DRUG POLICY
Transforming punitive drug laws into rights-based frameworks that prioritize public health, harm reduction, and dignity. We advocate for decriminalization, diversion programs, and access to care not incarceration.
Public Health & Human Rights
Centering dignity, health, and autonomy in drug policy and public health responses
We promotes the right to health particularly those in informal settlements, rural communities, and underserved populations. Our work connects drug policy reform with broader public health justice, vaccine equity, and pandemic preparedness to build resilient, inclusive health systems.
Key Actions:
- Community-led education and mobilization through the Harm Reduction Travelling Theatre (HRTT)
- Access and advocacy for essential services including naloxone, methadone, Hepatitis C treatment, TB care, and COVID-19 prevention
- Integration of SRHR and mental health within harm reduction programming, with tailored services for women and youth who use drugs
- Public campaigns to reduce stigma, promote evidence-based care, and increase domestic investments in inclusive health services
Advocacy for Vaccine Equity:
- Championing fair distribution and uptake of vaccines, including COVID-19, HPV, and Hepatitis B, especially among marginalized groups often left behind in national immunization efforts
- Strengthening vaccine literacy and demand among marginalized communities
- Collaborating with health actors to identify and address systemic barriers to equitable vaccine distribution
Pandemic Preparedness & Health Systems Resilience:
- Integrating harm reduction into national and subnational preparedness plans
- Supporting community-led surveillance, early warning, and response systems
- Advocating for emergency preparedness investments that include and protect people who use drugs
- Training frontline peer educators in health crisis response and risk communication
Impact Goal:
To safeguard the health rights of citizens, expand equitable access to vaccines, harm reduction, and emergency health responses and ensuring no one is left behind in Kenya’s path to health security and justice.
Decriminalisation
Replacing incarceration with care for people who use drugs.
This program challenges Kenya’s punitive drug laws by advancing non-custodial alternatives to arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment anchoring drug policy in harm reduction, legal empowerment, and public health.
Key Actions:
- Legislative & Budget Reform
- Lead a civil-society coalition, Drug user network organisations to draft and champion the Kenya National Harm Reduction Bill that Institutionalises harm-reduction services as an essential element of public health, mandates county-level funding, and embeds civil-society oversight by 2032.
- Lead a civil-society coalition, Drug user network organisations to draft and champion The Proposed Decriminalisation Amendment to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) (Amendment) Act, 2022 to removes criminal penalties for possession of controlled substances for personal use, replacing arrest and prosecution with health-first referrals and proportional administrative measures by 2032.
- Divest–Reinvest Campaign is the advocacy and campaign to redirect at least KES 100 million in annual enforcement savings into evidence-based health and social services reallocation by 2032.
- Justice-Sector Capacity Building
- Train police, prosecutors, and magistrates on WHO/UNODC standards and Kenya’s human-rights obligations.
- Secure MoUs with county police commands to institutionalise non-custodial, health-first responses.
- Diversion & Decarceration
- Support none coercive Diversion and decarceration of people who use drugs to care facilities and services instead of jail
Impact Goal:
To reduce criminalization and ensure people who use drugs access care, not punishment.
Drugs, Peace & Economic Alternatives
Advancing alternative development and post-criminalization justice.
We work at the intersection of drug policy, economic empowerment, and crime and violence prevention. We support community-led transitions from illicit economies to dignified livelihoods rooted in equity and sustainability.
Key Actions:
- Supporting youth and women to exit the illicit drug economy through vocational and business start-up support
- Advocating for legal cannabis regulation as a climate-smart and pro-poor economic alternative
- Hosting community peace dialogues and forums to address violence linked to criminalized drug markets
- Promoting restorative justice and reparative mechanisms for communities harmed by punitive drug laws
Impact Goal:
To build inclusive pathways for healing, reintegration, and economic justice in the aftermath of failed drug war policies.
