There were 4,392 deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales in 2019, the highest ever total.
The data in this release relate to deaths registered in 2019 and therefore do not cover deaths that occurred during the coronavirus pandemic. It is important to note that there will be a number of additional deaths not yet officially recorded (via inquests that have been delayed for instance) and the true figure will be even higher.

Drive to Free Black Woman With Marijuana Life Sentence Exposes “Habitual Criminal” Laws
Give a mother the chance to hold her child again.” So reads a petition, launched on August 15, to free Tameka Drummer from prison in Mississippi. Drummer, a 46-year-old Black woman, is serving a life sentence after being caught in possession of marijuana.

Philippines death penalty: A fight to stop the return of capital punishment
Capital punishment opponents expect a steep battle to prevent President Rodrigo Duterte from reimposing the death penalty, as he renews calls for the law as part of a "drug war" that has already killed thousands of Filipinos.