A group of United Nations experts has called for the end of the global drug war. Meanwhile, a separate commission of presidents and premiers from all over the world are advocating for a legalized and regulated use of currently illegal substances.
The UN’s coalition, which includes “special reporteurs” nominated by the Human Rights Council and the Global Commission on Drug Policy, marked the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Monday by calling for comprehensive reform.
In a Friday statement, UN experts 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 often overlaps with discrimination against minorities, Indigenous Peoples, and marginalised groups.
They said that “Drug possession and use for personal purposes should be decriminalized as soon as possible.”
The reporteurs also pointed out racial differences in drug criminalization worldwide. They argued that the drug war was more effective as a racial control system than as a way to reduce drug markets.
Members of Congress made it clear that they believed the international community should abandon criminalization in favor of “life-saving harm-reduction interventions which are essential to protect the right of health of drug users.”
The statement also condemns aerial fumigation as a way to disrupt the production and use of plants such as coca, which are important for the manufacture of cocaine. Some U.S. legislators have tried to remove federal funding for such controversial eradication attempts in Colombia.
Experts appointed by the UN also stated that drug criminalization leads to harmful stigmatization that results in “significant barriers to accessing health services, including those for HIV/AIDS and palliative treatment and other human rights violations.”
They said that “drug abuse or dependency is never a valid reason to detain a person.” “Compulsory detention and rehab centres must be closed, and replaced by voluntary, rights-based, evidence-informed health and social services within the community.”
The statement concludes, “We urge Member States to replace their current drug policies by ones based on the principles of application of a restorative justice approach that is comprehensive and reintegrative.” Effective, community-based and inclusive measures, as well as preventive ones, are of equal importance. “Now more than ever the international community needs to replace punishments with policies that protect, respect and fulfill rights for all.”
Separately UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres who, as Portugal’s Prime Minister, oversaw the implementation of a national decriminalization legislation, has called out the discrimination experienced by drug users.
He tweeted that drug users were “double victims”: they are first hurt by the 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.”
Drug users suffer twice: they are victimized by both the drug itself and by discrimination.
We continue to work towards ending drug abuse, illegal trafficking and stigma suffered by drug users around the world as we celebrate #WorldDrugDay. pic.twitter.com/vbn9MtUKhy
— Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) June 26, 2023
The UN Chief Executives Board, which represents 31 UN agencies, including the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC), has adopted a 2019 position that states should pursue health-oriented and science-based drug policies – namely decriminalization.
The Global Commission on Drug Policy, on the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (March 31), is calling for a broader reform, including the legalization and regulatory of substances that are currently illegal.
The commission, whose members include former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and former New Zealand Prime minister Helen Clark as well as former Brazil President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, said that the drug-war has “repeatedly shown that punitive drugs policies lead to systematic human rights abuses and violations.”
The statement issued by the commission Monday takes note of recent international developments in drug policy reform, including efforts to legitimize marijuana in Colombia, Germany and the decriminalization of drugs that was enacted in an important Australian territory last.
states that “The Global Commission on Drug Policy urges more such positive actions by national and local government in terms of policy and practice.” The consequences of unjust policies on drugs are felt in many aspects of personal and collective life. All those who are committed to the health of individuals, communities, and economies, as well as to social integration and economic development, have a responsibility to eliminate stigma and discrimination, and to uphold human right for everyone.
Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, is also a part of the commission. The commission’s specific policies are “to put health first, to guarantee access to controlled medications, to decriminalize consumption and possession of drugs in personal use, to focus law enforcement efforts on those who run criminal organizations, and to, last but certainly not least, to legally regulate the drug markets to disempower organised crime.” Legal regulation is a public-health imperative as well as a step that must be taken to reform drug policy.
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The post United Nations Experts and Global Leaders Call for International Drug Decriminalization on ‘World Drug Day” appeared initially on Marijuana Moment.
