe. To this end, international and national legal instruments concerning drugs and official local data were analysed. Despite encouraging results, conclusions indicate that these policies are marked by contradictions and ambiguities that have permeated its history since the very beginning, and modest ambitions, particularly regarding the implementation of harm reduction measures. Moreover, the polemical Supreme Court judgment that reestablished, in 2008, drug use as a crime when the quantities at play exceeded those required for an average individual’s use for 10 days, might have impacted the landscape of drug use penalization. The last decade saw an increase of punitiveness targeted at drug users, including criminal sentences of jail terms. We finish with some suggestions that could be employed in the practical application of drug policy.

The subject. The article is devoted to the problems of simultaneous harmonization between the policy of humanization of the Russian criminal law and the reduction of the crime rate in society. The institute of incomplete crime is proposed as one of the promising areas of humanization of criminal legislation. The authors analyze the norms of the Russian Criminal Code which determine the essence of an incomplete crime, as well as the specifics of imposing punishment for its commission. The subject of the research also includes the strategic provisions of the Russian legislation, which reflect the main directions of the implementation of contemporary criminal policy, its goal and objectives. The purpose of the article is to confirm or dispute hypothesis that it is inadmissible to criminalize the actions committed at the stage of preparation for the commission of an intentional crime, as well as it is admissible to mitigate the liability for attempted crime. Research methodology and techniques are represented by a number of general scientific and specific scientific methods of cognition, used primarily in humanitarian research. The establishment of regularities between the growth of crime rates and the degree of criminalization, determined in the current criminal legislation, is ensured by the use of the dialectical method of cognition. The methods of analysis and synthesis were used to compare statistical data on the state of crime in Russia and the dynamics of the number of convicts serving imprisonment. Various methods of formal logic were applied in the process of evaluating measures aimed at ensuring the humanization of modern Russian criminal legislation. The method of comparative legal research was used to study the content of the norms on responsibility for an incomplete crime. The result of the study is proof of the necessity to decriminalize actions that are currently defined as "preparation for the commission of a grave or especially grave crime." The necessity of a significant reduction in the degree of punitive criminal-legal impact on persons found guilty of an attempt to commit an intentional crime has been substantiated. Conclusions. It as expedient to partially decriminalize an incomplete crime and exclude this institution from the General Part of the Russian Criminal Code. This decision fully complies with the fundamental principles of criminal law: legality, guilt, justice, and will also ensure the effectiveness of the implementation of the modern policy of humanizing Russian criminal legislation.

The concepts of “decriminalization” and “legalization” of sex work are defined. Based on a sociological study, the attitudes of the Ukrainian public and sex workers to the potential change in the legal status of sex services in Ukraine is characterized. Authors analyse the public attitude toward the concepts and phenomena of “sex work” and “sex workers”, level of awareness of the population and sex workers about the current legislation in the scope of sex work regulation in Ukraine and the attitude to it, opinions on potential conditions of decriminalization and expected changes as a result of changes in the sex work legal status, level of interest of sex workers in the fact of decriminalization and legalization and their readiness for possible changes. These studies show an utterly predictable contrast between the attitudes, desires and expectations regarding potential changes in the legal status of sex work in Ukraine of the average Ukrainian and a sex worker – from disinclination and rejection of such changes by the first to the unreadiness and possible radiant hopes of the latter. Thus, 51% of Ukrainians oppose the revocation of penalty for the voluntary provision of paid sex services, while 93% of sex workers are interested in the revocation of such penalty. Modelling the situation where the penalty for sex work is revoked, the potential improvements suggested by sex workers are the following: safer working conditions and reduced risks of violence – 74%; the possibility of legal protection from the police – 67%, in court and prosecutor’s office – 64%; reduction of stigma at the level of society – 58%, at the level of self-esteem – 53%; expected reduction in health risks, including HIV/STIs – 49%. The appropriateness to form a public attitude to sex work as a type of entrepreneurial activity, which should be regulated by labour, civil, economic, financial and other branches of law, and to sex workers as those who are entitled to refuse (a client, employer, profession in general), appropriate working conditions and trade union or judicial protection, anonymity, social guarantees and pensions, self-organization, etc. are proved.

