By Dave Bewley-Taylor, Tom Blickman, and Martin Jelsma 

Cannabis has long been a substance drawing much attention within the international drug control regime, a system currently based upon the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Today the regime landscape is changing. Faced with particular challenges and democratic decisions, a number of jurisdictions are moving beyond merely tolerant approaches to the possession of cannabis for personal use to legally regulating markets for the drug. In November 2012 voters within the U.S. states of Colorado and Washington passed ballot initiatives to tax and regulate cannabis cultivation, distribution and consumption for non-medical purposes. Just over a year later, Uruguay legislated state regulation of the entire chain of the domestic cannabis market for medical, industrial and recreational use. These policy shifts go well beyond the permitted prohibitive boundaries of the UN drug control conventions. They represent a break with an historical trajectory founded on dubious science and political imperatives. And they have thrown the global regime into a state of crisis, as this report will argue. This publication is a joint effort of the Transnational Institute in Amsterdam and the Global Drug Policy Observatory at Swansea University. Research has been going on in various stages for about two years, and interim results were presented at the Seventh Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy at the Universidad de los Andes, in Bogotá, in May 2013 and further discussed in an expert seminar on cannabis regulation in October 2013 in Amsterdam. Many academics, government officials and experts from NGOs and international agencies have provided useful comments on earlier drafts, but needless to say the end result is the sole responsibility of the authors. This final report will be first presented at the 57th session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna, 13-21 March 2014  

Amsterdam: Transnational Institute / Global Drug Policy Observatory, 
March 2014, 88p.

By Fiona Allison

Over the last decade, Aboriginal communities in New South Wales have been implementing justice reinvestment (JR) to address Aboriginal over-representation in the justice system. They have returned to its early conceptualization in the US as a place-based approach that addresses drivers of offending, whilst also emphasizing self-determination. They define reinvestment, a key element of JR, as a redirection of funds away from more punitive justice responses into localized prevention approaches, but also as a much broader shift in resources and decision-making.

This report presents an urgent call to action for the NSW Government to invest in JR, framed by Aboriginal definitions of reinvestment. Aboriginal over-representation in NSW continues to rise, alongside increases in NSW Government expenditure on incarceration. Aboriginal communities have been leading JR in NSW for close to a decade now. And while in some areas NSW Government policy aligns with and/or is facilitating reinvestment in NSW, including through the Closing the Gap strategy, additional action is required of government.

Just Reinvest NSW, 2022, 28p.

By Emily Grisé; Alexander Cooke; David Cooper; Zane Oueja; Willem Klumpenhouwer; Amy HobbsOn transit systems across the United States, rising rates of drug use along with deteriorating safety conditions for customers and staff have become increasingly pressing and complex issues for transit agencies to solve. Many challenges surround agencies’ responses to drug use on transit, such as inconsistent data collection and the low uptake of support services.

TCRP Synthesis 179: The Impacts of and Response to Drug Use on Transit, from TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program, documents and synthesizes the current practices of transit agencies in addressing the consumption and distribution of illegal drugs on their systems, as well as the resulting effects on customer and staff safety and security.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Transportation Research Board; Transit Cooperative Research Program. 2025. p91.

By Umphress, E., and Thomas, J. M. (Eds.)

The 2018 National Academies report Sexual Harassment of Women: Climate, Culture, and Consequences in Academic Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends the creation of institutional policies that can improve an institution's climate, culture, and reporting options while supporting those who have experienced sexual harassment.

This perspective paper addresses the 2018 report recommendations by exploring how a procedural justice framework could help guide improvements and revisions to policies, processes, and practices within higher education institutions with the potential to mitigate the negative experiences and outcomes of those affected by sexual harassment. Based on previous research, this paper applies a principles-based perspective to highlight ideals, rules, and standards that institutions can implement to achieve this goal.

Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26563. 2022. 33p.

By F. A. Hayek

Critique of Social Justice: Hayek argues that the term "social justice" is empty and meaningless, often used without a clear definition or understanding.

Justice and Market Processes: He believes that justice applies to individual conduct and not to the outcomes of market processes.

Abstract Rules: Emphasizes the importance of abstract rules in a free society, which serve unknown particular ends and facilitate the pursuit of individual goals.

Spontaneous Order: Hayek highlights the spontaneous order of the market, where individuals' actions lead to an efficient allocation of resources without central planning.

University of Chicago Press, 1978, 195 pages