Molly Charles-Reflections

Our association with mind altering substances has rarely remained static or uniform across the globe or within any given region. The United Nations sought to control this complex, diverse and intricate human association through its various global conventions, beginning with the Single Convention 1961 as the base; and State members were bound to follow the set path without much room for change (1,2). But, despite all of its efforts it could neither rein in the drug problem nor ensure that a uniform drug policy led to the synthesis of uniform associations with mind altering substances, across the globe. In many countries a minor shift in drug policy occurred when drugs users became very vulnerable to HIV infection, initiating harm minimization measures for users who injected drugs. The harm minimization strategy included, provision of safe needle and syringes, opioid agonist therapy (OST) to users in the community and to addicted prison population, setting up of a room for safe consu

                                                                                                                                                   Peace is something everyone can sense, and yet, find difficult to define. Its complexity, and simplicity is reflected in our restricted definition of peace as an absence of war/violence, even though we sense it is far beyond that.    Peace is a concept that exists beyond the boundaries of empirical reality, but we seek it within the realms of empirical reality, where power has the final say. We conceive it as a static state, where a world view palatable to us will reign over all else.   But, is Peace what we define it to be? The color white is often used to indicate peace as in calling for a truce with a white flag held high, or when a white dove is set free to express the desire for peace. None of us give a second thought to the fact that the color white is complex, on an RGB (Red, Green, Blue) color model, where it has the RGB col