Soft drugs are a relatively new concept that has no history at least in our country’s legal and social literature. The term is referred to as a form of drugs with specific features and refers to those substances whose consumption is not likely to cause addiction, has less adverse effects on the health of the body and can be expected to use it as a treatment. These characteristics have caused some tendency to decriminalization of this type of drugs. However, the opposition believes that the decriminalization is in the first place opposed to legal moralism and secondly because it violates international obligations of governments. Also, releasing these drugs, such as hashish, will reduce prices and eventually increase its consumption. In addition to the implication of a large number of studies, Decriminalization of soft drugs consumption amounts to an increase in crimes especially financial crimes. The experience of countries already involved in drug abuse has also been an unsuccessful experience. Please Cite This Article As: Ehsanpour, SR & Mahdavi Sabet, MA (2020). “Medical and legal Justifications for Decriminalization of Soft Drugs”. Journal of Interdisciplinary Legal Researches, 1 (1): 39-54.

The article analyzes the results of a study of recidivism conducted in England, Denmark, Canada, Nigeria, Portugal, New Zealand, the USA, and Scotland. Objective and subjective determinants have been identified that make it possible to predict with a high degree of probability the subsequent criminal prosecution violation, its time parameters. The psychological portrait of the recidivist is described, stress factors of delinquent behavior are revealed. The driving forces of decriminalization of former criminals are revealed. This is an intensive probationary period under the auspices of mentors who are able to build trusting relationships with parole through consistent, non-judgmental actions with the simultaneous possibility of playing the role of guardians of young people in difficult social and criminal settings in solving their economic problems.

Abstract Background The abortion law in Uruguay changed in 2012 to allow first trimester abortion on request. Implementation of the law in Uruguay has been lauded, but barriers to care, including abortion stigma, remain. This study aimed to assess women’s experiences seeking abortion services and related attitudes and knowledge following implementation of the law in Uruguay. Methods We interviewed 207 eligible women seeking abortion services at a high-volume public hospital in Montevideo in 2014. We generated univariate frequencies to describe women’s experiences in care. We conducted regression analysis to examine variations in experiences of stigma by women’s age and number of abortions. Results Most of the women felt that abortion was a right, were satisfied with the services they received, and agreed with the abortion law. However, 70% found the five-day waiting period unnecessary. Women experienced greater self-judgement than worries about being judged by others. Younger women in the sample (ages 18–21) reported being more worried about judgment than women 22 years or older (1.02 vs. 0.71 on the ILAS sub-scale). One quarter of participants reported feeling judged while obtaining services. Women with more than one abortion had nearly three times the odds of reporting feeling judged. Conclusions These findings highlight the need to address abortion stigma even after the law is changed. Some considerations from Uruguay that may be relevant to other jurisdictions reforming abortion laws include: the need for strategies to reduce judgmental behavior from staff and clinicians towards women seeking abortions, including training in counseling skills and empathic communication; addressing stigmatizing attitudes about abortion through community outreach or communications campaigns; mitigating the potential stigma that may be perpetuated through policies to prevent “repeat” abortions; ensuring that younger women and those with more than one abortion feel welcome and are not mistreated during care; and assessing the necessity of a waiting period. The rapid implementation of legal, voluntary abortion services in Uruguay can serve in many ways as an exemplar, and these findings may inform the process of abortion law reform in other countries.

Opioid use, abuse, and associated mortality have reached an epidemic level. In some states, cannabis is being used to treat chronic pain. To examine the hypothesis that medical marijuana legislation may reduce adverse opioid-related outcomes if patients substitute cannabis for opioids for pain management, we conducted a clinical inquiry (Clin-IQ). We searched Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid MEDLINE In-Process, and Embase for studies using the search terms marijuana, cannabis, legal, marijuana smoking, medical marijuana, opioid-related disorders, cannabis use, medical cannabis, legal aspect, and opiate addiction. We included population-based articles published from January 1, 2012, through December 5, 2018, that assessed the relationship between marijuana use and decriminalization and the aforementioned opioid-related outcomes. Ten peer-reviewed studies met the inclusion criteria; 3 cross-sectional studies, 6 ecologic studies (ie, using aggregate data), and 1 retrospective cohort study. Eight studies reported associations between policies decriminalizing marijuana and reduced prescription opioid use, 1 study was inconclusive, and the retrospective cohort study reported an increase in adverse opioid-related outcomes. These results should be interpreted with caution given limitations associated with the studies’ design. Results demonstrating association between marijuana decriminalization and opioid-related outcomes are mixed. Longitudinal studies are needed, and further analysis of this policy should continue to be tracked.

