The UN Human Rights Council has released a "Report of the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Juan E. Méndez" which examines the use of forced treatment and similar psychosocial interventions for drug users. As explained in the summary:

The present report focuses on certain forms of abuses in health-care settings that may cross a threshold of mistreatment that is tantamount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. It identifies the policies that promote these practices and existing protection gaps.

The latest issue of the Drug War Facts Newsletter is now available at
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/3146
and also below.
Subscribe to the DWF Newsletter and stay up to date on the latest drug control policy research, data, and statistics! It's easy - here's the link:
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/subscriptions

--------------------------------------------

What's New At Drug War Facts
Volume 3, Issue No. 2
March 2013

Current data. New research. Evolving policies.

The UK's Home Office Minister, Theresa May, has ordered an " international "what works" study of drug laws, including Portugal's policy of scrapping criminal penalties for personal possession." The Guardian reported on March 7:

But she has rejected a call from the Commons home affairs select committee for a rapid royal commission to report by 2015 on how to reform Britain's 40-year-old drug laws.

The International Narcotics Control Board is criticizing the decision by Colorado and Washington voters to regulate and control marijuana, saying that such a move violates international drug control agreements.

As the Guardian reported on March 5, 2013:

Launching its annual report in London, Raymond Yans, the INCB president, said that the successful ballots in Colorado and Washington to legalise the use of cannabis for recreational purposes and the fact that Massachusetts had recently become the 18th state to allow the use of cannabis for medicinal purposes violate the international drug conventions.

Rep. Stephen Fincher (R-TN) has once again introduced legislation in Congress which would require states to mandate drug testing for recipients of welfare benefits. As the Memphis (TN) Commercial-Appeal reported on March 4, 2013: