FAAAT think & do tank

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For Alternative Approaches to Addiction, Think & do tank (FAAAT think & do tank)
FoundedFebruary 2016
Founder Farid Ghehiouèche, Kenzi Riboulet Zemouli, [1] Michael Krawitz.
Legal statusNon-profit organization
Focus Reform of drug and substance use-related policies.
Location
OriginsLaunched by NORMLfr, VMCA & ENCOD
Area served
Worldwide
President of the Board
Kenzi Riboulet-Zemouli
Main organ
Permanent Committee
Website www.faaat.net

For Alternative Approaches to Addiction, Think & do tank (FAAAT or FAAAT think & do tank) is an international non-profit organization working on drug policy, created in 2015 and based in Paris, France. [2]

Contents

The organization focuses on research and advocacy related to policy alternatives in the field of addiction, drug use and substance abuse, claiming to foster civil society participation in policymaking at the international level. According to its mission statement, FAAAT supports "Transparent and measurable drug policies framed by fundamental rights, grounded on sustainable development, enforcing empowerment, social justice and health" and "supports the development of a legally controlled market for cannabis." [3] The organization is present at both the local and international levels. [4] [5]

Background

FAAAT's vision is that, from the local up to the international level, public policies related to controlled drugs should be transparent and measurable, framed by the Fundamental human rights of citizens, grounded on sustainable development, and that can empower the whole society while enforcing social justice and protecting health. The organization's think-tank researches policy alternatives to the current prohibition of drugs. Its do-tank organizes social engineering, collective action and advocacy for ground-up reformer stakeholders.[ citation needed ]

The project started in August 2015, and the organization was legally registered in February 2016 by drug policy reform advocates from the French chapter of NORML, the European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies, [6] and the US Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access who had been previously operating at United Nations' Commission on Narcotic Drugs meetings. The organisation collaborates with a network of experts, contributors, [7] professionals and various stakeholders, holds conferences during the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, organizes exhibits, [8] and other advocacy activities. [9]

Do-tank: Advocacy programs and actions

The organization claims two goals are structuring its actions (the so-called do-tank), "take action to ground the updates of international drug policy on sustainable development, human rights, transparency, and inclusiveness" and "strengthen peer groups, social movements and the nonprofit sector to increase knowledge, sustainability, effectiveness, and capacity for collective action on drug-related issues."[ citation needed ]

Leadership of FAAAT think and do tank during the closure of the International Cannabis Policy Conference 2018. From left to right: Farid Ghehioueche, Hanka Gabrielova, Amy Case King, Michael Krawitz and Kenzi Riboulet-Zemouli. The leadership of FAAAT think & do tank during the closure of the International Cannabis Policy Conference 2018.jpg
Leadership of FAAAT think and do tank during the closure of the International Cannabis Policy Conference 2018. From left to right: Farid Ghehiouèche, Hanka Gabrielová, Amy Case King, Michael Krawitz and Kenzi Riboulet-Zemouli.

As such, FAAAT has been essentially active at the multilateral and international level (including at the European Union level [10] ). FAAAT has also supported local advocacy groups (such as the Catalan Network of People who Use Drugs CATNPUD, [11] the rural cannabis farmers of the Ghomara and Senhaja people of the Moroccan central Riff [12] or the French platform of NGOs for the reform of drug policies [13] ).

FAAAT also works to foster exchange of data and know-hows between politics, scholars and civil society stakeholders [14] on drug-related policies and field practices. [15]

The organization follows-up the work of the United Nations and international organizations (such as the INCB, UNODC or WHO) and regularly addresses international policymakers on drug-related issues, in particular the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs through oral [16] or written statements, [17] by showcasing policy models [18] or by organizing fora and symposia (such as the Legal Regulations fora [19] [20] [21] [22] or the International Cannabis Policy Conference at the United Nations [23] ).

The organization works closely with the official consultative bodies towards the United Nations: NYNGOC (New-York NGO Committee on Drugs) and VNGOC (Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs). FAAAT is also a founding member of the IMCPC (International Medical Cannabis Patients Coalition) and the Geneva Platform on Human Rights, Health and Psychoactive Substances.[ citation needed ]

More broadly, FAAAT holds a blog and informs media and local communities about key policy issues. [24]

Conferences

Logo of the series of events organized in the United Nations Office at Vienna Logo Legal Regulations Fora 2017.png
Logo of the series of events organized in the United Nations Office at Vienna

Think-tank: Research on alternative drug policies

Hanka Gabrielova presenting FAAAT's Discussion Paper "Cannabis & Sustainable Development" during the Emerald Cup, December 2018 Hanka Gabrielova presenting FAAAT's "Cannabis & Sustainable Development" during Emerald Cup 2018.jpg
Hanka Gabrielová presenting FAAAT's Discussion Paper "Cannabis & Sustainable Development" during the Emerald Cup, December 2018

Although mainly focusing on international cannabis policy, the research department of FAAAT (so-called think-tank ) claims to "impulse a modern approach to the categorification of "drugs": renew terminology, taxonomy & scheduling to review the biochemical paradigm of drug use" and pretends to "shift drug policies towards evidence and effectiveness: enhancing positive drug-related programs and actions from the ground." [29]

As such, five main axis of research appear:

Publications

FAAAT is registered as an editor at the French national registry, and showcases its publications on its website. [47] Remarked publications are:

Civil society partners

See also

Related Research Articles

The European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies (ENCOD), originally European NGO Council On Drugs and development, is a network of European non-governmental organisations and citizens concerned with the impact of current international drug policies on the lives of the most affected sectors in Europe and the Global South. Since 1994 they have been working to advocate more just and effective drugs control policies, which include an integrated solution for all problems related to the global drugs phenomenon.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) is an international nonprofit organization advocacy and education organization with focus on drug policy, war on drugs, marijuana legalization, psychedelics, juvenile justice and youth rights, drug decriminalization, criminal justice reform. SSDP promotes global youth civic engagement as a tool in reforming drug policy.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs</span> 1961 international treaty regulating narcotic drugs

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The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is an independent treaty body, one of the four treaty-mandated bodies under international drug control law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs</span> Central drug policy-making body of the UN System

The Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) is one of the functional commissions of the United Nations' Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), and is the central drug policy-making body within the United Nations System. The CND also has important mandates under the three international drug control conventions, alongside the three other treaty-mandated bodies: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Health Organization, and International Narcotics Control Board.

The Beckley Foundation is a UK-based think tank and UN-accredited NGO, dedicated to activating global drug policy reform and initiating scientific research into psychoactive substances. The foundation is a charitable trust which collaborates with leading scientific and political institutions worldwide to design and develop research and global policy initiatives. It also investigates consciousness and its modulation from a multidisciplinary perspective, working in collaboration with scientists. The foundation is based at Beckley Park near Oxford, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1998, and is directed by Amanda Feilding, Countess of Wemyss.

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