Existentialism is a philosophical school that gives a special importance for two principles of "freedom" and "responsibility". Jean-Paul Sartre, with philosophical arguments, comes to the conclusion that "human is condemned to freedom" and thus perceives the deepest possible form of freedom for human. Given the freely-centered approach of existentialism and because the concept of freedom enjoys a distinguished standing in the school, involvement of idea and components of the school in the world of criminal law gives us a significant analysis and inferences. By examining the demands of existentialism in the field of criminalization and decriminalization, it is evident that any restriction of personal freedom is in confrontation and conflict with the principles of existentialism and accordingly, the theories of paternalism and legal moralism, according to this school of thought, are threatening the individual freedoms. According to the idea of existentialism, resort to criminalization is permissible when freedoms of individuals are subject to damage. In this regard, the scope of individual freedoms in criminal law is broader, it will be closer and more compatible with existentialist demands and vice versa, limitation and narrowing individual freedoms and extreme and maximum criminalization will be in contrast to criminal approach of existentialism.

As for the importance of the family maintenance, the legislator needs to predict appropriate social response to deal with any illegal act. In this regard, the act of decriminalization to reduce the adoption of punishment and retribution would be the best solution. This research proves that there are some way outs to fulfill the objectives of decriminalization regarding family crime. Some solutions such as asking for an appeal or taking alternative punishment to replace imprisonment and last but not least the issue of conditional or so to say the semi-release would be introduced accordingly. It is worth mentioning that in this study the discretionary punishment is in the focus, not the retribution such as Qisas and Hudud. It is worth mentioning that in this study the discretionary punishments is in most concern rather than retribution punishments such as retaliation (Qisas and Hudud) . According to the efficiency of decriminalizing ‚ the implementation of this policy can reduce the negative effects of sanctions while in the meantime provides ground to maintain family affairs.

This article explores and compares the changes in the criminal legislation of Russia and China. The author will first examine the history of the development of the criminal legislation of the two countries, identifying their common and distinguishing features in the process. The author will then compare the basic provisions and structure of the criminal codes of Russia and China as objects of comparative legal research. This article further analyzes the scale, direction and dynamics of changes in the provisions contained in the General and Special parts of the criminal codes of the two countries, in detail. It is concluded that the scale and speed of changes in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, is far greater compared to the changes in the Criminal Code of the People’s Republic of China, based on various indicators. The author gives general recommendations to the Russian legislator as far as the consideration of scientific developments goes.

This paper presents the results of the content analysis of 25 bills that went through the Brazilian National Congress between 2015 and 2018 on the theme of criminalization and decriminalization of abortion. The objective is to describe and discuss the arguments used by the parliamentarians to support or reprove those bills. The analysis reveals that women’s reproductive rights are not protagonist of the discourse presented in the bills, which focus on the natural status of the fetus and on increasing penalties to the women who perform self-induced abortion. Even if the religious discourse is not so explicit, we can find many traces of it, though disguised behind a definition of the beginning of human life, to demarcate in time the recognition of the fetus as a subject of rights. El artículo presenta los resultados del análisis de contenido de 25 leyes sobre la penalización y la despenalización del aborto que pasaron por el Congreso Nacional de Brasil entre 2015 y 2018. El objetivo es describir y debatir los argumentos utilizados por los miembros del Parlamento para apoyar o reprobar dichas leyes. El análisis revela que los derechos reproductivos de las mujeres no protagonizan el discurso presentado en las leyes, que se centran en el estatus natural del feto y en crecientes penalizaciones a las mujeres que realizan abortos autoinducidos. Incluso si el discurso religioso no es tan explícito, encontramos muchos rastros de él, si bien enmascarado tras una definición del comienzo de la vida, para demarcar en el tiempo el reconocimiento del feto como sujeto de derechos. Available from: https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1162

Abstract Background Abortion stigma is experienced by women seeking abortion services and by abortion providers in a range of legal contexts, including Uruguay, where abortion was decriminalized up to 12 weeks gestation in 2012. This paper analyzes opinions and attitudes of both abortion clients and health professionals approximately two years following decriminalization and assesses how abortion stigma manifests among these individuals and in institutions that provide care. Methods In 2014, we conducted twenty in-depth, semi-structured interviews with abortion clients (n = 10) and health care professionals (n = 10) in public and private facilities across Uruguay’s health system. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and then coded for thematic analysis. Results We find that both clients and health professionals express widespread satisfaction with the implementation of the new law. However, there exist critical points in the service where stigmatizing ideas and attitudes continue to be reproduced, such as the required five-day waiting period and in interactions with hospital staff who do not support access to the service. We also document the prevalence of stigmatizing ideas around abortion that continue to circulate outside the clinical setting. Conclusion Despite the benefits of decriminalization, abortion clients and health professionals still experience abortion stigma.

