Future of UN drug conventions

IDPC Drug Policy Guide

The ‘war on drugs’ has failed to eradicate drug markets and use. A growing number of policy options are available to address drug-related harms. The IDPC Guide brings together global evidence and best practice to assist national policy makers in the design and implementation of drug policies. The Guide will be updated regularly to reflect new developments in the drug policy field.

Added on 4 March 2010

Count the Costs briefing - The human rights costs of the war on drugs

This new Count the Costs briefing covers the wide range of human rights issues impacted by the war on drugs.

Added on 9 September 2011

Treaty guardians in distress - The inquisitorial nature of the INCB response to Bolivia

Just when you start to see glimmers of hope that the troubled UN drug control system is opening up for a change process, its principal guardian, the INCB, does it again… In a press release on 5 July, the INCB secretariat condemned Bolivia’s decision to denounce the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and re-accede with a reservation on the coca leaf.

Added on 14 July 2011

Selected publications: The failures of the drug control regime

A growing body of evidence clearly demonstrates that the current drug control approach has failed to achieve its stated goal - to reduce the scale of the illicit drug market and the prevalence of drug use - and has led to a number of serious negative consequences. The publications cited below are only a small selection of available documentation on the issue:

IDPC report of proceedings: The 2011 Commission on Narcotic Drugs

This report aims to provide the reader with a summary of what happened at 54th Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, including at various satellite events, and offers some analysis of the key discussions and debates.

Added on 27 April 2011

TNI Series on Legislative Reform No. 12 - Fifty Years of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs: A Reinterpretation

Fifty years on, it is time for a critical reflection on the validity of the Single Convention today: a reinterpretation of its historical significance and an assessment of its aims, its strengths and its weaknesses. This policy briefing analyses the origins and negotiations of the Single Convention, examines the way it broke with the previous drug control system by introducing a more prohibitive ethos, penal obligations, controls on plants and abolition of traditional uses of plants like coca, and concludes that a revision of its outdated provisions is required.

Added on 29 March 2011

Count the costs: 50 years of the war on drugs

The war on drugs creates massive costs, resulting from the enforcement-led approach that puts organised crime in control of the trade. It is time to count these costs and explore the alternatives, using the best evidence available, to deliver a safer, healthier and more just world.

Added on 29 March 2011

Bolivian proposal to remove international ban on coca leaf chewing - countdown: 17 objections

The final count after closure of the January 31 deadline to file objections to the Bolivian amendment to remove the ban on coca leaf chewing in the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, comes to 17 objections.

Added on 24 February 2011

The Global Commission on Drug Policy - Background papers

The Global Commission on Drug Policies has issued a series of background documents on drug policy, in an effort to bring to the international level an informed, science-based discussion about humane and effective ways to reduce the harm caused by drugs to people and society.

Added on 23 February 2011

IDPC Media Information Pack (version 2)

This document provides information and easily accessible background resources on key issues related to the UN drug control system.

Added on 15 February 2011
Syndicate content