New UN report highlights many human rights concerns that are raised by the drug war, and urges member states to move away from punitive policies of drug control to an approach that is based on public health. The report states that treating drugs as a crime problem is only causing more harm.
In a statement released on Wednesday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Tur said that laws, policies and practices used to combat drug use should not exacerbate human suffering. The drugs problem is still very serious, but treating drug users as criminals does not solve the issue.
Turk concluded that “states should abandon the dominant focus of prohibition, repression, and punishment” and instead adopt laws, policies, and practices anchored on human rights, and aimed at harm-reduction.
The 21-page UN Human Rights Office report states that criminal penalties and social stigma discourage people from seeking medical treatment. The report emphasizes the fact that people of African descent and women, Indigenous Peoples, young people with poor backgrounds, and people from poor backgrounds are more likely to suffer harsh consequences as a result of harsh policies.
Turk stated that the current drug policies are most harmful to those who are the poorest and most vulnerable.
UN report urges States not to over-rely on punitive measures in addressing drugs problem and to shift to interventions based on #humanrights and public health. The laws, policies and practices used to combat drug abuse must not worsen human suffering -…
UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights 20 September 2023
The UN Chief Executives Board (which represents 31 UN agencies, including the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC), has adopted a 2019 position that states must pursue health-oriented, science-based drug policies, “including decriminalization for drug possession by individuals.”
According to a new UN report, nearly 660,000 people are killed by drug-related causes every year. About a sixth of these deaths occur in the United States. It says that in addition to the overdose risk, injecting drug users are 35 times more likely than other adults to contract HIV. In 2021, ten percent of new HIV infections worldwide will be among those who inject drugs.
The UN reports that tackling these problems with law enforcement doesn’t work, and puts vulnerable people even more at risk. The report states that “such punitive drug policy has major human rights implications on people who use substances, including on their rights to freedom, privacy, health, and well-being, and other economic, social, and economic rights.”
The report states that “the main areas of concern in addressing and combating the global drug problem” are “the lack of and unequal accessibility to treatment and harm-reduction, the “war on drugs” and militarization, overincarceration, prison overcrowding and the use of death penalty for drug related offenses.”
The report ends with recommendations for the international community. The report says that states should acknowledge harm reduction as a central element of the human right to health. It also recommends that the death penalty be abolished for drug-related crimes, that disproportionate drug laws are responsible for mass incarceration around the world, and that they “address underlying socioeconomic issues that increase the risk of using drugs or lead to engaging in drug trade.”
The UN reports that drug use is on the rise worldwide. More than 296 millions people used substances on Earth in 2021. This represents a 23 percent increase over the decade prior, according to the UN. The report calls for a more equitable and broader access to treatment.
It states that “the provision of drug treatment services accessible to all is essential for realizing the right to health” of those who use drugs. The demand for treatment of drug-related disorders is still largely unmet. In 2021, only one out of five people with drug-related disorders were in treatment. Access to treatment was also a problem in different regions.
The report also highlighted “a reduction in the support for medium-to-long-term treatment programs and social integration services, such as employment, affordable housing, and childcare services that are essential to ensure sustained and long-term recovery, and social inclusion, including individuals who were previously incarcerated.”
The UN authors warn against mandating treatment. The authors wrote: “Submissions reported that non-voluntary or compulsory treatment continued to exist,” which they wrote is “contrary to international standards and norms.”
Report: The aggressiveness with which some countries have prosecuted drug-related crimes has raised serious concerns about human rights, particularly as law enforcement takes a more military-style, aggressive approach.
It says that “Punitive approaches to drug controls, which include militarization in some countries to combat the drug problem have resulted in rapid escalation of the use of deadly force,” and “continue to facilitate multiple and serious violations of human rights, from unnecessary, disproportionate and extrajudicial killings with associated impunity.”
Over 130 nongovernmental organisations have signed a declaration calling on the international community act upon the findings of the new report.
The report states that the Office of the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights was the first UN agency in the world to advocate for responsible drug regulation as a practical measure to protect human rights and public health. This comes at a moment when more than 250 million people live in countries where legal cannabis markets exist, and other countries like Germany and Colombia have announced similar plans. Bolivia just started the process of reviewing the international scheduling of coca leaves and their control. This was done in 1961 because of racist and outdated prejudices.
Recently, Latin American and Caribbean countries agreed to rethink their drug war. According to a joint declaration issued by 19 countries, the current punitive approach has not achieved the expected results when combating the global drug problem.
The UN report does note some “positive developments,” including the increasing agreement among international organizations that “any discussion of drug policy must take account of States’ obligations on human rights, and that Human Rights Mechanisms should monitor the human rights implications drug policies.” In addition, it notes an earlier agreement by 31 agencies that drugs should decriminalized. “The United Nations System Common Position on Drug-Related Matters calls for decriminalization for drug possession for personal consumption.”
It says that decriminalization, if it is done well, can be an effective tool to protect the rights of drug users. “For instance, in Portugal the implementation of integrated response within a framework of decriminalization of personal consumption of and possession of drugs led to lower drug usage levels, decreased drug abuse among adolescents, as well as a significant decrease of HIV infections and overdoses among injecting drug-users.”
In June, UN experts and leaders reiterated these points as part of World Drug Day.
In a press release at the time, a UN coalition consisting of “special reporteurs” stated that “the ‘war on drug’ can be seen as a war against people to a large extent.” Its greatest impact is on the poorest people, and its discrimination against minorities, indigenous Peoples, and marginalised groups overlaps frequently.
Members of Parliament made it clear that they believed the international community should abandon criminalization in favor of “life-saving harm-reduction interventions which are essential to the protection of rights to health for people who use drugs.”
Separately UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres criticized the discrimination against people who use drugs. Guterres was the Prime Minister of Portugal at the time he oversaw the implementation of Portugal’s decriminalization laws.
He tweeted that drug users were “double victims”: they are first victimized by the negative effects of drugs, then by the discrimination. “As #WorldDrugDay approaches, we continue to work towards ending drug abuse, illegal trafficking, and stigma suffered by drug users around the world.”
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