The article draws attention to the practice of application of norms about the criminal responsibility for environmental crimes, which include non-performing regulations, in particular articles 248, 259 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the Author, the establishment of criminal responsibility for crimes provided in articles 248, 259 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, not caused by necessity in the absence of violations or their singleness. These regulatory provisions do not implement the objectives of part 1 of article 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. These rules are “dead” and should be decriminalized. The responsibility for such illegal actions may be provided in an administrative or civil legislation, or offset by competing norms. In this situation, the change in the content of article 248, 259 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation will not affect their effectiveness.

(1) Under repressive policies, sex workers are at disproportionate risk for violence and sexually transmitted infections. The decriminalization of sex work provides increased social and health benefits to both sex workers and society. This is the first research that complements human rights-based messages with a quantifiable economic impact of such a law and a model for future calculations. (2) This research assesses the potential economic consequences of decriminalizing sex work in the District of Columbia (DC) in three areas: (A) income tax revenue, (B) criminal justice system savings, and (C) health sector savings (due to averted cases of violence, HIV, gonorrhea, and herpes). (3) An economic model is developed and utilized based on data from a literature search and agency records. (4) Decriminalizing sex work in DC will generate USD5348.68 per sex worker and USD2.53 per client annually, plus USD20,118.48 in criminal justice system savings a year. Per sex worker, USD5058.08 will be gained from income tax revenue, and USD290.60 will be generated through health sector savings (USD274.65, 0.02, 15.64, and 0.29 from averted cases of violence, HIV, gonorrhea, and herpes, respectively). Per client, decriminalization will generate USD0.05, 2.32, and 0.16 from averted cases of HIV, gonorrhea, and herpes, respectively, or USD8462.35 annually, after considering the total number of clients. Estimates are reported in 2020 USD. (5) The potential economic impact of decriminalizing sex work is widespread. The presented model, in conjunction with a rights-based foundation, should urgently be used by advocates, sex workers, decision makers, and other researchers.

Immigration Detention is a patchwork of public and private correctional facilities overseen by ICE, a federal enforcement agency. In June 2021, ICE detained 16,460 adults in 121 facilities in 38 states, frequently alongside pretrial and sentenced inmates and U.S. Marshals Service prisoners, under varying conditions ICE established with five different sets of detention standards, all of them based on corrections case law and in effect today. Detainees have not fared well in ICE’s custody, especially during the pandemic. In CY2020, ICE processed 137,749 detainees, tested only 80,200 for COVID-19 (58%), and recorded 8622 positive cases (11%) at over 100 facilities. Most testing positive for COVID-19—7687 (89%)—contracted the virus in ICE custody, including eight detainees who died. An additional 14,728 detainees (18%) had one or more conditions placing them at high risk for severe illness due to COVID-19 of which ICE only released 5801 (39%). This paper utilizes ICE data and documents on government websites to evaluate ICE’s approach to detention management and explore its impact on conditions of detention and how it impeded its readiness and response to the pandemic. It concludes with recommendations that ICE decrease reliance on detention and decriminalize its policies and practices.

Abstract Since the start of the opioid epidemic in 2016, the Downtown Eastside community of Vancouver, Canada, has lost many pioneering leaders, activists and visionaries to the war on drugs. The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), the Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society (WAHRS), and the British Columbia Association People on Opiate Maintenance (BCAPOM) are truly concerned about the increasing overdose deaths that have continued since 2016 and have been exacerbated by the novel coronavirus (SARS-COVID-19) despite many unique and timely harm reduction announcements by the British Columbia (B.C.) government. Some of these unique interventions in B.C., although in many cases only mere announcements with limited scope, are based on the philosophy of safe supply to illegal street drugs. Despite all the efforts during the pandemic, overdose deaths have spiked by over 100% compared to the previous year. Therefore, we urge the Canadian federal government, specifically the Honorable Patty Hajdu, the federal Minister of Health, to decriminalize simple possession immediately by granting exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The Canadian federal government has a moral obligation under Sect. 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to protect the basic human rights of marginalized Canadians.

