The Brazilian International Drug Conference 2013

The Brazilian International Drug Conference 2013: Law, Health and Society was hosted in Brazil’s capital between May 3-5 2013. Plantando Consciencia participated with lectures from Dartiu Xavier, Sidarta Ribeiro, Luis Fernando Tofoli and Henrique Carneiro.

The event aimed to encourage the exchange of knowledge between society and leading experts in many areas pertinent to the theme of drug policy. Experts from Brazil, Latin America, Europe, USA and Canada discussed topics such as public security, politics, education, culture, medicine and public health.

The conference was a collective effort between many institutions in order to improve the base of knowledge of graduates in many areas and to further the education of students, educators and future professionals in these areas. More specifically, there has been a will to consolidate, document and provide technical and scientific data capable of broadening the debate and pointing out to new paths that can minimize the negative consequences of the current War on Drugs policy.

The activities and lectures presented were not simultaneous, allowing the exchange between participants from many areas and their access to different perspectives on matters that involve the use of psychoactive drugs. Art exhibits and musical performances have also being part of the program. You can watch the videos from three of our lectures below (all with english subtitles).

The event was streamed live on the web and was open to interaction to people from all over the world. It was also be displayed in video at the area surrounding the museum to allow as many people as interested to participate in the debates.

A formal document was produced containing a summary of the event and recommendations for a new drug policy in Brazil. This document was made available to the federal government with the intent to back the discussion among the executive, legislative and judiciary powers over the current legislation.

 

Luís Fernando Tófoli - Therapeutic Potential of Psychedelics (english captions)

Luis Fernando Tofoli, PhD, is a psychiatrist from Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and professor of the Department of Medical Psychology and Psychiatry at UNICAMP. He’s been working in the fields of public mental health, mental health in primary care, psychosomatic suffering and, more recently, the use of psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.

 

Dartiu Xavier - Drug Abuse: Prevention and Harm Reduction (english captions)

Dartiu Xavier graduated in medicine and obtained his Ph.D. degree in psychiatry at the Federal University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and his specialization in addictive behaviors at the Centre Medical Marmottan, Paris. He is a professor at the medical school of the Federal University of Sao Paulo and has been coordinating the addiction unit of the institution for the last 25 years. He has been conducting research on different themes, specifically in psychiatry and neuroscience, such as: alcohol and other drugs misuse, impulse control disorders, psychiatry comorbidity, neuropsychiatry, harm reduction, psychometrics (validation of diagnostic and screening instruments), assessment of effectiveness of therapeutic interventions, and systematic reviews and meta-analysis.

 

Henrique Carneiro - The Story of Drugs (english captions)

Henrique Carneiro received his MSc and his PhD in Social History from Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Brazil’s largest and most respectable university, where he currently works as a teacher and researcher. His work is focused on the history of drugs and sacred substances. He has many published texts and books on the topic in portuguese, having received prizes for the excellence of his writings.

 

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