Nations’ Widely Varying Approach to Drug Policy on Display at UN Conference

At this week’s three-day special session to address global drug policy, nations’ widely varying approach to drug policy is striking, the Associated Press reports. It is the first special session to address the topic in almost 20 years.

Jamaica has decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana, while Cuba opposes legalizing drugs or declaring them harmless. Iran seized 620 tons of drugs last year and said it is helping protect the world from “the evils of addiction.”

Canada’s Health Minister, Jane Philpott, announced her government’s plans to introduce a measure next spring to legalize marijuana. Indonesia’s Ambassador, Rachmat Budiman, called for a “zero-tolerance approach” to suppress and eliminate illegal drugs. Indonesia and Iran impose the death penalty on drug traffickers.

Michael Botticelli, Director of the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy, said “law enforcement efforts should focus on criminal organizations — not on people with substance use disorders who need treatment and recovery support services.” He said drug policies in all nations should address the needs of underserved groups.

Hundreds of government officials, non-governmental organization representatives and individuals are attending the session.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy, which includes former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, as well as the former presidents of Mexico and Brazil, issued a statement in March that said discussions to draft the special session’s outcome document relied too much on an outdated law-and-order approach.

“Although it includes positive references to human rights and public health, it offers no hard solutions to make them stick,” the group said. The Commission called for a number of steps, including ending the criminalization and incarceration of drug users, abolishing capital punishment for drug-related offenses and ensuring a broad spectrum of treatments for dependent people and services designed to reduce the harms of drugs.