Forum Drugs Mediterranean

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Forum Drugs Mediterranean
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

Forum Drugs Mediterranean (up to 2023, known as FAAAT think & do tank: "For Alternative Approaches to Addiction, Think & do tank") [2] is an international non-profit organization working on drug policy, created in 2015 and based in Paris, France. [3]

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." [4] The organization is present at both the local and international levels. [5] [6]

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, [7] and the US Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access who had been previously operating at United Nations' Commission on Narcotic Drugs meetings. [8] The organisation collaborates with a network of experts, contributors, [9] professionals and various stakeholders, holds conferences during the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, organizes exhibits, [10] and other advocacy activities. [11]

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 [12] [13] ). FAAAT has also supported local advocacy groups (such as the Catalan Network of People who Use Drugs CATNPUD, [14] the rural cannabis farmers of the Ghomara and Senhaja people of the Moroccan central Riff [15] or the French platform of NGOs for the reform of drug policies [16] ).

FAAAT also works to foster exchange of data and know-hows between politics, scholars and civil society stakeholders [17] on drug-related policies and field practices. [18]

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 [19] or written statements, [20] by showcasing policy models [21] or by organizing fora and symposia (such as the Legal Regulations fora [22] [23] [24] [25] or the International Cannabis Policy Conference at the United Nations [26] ).

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. [27]

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." [33]

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. [52] 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Removal of cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act</span> Proposed changes to the legal status of cannabis in U.S. federal law

In the United States, the removal of cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, the category reserved for drugs that have "no currently accepted medical use", is a proposed legal and administrative change in cannabis-related law at the federal level. After being proposed repeatedly since 1972, the U.S. Department of Justice initiated 2024 rulemaking to reschedule cannabis to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act. The majority of 2024 public comments supported descheduling, decriminalizing, or legalizing marijuana at the federal level.

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

The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 is a United Nations treaty that controls activities of specific narcotic drugs and lays down a system of regulations for their medical and scientific uses; it also establishes the International Narcotics Control Board.

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.

A drug policy is the policy regarding the control and regulation of psychoactive substances, particularly those that are addictive or cause physical and mental dependence. While drug policies are generally implemented by governments, entities at all levels may have specific policies related to drugs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis Social Club</span> Non-profit industry model for recreational cannabis

A Cannabis Social Club (CSC), sometimes called Cannabis Club, Cannabis Association, or Teapad, is a type of cannabis retail outlet, an industry model for regulated cannabis organised as non-profit cooperatives in which cannabis is cultivated, shared, and enjoyed collectively, usually for the purpose of relaxing or for social communion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access</span> American cannabis advocacy group

Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access (VMCA), which was founded as Veterans for Medical Marijuana Access (VMMA) reflecting the pejorative word "marijuana", is an Elliston, Virginia-based non-profit service organization designed to assist American veterans who wish to be able to use marijuana for medical purposes with a doctor's recommendation. VMCA works towards the freedom for veterans to discuss the medical use of marijuana with their doctors without the risk of reprisal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dronabinol</span> Generic name of Δ9-THC in medicine

Dronabinol, sold under the brand names Marinol and Syndros, is the generic name for the molecule of (−)-trans-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in the pharmaceutical context. It has indications as an appetite stimulant, antiemetic, and sleep apnea reliever and is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as safe and effective for HIV/AIDS-induced anorexia and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

The list includes and details significant events that occurred in the global history of national-level implementations of, or changes made to, laws surrounding the use, sale, or production of the psychoactive drug cannabis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dagga Couple</span> Pro-cannabis organisation

The Dagga Couple or DC is a pro-cannabis lobbyist organisation from South Africa founded by Julian Stobbs and Myrtle Clarke after the two were arrested for the possession and dealing in the substance in 2010. Rather than plead guilty, the couple decided instead to sue seven sectors of government that maintained and enforced the policy of cannabis prohibition in the country resulting in what has been described locally as the Trial of the Plant in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NORML France</span> French cannabis reform and harm reduction non-profit

NORML France, previously known as Chanvre & Libertés - NORML France is a French non-profit organization based in Toulouse but active in all territories of France, whose aim is to move public opinion sufficiently to achieve the depenalization of illicit drugs consumption, the legalization of non-medical marijuana and the increased access to medical cannabis in France, so that the responsible use of cannabis by adults is no longer subject to penalty.

The status of Cannabis in international law refers to the series of dispositions in international law affecting States' sovereignty in relation to the Cannabis plant genus, to a variety of "cannabis products" derived from the plant, or to their synthetic analogs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Krawitz</span> US Air force veteran

Michael Alan Krawitz is a US Air force veteran, Executive Director of the non-profit Veterans for Medical Cannabis Access, researcher on the history of medical cannabis, and international advocate for cannabis policy reform with FAAAT think & do tank and the International Association for Cannabinoid Medicines.

The removal of cannabis and cannabis resin from Schedule IV of the Single Convention on narcotic drugs, 1961 is a change in international law that took place from 2019 to 2021, on the basis of a scientific assessment by the World Health Organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horizontal Working Party on Drugs</span> Body of the Council of the European Union

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farid Ghehiouèche</span> French cannabis activist

Farid Ghehiouèche is a French author, activist and politician, known for his involvement for cannabis and other drugs liberalization, and in pacifist, ecologist, freedom of speech, gender equality, right of asylum and prison abolition social movements. He has been active since the 1990s in France and in international organizations.

The internationaldrug control conventions, also known as the United Nations drug control conventions, are three related, non self-executing treaties that establish an international legal framework for drug control. They serve to maintain a classification system of controlled substances including psychoactive drugs and precursors, to ensure the regulated supply of those substances useful for medical and scientific purposes, and to prevent other uses. They act as the legal underpinning of the US-led global campaign against illicit drugs known as the war on drugs. Ratification is near universal among UN member countries.

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