My name is Martin Diaz and I want to share with you my story of fighting for humanitarian drug policy reform. For years I have seen how the marginalization, criminalization and violence produced by the war on drugs have negatively affected millions of people.
As a religious leader, I created the Risk and Harm Reduction Ministry in El Salvador in 2012. The goal of this ministry is to provide information about substances and to destigmatize people who use them. But I knew that was not enough.
In 2013, I organized the first Drug Policy Symposium in El Salvador and the first March against drug trafficking in El Salvador. I invited officials from ministries related to drug policy implementation, but I realized that they were not prepared for the discourse that was to be presented. However, this did not stop me.
That same year, due to death threats and attempts on my life, my team and I received asylum from the government of Uruguay. There, I conducted a study on the first two years of cannabis regulation and participated in working groups in New York before attending the United Nations General Assembly on Drugs (UNGASS) (between 2014 and 2016). It was a unique experience, but I knew I had to do more.
Since 2016 I live in Germany, I founded with a group of multidisciplinary experts from all over the world the Knowmad Institut in germany, a think and do thank, a voice for human dignity in public and private policies. From where my strategy and focus is towards advocacy in cooperating countries to influence public and private policies through the promotion of open science and human dignity to make a real difference in the fight for the rights and dignity of millions in my country and in other countries of the global south.
My dream is an end to the war on drugs to build a viable and lasting peace that restores dignity and security to millions of people. My advocacy and social research work is fundamental to achieving this dream. My tireless fight for my ideals will hopefully be motivational and I hope that many will join me in this struggle to build a more fair, multipolar and peaceful world.