We're pleased to let you all know that Raw Opium played in Los Angeles this past Monday.
 
Along with three local Drug Policy Reform advocacy organizations, Kensington Communications showed Raw Opium to a room full of individuals ready to start a conversation about the War on Drugs and the nature of addiction.

A New PATH, Moms United to End the War on Drugs, and the Drug Policy Alliance partnered with us to host the screening in LA’s California Endowment Conference Center. The event included a special introduction from the director, Peter Findlay, VIA Skype, as well as an engaging panel discussion featuring local professionals from harm reduction related fields.

The panel was moderated by local Harm Reduction advocate, John O. Whitaker, Jr., CDS, CATC, and featured Dr. David B. Bergman, Psychiatrist; Hanna Dershowitz of the ACLU; Diane Goldstein of LEAP; Caroline Stewart, L.C.S.W.; and Meghan Ralston of the Drug Policy Alliance.

Researcher, Scott Calbeck, has been nominated by the Canadian Screen Awards (formerly the Gemini Awards) for Research done on the documentary film Raw Opium: Pain, Pleasure, Profits.

In response to the nomination, Scott remarked, “You've heard people say "it's an honour just to be nominated…"; it turns out they're right.”

Scott says, “being nominated means your work is recognized and your efforts are acknowledged.” His time spent researching prior to visiting the various sites covered in Raw Opium was fruitful but his first hand experiences “will always be one of the highlights.”

In 2008 Scott went on a research trip to Turkey and Afghanistan. “Until you're on the ground in a place like Afyon, Turkey or Kabul, Afghanistan you can't begin to appreciate what life is like for the people who live there.”

Although he was exploring grave circumstances around the drug and the serious, usually detrimental, impacts it has on the lives of people, Scott gained insight into the complexities of human nature. “The part of my work I most enjoy is meeting someone who is willing to share their unique experiences … [You] realize that by our standards these people have absolutely nothing - yet their willingness to make you feel welcome is overwhelming…” explained Scott.

Stay tuned to rawopium.com; where we will announce the results of the award in this category in March, 2013.

Find out why the director of the Global Drug Policy Program (Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch) at the Open Society Foundations, thinks that, "In backing initiatives that would regulate the sale and use of marijuana, the voters of Colorado and Washington did not vote recklessly. On the contrary, they did something contemplative, even courageous."

Read More of her analysis on how the US elections impact the war on drugs: The End of Marijuana Prohibition by Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch

We're looking forward to 2013, because it seems like Raw Opium will have a full schedule of screenings during the first months of the new year.

On February 4th, Raw Opium will be screened at the California Endowment in Los Angeles, U.S.A. We've partnered with A New Path, Mom's United to End the Drug War, and the Drug Policy Alliance to bring the film to the city of Angeles.

We're also going to hold screenings with the No New Jim Crow Campaign in Seattle, WA, and in San Francisco with the San Francisco Aids Foundation, San Francisco Drug Users Union, & the Drug Policy Alliance. Dates TBD

Looking back on the second half of 2012, we're proud that Raw Opium was successfully screened as a part of the Harm Reduction Coalition's 9th National Harm Reduction Conference in Portland, OR, in November and at the Petaluma International Film Festival, in Tiburon, CA, in October.

Stay tuned here for more screening dates and details, TBA.

Check out our postcard below:

 
“Is the [Canadaian Bar Association, or CBA] becoming too political?” asks Michael McKiernan, Canadian Lawyer Magazine staff writer, in a recent post for Legal Feeds.

McKiernan’s question echoed that of the CBA council members who were meeting to discuss Resolution 12, concerning the implementation of harm reduction drug policy. While some debated harm reduction policy, others debated whether supporting this kind of resolution is outside of the scope of the organization’s agenda.

Read Resolution-10-A and a background document about harm reduction. Read Michael McKiernan’s full post .

 
News of the new academic course comes from the Global Drug Policy Program, of the Open Society Institute - a group that is behind the initiative.

Jodhpur National University in Rajasthan, India has announced a call for applicants to their upcoming course on the Asian Human Rights and Drug Policy Program. The program investigates standing drug policies on a global level and how they do or do not uphold tenets of human rights. This multidisciplinary course focused on learning and exploring these topics through discussion and interactive learning, and is designed to evaluate these questions of national and international drug policies and the ways they violate the fundamental human rights of the citizens they govern.

"Applications are invited from high-achieving MA and PhD students, junior faculty, research staff in universities and other institutions and professionals from the field of Public Health. (Undergraduates without a university degree will not be considered.) No prior knowledge of Human Rights and Drug Policy is required of participants. A key objective of the course is to emphasise the interdisciplinary both of learning and of problem solving. It is thus an important objective that non-standard disciplines are represented, and that new skills and capacities are applied to this area of public policy."

Language of instruction: English
Financial aid is available!
Application deadline: August 20, 2012

Please send the filled application forms to jharsh@hivatlas.org along with a brief statement of interest: This should contain a statement ( Maximum 1 Page) of why the course is seen as relevant to their current activities [employment, research, teaching] and what they expect to get out of the course which will enhance their professional skills.