Abstract Background Mexico’s 2009 “narcomenudeo reform” decriminalized small amounts of drugs, shifting some drug law enforcement to the states and mandating drug treatment diversion instead of incarceration. Data from Tijuana suggested limited implementation of this harm reduction-oriented policy. We studied whether a police education program (PEP) improved officers’ drug and syringe policy knowledge, and aimed to identify participant characteristics associated with improvement of drug policy knowledge. Methods Pre- and post-training surveys were self-administered by municipal police officers to measure legal knowledge. Training impact was assessed through matched paired nominal data using McNemar’s tests. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify predictors of improved legal knowledge, as measured by officers’ ability to identify conceptual legal provisions related to syringe possession and thresholds of drugs covered under the reform. Results Of 1750 respondents comparing pre- versus post training, officers reported significant improvement (p

This paper is organized into four parts of discussion. Firstly, we present the Portuguese decriminalization law and the central role of harm reduction within this framework. The second section discusses the mainstream meanings ascribed to the ‘HR double’ mainly anchored in problematic drug uses. The third section highlights the need to take into account the specificities of recreational drug uses, users and environments. Thus, the paper highlights the experience of the Kosmicare Project at the Boom Festival, which combines principles of harm reduction, crisis intervention and Grof’s approach. The fourth section draws upon the project’s experience itself and in the idea of the normalization of drug uses to acknowledge and to discuss the potentialities, tensions and limitations of these contributions when it comes to analyzing and constructing a strong version of the ‘HR double’.

In the article some problems of implementation into the criminal law of the elements of crimes with administrative prejudice are analyzed. The Author conducted a theoretical qualification of the interaction of criminal and administrative law taking into account the amendments, introduced into the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on July 15, 2016. On the basis of the examination of the opposite points of view on the existence in the criminal law of compositions of crime with administrative prejudice, the Author comes to the conclusion that the construction of data of compositions in the Russian criminal legislation is possible, but only after the clear study of the new concept of criminal-law legislation.

On 29 May 2018, the Liberal MP Anthony Housefather tabled Bill C-404 titled An Act to amend the Assisted Human Reproduction Act which seeks to decriminalize the payment of gamete donors and surrogates across Canada. Although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated the importance of having a societal debate on the subject, the bill was read only once by the House of Commons before it died on the Order Paper. Bill C-404 aimed to increase the number of Canadian gamete donors and surrogates to fulfill Canada's domestic needs, which are purportedly not being met because of a lack of economic incentives on the supply side and the existence of a grey market that deters some Canadians in acting as donors or surrogates and causes intending parents to fear being criminally sanctioned if the reimbursement they pay is deemed unrelated or unreasonable. While Bill C-404 has not been adopted by Parliament, this paper seeks to analyze the policy tensions at the heart of the decriminalization of payment of donors and surrogates—tensions that may well resurface in the future. As long as the alleged shortage of donors and surrogates persists, stakeholders are likely to continue to advocate for legislative change. Le 29 mai 2018, le député libéral Anthony Housefather a déposé le projet de loi C-404 intitulé Loi modifiant la Loi sur la procréation assistée, qui vise à décriminaliser le paiement des donneurs de gamètes et des mères porteuses au Canada. Bien que le premier ministre Justin Trudeau ait souligné l'importance d'avoir un débat de société sur le sujet, le projet de loi n'a été lu qu'une seule fois par la Chambre des communes avant de mourir au feuilleton. Le projet de loi C-404 visait à augmenter le nombre de donneurs de gamètes et de mères porteuses pour répondre aux besoins intérieurs du Canada qui ne seraient pas satisfaits en raison du manque d'incitatifs économiques et de l'existence d'un marché gris qui dissuade certains Canadiens d'agir comme donneurs ou mères porteuses et qui fait en sorte que les parents craignent de possibles sanctions criminelles si le remboursement qu'ils offrent est jugé non-relié ou déraisonnable. Bien que le projet de loi C-404 n'ait pas été adopté par le Parlement, le présent document cherche à analyser les tensions politiques qui sont au coeur de la décriminalisation de la rémunération des donneurs et des mères porteuses—tensions qui pourraient bien réapparaître dans l'avenir, car la pénurie alléguée de donneurs et de mères porteuses est susceptible de persister et il est probable que les intervenants continueront à plaider pour un changement législatif.

On 29 May 2018, the Liberal MP Anthony Housefather tabled Bill C-404 titled An Act to amend the Assisted Human Reproduction Act which seeks to decriminalize the payment of gamete donors and surrogates across Canada. Although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated the importance of having a societal debate on the subject, the bill was read only once by the House of Commons before it died on the Order Paper. Bill C-404 aimed to increase the number of Canadian gamete donors and surrogates to fulfill Canada's domestic needs, which are purportedly not being met because of a lack of economic incentives on the supply side and the existence of a grey market that deters some Canadians in acting as donors or surrogates and causes intending parents to fear being criminally sanctioned if the reimbursement they pay is deemed unrelated or unreasonable. While Bill C-404 has not been adopted by Parliament, this paper seeks to analyze the policy tensions at the heart of the decriminalization of payment of donors and surrogates—tensions that may well resurface in the future. As long as the alleged shortage of donors and surrogates persists, stakeholders are likely to continue to advocate for legislative change.

In light of the upcoming decriminalization of minor offenses, the article considers the problem of formation of "norms of revenge" as one of the components of legal consciousness. The study of explicit representations of pupils of 5 th and 10 th grade and adults about the penalties for crimes of varying severity. Pupils have also investigated implicit beliefs. Among all groups surveyed understanding of the necessary terms of punishment for crimes does not coincide with the norms of criminal legislation, their ideas about the "rule of retaliation" involve a more severe punishment for almost all crimes, especially small weight. At the same time, adults and students adequately understand the hierarchy of seriousness of the offence. The gap between the explicit and the implicit ideas about the "rule of retribution" for the crimes was noted only in the youngest adolescents. In adults, compared to juveniles, there is a more pronounced polarization and differentiation of views on the measures necessary punishment for the crime. The conclusion is that in the process of education pay little attention to the formation of an adequate evaluation of the relationship to law students.

Islamic government claims execution of divine punishment in the “Absence” period. However, in some cases, carelessness and discounts in execution of these punishments, without closure of them, has been specified by Holy legislator. “Dare” rule is one of the rules that achieved from the tolerance procedure of Holy legislator in execution of “Hodud”. The content of this rule is placed in 2 Articles of Islamic penal code. Contents of these article shows that this rule is interpreted so wide in compliance with the jurists that believe the closure of Hodud in “Absence” period. So study of these articles and review the content of this rule, in the way that Hodud is be implemented and also the tolerance procedure of Holy legislator is followed, is inevitable. This article by analytical method, using jurisprudence sources in this issue and considering the way of elicitation of this rule, is tried to submit new interpretation of this rule that includes only the certain cases. The findings of this article show that “Dare” rule includes Hodud in its special meaning and Tazirat punishment which is related to divine right. Also this rule includes mental element and criminal responsibility and is apart from legal and physical elements of crimes.

This article analyzes the initiative of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation concerning the decriminalization of certain crimes and increasing the amount of the theft of another's property for criminal responsibility. The author notes the expected positive effect and disadvantages of decriminalization, draws the attention to alternative ways to reduce load of pretrial investigation and court proceedings.

The authors of the paper deal with the philosophy of the privatization of elements of criminal justice, which in the last decades influenced the development of criminal justice in European countries, including the Slovak Republic. The philosophy of privatization in relation to criminal justice represents a wider acceptance of the individual interests of the subjects of criminal procedure. It is the strengthening of powers of the parties to the proceedings and at the same time the entrusting of criminal dispute solution to their own hands. Therefore, the aim of the paper is to examine the expanding philosophy of privatization of the Slovak criminal justice system (the so-called negotiating procedure, a.k.a. plea bargain agreement) which, with the aim of facilitating and simplifying the resolution of a criminal case, has brought the possibility of negotiating with the State the conditions for admitting the guilt of the accused, in exchange for imposing a less severe punishment. However, the aim of the paper is not only to examine the current legal regulation of this expanding phenomenon but also to show its seamy sides and to present comprehensible and reasonable legal opinion relating to its suitability. In the paper, the authors, therefore, deal with the question of whether the philosophy of privatizing the criminal justice is in compliance with the traditional values of the continental legal system. At the same time, they try to answer whether the philosophy of the so-called negotiated justice is not contrary to the fundamental principles of criminal justice. In the paper, the authors also ask questions like: Can the punishment be subject to negotiating? Is it justified on the ground of the society’s morality and fundamental values of the legal system if the State negotiates with the perpetrators of crime the conditions of their confession and the length of the punishment? Does the negotiated punishment fulfill its basic functions (preventative, repressive, protective, moral condemnation by society)?

