Drugs in the news - A new deal on drugs is as vital as a climate change accord

A new deal on drugs is as vital as a climate change accord

A forthcoming UN summit is the opportunity for a radical approach to curbing the drugs trade

OpEd by Nick Clegg and Bohuslav Sobotka

The Guardian (UK)
Sunday, January 31, 2016

Standing on the podium at the United Nations in New York in June 1998, Kofi Annan declared: "It is time for all nations to say 'yes' to the challenge of working towards a drug-free world!" The leaders assembled at that meeting agreed: illegal drugs were to be eradicated from the face of the planet. They even set a deadline: 10 years to rid the globe of this scourge. A drug-free world by 2008. Annan now strikes a very different tone than he did 18 years ago. Witnessing the effects of drug markets and misguided policies on his own region of West Africa, he recently observed: "Drugs may have destroyed many people, but wrong governmental policies have destroyed many more. Let us not repeat this mistake."

tags:

2016 UNGASS | 1998 UNGASS | eradication | UN drug control

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10-year Review 20 1998 UNGASS 26 2005 CND debate 8 2016 UNGASS 126 2019 HLM 5 activism 38 afghanistan 25 show all

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10-year Review 20 1998 UNGASS 26 2005 CND debate 8 2016 UNGASS 126 2019 HLM 5 activism 38 afghanistan 25 hide
africa 14 albania 14 alternative development 120 alternatives to policing 2 amnesty 89 amphetamine 1 amsterdam 30 appellation of origin 3 argentina 32 asean 9 ATS 15 australia 109 austria 5 ayahuasca 6 bahamas 4 ballot 2012 155 banking 52 barbados 11 belgium 46 belize 10 bermuda 15 bhang 15 bolivia 118 brazil 95 brownfield doctrine 24 burma 45 california 216 cambodia 12 canada 543 cannabinoids 107 cannabis 3255 cannabis clubs 230 cannabis industry 417 caribbean 148 caricom 33 cbd oil 1 central america 5 chile 21 china 46 civil society 37 CND 131 coca 220 cocaine 95 coffee shop 230 cognitive decline 30 colombia 160 colorado 163 compulsary detention 19 conflict 4 conventions 277 corporate capture 59 corruption 5 costa rica 10 crack 55 craft cannabis 31 crime 92 czech republic 54 dark net 4 death penalty 3 decertification 1 decriminalization 935 deforestation 11 denmark 132 drug checking 41 drug consumption rooms 193 drug courts 22 drug markets 147 drug policy index 2 drug testing 7 drug trade 60 e-cigarettes 1 e-joint 2 ecstasy 70 ecuador 22 egypt 16 el salvador 2 environment 38 eradication 129 essential medicines 25 estonia 2 eswatini 7 ethiopia 3 european drug policy 119 expert advisory group 9 extrajudicial killings 95 fair trade 16 fentanyl 84 france 119 fumigation 27 gateway theory 29 georgia 3 germany 217 ghana 18 global commission 46 greece 19 guatemala 32 guatemala initiative 47 harm reduction 348 hemp 44 heroin 139 heroin assisted treatment 80 HIV/AIDS 61 home cultivation 124 honduras 4 human rights 259 ICC 1 illinois 10 incarceration 53 INCB 143 india 102 indigenous rights 1 indonesia 35 informal drug policy dialogues 22 inter se modification 17 iran 14 ireland 16 israel 63 italy 42 jamaica 176 japan 3 kava 4 kazakhstan 5 kenya 11 ketamine 27 khat 37 kratom 33 kyrgyzstan 1 laos 2 latin american debate 115 law enforcement 432 lebanon 43 legal highs 64 legalization 1709 lesotho 10 local customization 11 luxembourg 60 malawi 4 malaysia 7 malta 58 medical cannabis 665 mental health 45 methamphetamine 49 mexico 211 Mid-Term Review 1 mild stimulants 46 money laundering 55 morocco 128 naloxone 16 nepal 7 netherlands 341 new york 34 new zealand 67 NIDA 5 nigeria 1 nitrous oxide 9 norway 18 NPS 10 opinion polls 132 opioids 153 opium 94 oregon 29 overdose kits 4 pakistan 9 panama 5 paraguay 4 pardon 2 patents 18 peace 24 peru 45 peyote 3 philippines 89 pilot project 137 pleasure 5 poland 2 police pacification 18 portugal 68 potency 2 precursors 7 prevention 3 prison situation 101 prohibition 158 proportionality 110 psychedelics 13 psychosis 57 puerto rico 3 racism 29 reclassification 119 recriminalisation 42 regulation 1454 russia 36 sacramental use 11 safe supply 36 safer crack 29 scheduling 29 scientific research 145 sdg 2 security 14 senegal 1 sentencing 67 singapore 7 social justice 83 somalia 7 south africa 83 spain 81 st lucia 9 st vincent and grenadines 31 substance-use disorder 20 substitution treatment 31 sweden 31 switzerland 162 synthetic cannabinoids 31 taxation 58 teen use 43 thailand 78 thresholds 64 tobacco industry 17 traditional growers 162 tramadol 17 treatment 29 trinidad & tobago 15 tunisia 14 UK 282 UN Common Position 1 UN drug control 444 UNGASS 58 UNODC 111 uruguay 146 US drug policy 1192 vaping 2 venezuela 5 vietnam 5 violence 134 WHO 66 world drug report 11 yemen 6