To fulfil obligations in international law State parties have to take the issue of human trafficking seriously. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) provides General Recommendations (GR) to member states on the interpretation of the Women’s Convention. In 2018 the CEDAW Committee started to develop a GR on trafficking in women and girls in a process planned to conclude in 2020. The first stage towards this was through the publication of a Concept Note to serve as a basis for dialogue during the two-year international consultation period. The Concept Note is a vital link in a textual chain because it frames the policy problem and actively constructs its own ‘documentary reality’. This article provides a critical analysis of the CEDAW Concept Note on the grounds that such analysis provides an understanding of its discursive construction of trafficking, migrant labour and sex work, by an institution responsible for international jurisprudence on human rights. Analysis of the Concept Note explores the documentary constructions including narratives that merge adult women with girls, the symbolism of exploitation, the silencing of scientific research, the elision of sex worker voices, and sex work as work. The analysis leads us to conclude that the General Recommendation should define what counts as ‘exploitation’, and ‘forced labour’, and address the growing international recognition of best evidence on the wider impact of sex work laws, in order that legal framing and constructions of sex trafficking are not erroneously used to curtail rights of sex workers.

The socialist law brought into the abortion law in the Czechoslovakia undoubtedly a revolutionary change. Under the influence of the socialist legal system, almost invariable conservative approach of the criminal law in relation to the abortion operating on the Slovak territory from the earliest ages, has been gradually transforming and reached a status in which Slovakia became one of the countries with the most liberal regulation of the abortion law in the world. Given the fact that the development of the abortion legislation in the R.S.F.S.R., since the decriminalization of abortion by decree in 1920, has not been developing continuously, this study partially focuses also on the development of the socialist legal position on the abortion. Since the adoption of the Law No. 86/1950 Coll. (the Penal Code, sections 227 – 229), the approach to the crimes of abortion and neonaticide (killing of newborn by its mother), as typologically female crimes, has gradually been moderated and punishment for such crimes became less severe. At the same time, abortion terminology has been modified and there were changes in the approach to offenders. Moreover, more indications for legal abortion have been allowed. All of the above was supposed to adapt the criminal law on abortions to a new liberal legal regulation.

In consistent behaviors against the public morality and chastity is undeniable in society (community) .But what seems o to be important, is the government s response against the behaviors. What behavior should be banned and which can be out the legal, are questions that should be answered in the areas of law and moral philosophy. The legal system in west, is influenced by the ideas of liberal and less in clined to support moral behavior. On the contrary, criminal justice system in Iran plans more supportive of moral behaviors. Decriminalization and criminal inflation are the issues of judiciary and law enforcement agencies. Unfortunately, these two categories are discussed in criminology and sociology has been less expressed in Iran’s legal system. At last this study, examines the impact at moral in criminalization and Decriminalization in four areas in Islamic penal code.

Entrevista a Francisco Thoumi sobre la despenalización de las drogas y las posibles consecuencias que podrían afectar a los latinoamericanos… “Mis posiciones sobre drogas tienden a ser políticamente incorrectas porque existen muchos aspectos que yo no entiendo con relación a las drogas. Hay muchas creencias de la gente sobre las cuales se basan políticas o posiciones pero que al final yo las encuentro muy débiles en términos de lógica. Por ejemplo, en América Latina se afirma con muchísima frecuencia que los Estados Unidos imponen las políticas y que eso socava la soberanía de los países. Esta creencia común tiene fundamentos muy débiles porque lo que los Estados Unidos han hecho al prohibir las drogas es ejercer su soberanía dentro de su territorio” (Thoumi).

Attempted suicide is a serious problem requiring mental health interventions, but it continues to be treated as a criminal offence under the section 309 of Indian Penal Code. The article reviews the international legal perspective across various regions of the world, discusses the unintended consequences of section 309 IPC and highlights the need for decriminalization of attempted suicide in India. The Mental Health Care Bill, 2013, still under consideration in the Rajya Sabha (upper house), has proposed that attempted suicide should not be criminally prosecuted. Decriminalization of suicidal attempt will serve to cut down the undue stigma and avoid punishment in the aftermath of incident, and lead to a more accurate collection of suicide-related statistics. From a policy perspective, it will further emphasize the urgent need to develop a framework to deliver mental health services to all those who attempt suicide.