International dialogue on drug policies: Supporting the process towards UNGASS 2016 Cartagena, Colombia

The main purpose of the drug Conventions – to safeguard the health and welfare of humankind – cannot be achieved without an approach on human rights. This means guaranteeing full respect for human dignity and rights, in particular, to life and to health, and with the protection of children, non-discrimination, and respect for fundamental liberties. In cases of tension between the application of the drug Conventions and international commitments acquired by States in matters of human rights, human rights must be guaranteed.

Human rights must also be the basis for drug policies, and be respected in implementation strategies. In this respect, it will help to include the drug theme more specifically on the agenda of United Nations human rights organs and encourage the participation of all relevant UN-System Agencies in drug policy design and implementation.

In the face of these two issues – human rights as a principle of interpretation of the Conventions and as a foundation of drug policies -, national sovereignty, which nobody questions, cannot be invoked to justify policies that are against human rights.

A public-health-oriented approach to drug policies is needed to achieve the intrinsic objectives of the drug Conventions. It must also be recognized that the social consequences of the illicit drug markets stem not only from the global increase in consumption, or from the violence associated with trafficking; rather, all these dimensions of the problem together with certain counternarcotics strategies contribute to the weakening of social ties. It is also necessary to humanize drug policies through initiatives centered on people, individual rights and liberties, and the promotion of sustainable development. It is not possible to continue to be tied to the unbalanced view which has privileged the use of repression and criminal punishment. The struggle against the illicit market in drugs cannot be fought at any cost; public health, development and human rights must not be neglected.

The term “harm reduction” was used in the “Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS: Intensifying Our Efforts to Eliminate HIV and AIDS”, adopted by the General Assembly in Resolution 65/277. The expression implies an increase in the availability and coverage of measures aimed at minimizing the consequences associated with drug use and reducing fatalities related to infectious diseases, through the implementation of evidence-based interventions recommended by WHO, UNAIDS and UNODC, including in prisons and other closed settings. It also implies, besides the exchange of syringes, access to opioid substitution therapy and the distribution of naloxone to avoid overdoses, and the protection of individuals from the risks associated with drug use. All of these should be part of efforts to encourage and guarantee treatment and recovery.

The Cartagena Dialogue examined the expansion of the concept “harm reduction” to the consequences of other components of the drug problem and drug policies, like violence, exclusion, crime, victimization, and the consequent weakening of social ties in entire regions. This is the case for social or environmental harm reduction measures, similar to those pioneered in the field of public health. The Dialogue also examined the need to include this among the priorities for international cooperation.

It will be basic to design new, comprehensible and practical indicators to measure the impact of drug policies on this complex problem and for other purposes, including to ensure respect for and observance of human rights in the application of the conventions and drug policies. It must be possible to follow up and measure progress and drawbacks, impact on sectors involved in the drug problem and the harm caused by drug policies to individuals.

Indicators should also refer to health promotion, reduction of violence and the prevention of drug abuse, protection of vulnerable groups, treatment with quality, and harm reduction among consumers. Furthermore, there is a need for indicators of the social impact and of social and 6 economic development in communities affected by poverty and security issues. There must also be indicators that help to measure the participation of United Nations system agencies and the coordination with UNODC; and controls must be introduced for respect for human rights in the review and follow up made by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), in the World Drug Report, and in international cooperation programs.

Human rights include all rights for all human beings in all circumstances. In other words, all those affected by the world drug problem or by drug policies, are individual subjects of individual or collective, economic, social, cultural and citizens’ rights, which comprise the participation in the formulation of public policy for drugs. The decriminalization of drug consumers is gathering support in several countries and among the United Nations agencies, which recognize this proposition as key to avoiding violations of human rights; it could be extended to cover other vulnerable sectors such as peasant farmers who cultivate illicit crops, or those who transport small amounts of substances for their subsistence.

The abolition of the death penalty for drug-related crimes received almost total support. One participant said that the abolition, in general, corresponds to each country, because it is considered a matter of national sovereignty.

Sentences for drug-related crimes should be proportional to their gravity, considering the social impact of imprisonment, alternatives to imprisonment, and offering alternative livelihoods for individuals, families and groups, whose situation of vulnerability involves them with the illicit drug market.

Treatment must recognize the fact that not all drug users have problematic consumption patterns. Treatment must not be punitive in nature nor degrading, as has been stated by the United Nations agencies in a joint declaration on compulsory drug treatment centres. Treatment and rehabilitation require adequate resources for programs adapted to individual circumstances, which can include community services, employment and housing support for the reintegration of drug users, and programs in prisons, to meet the challenge of HIV/AIDS among drug users.

The availability of, and access to, controlled substances for medical and scientific purposes, provided in the drug Conventions, allows the relief of pain and suffering, treatment of mental or neurological disorders, and the management of dependence on substances. It also implies an adjustment to health systems, with the strengthening of human resources, and avoidance of obstacles to access essential medicines and support for governments in the development of national programs and evaluations. The scheduling procedure for controlled substances and its results have to be reevaluated in order to harmonize the schedules with the WHO list of essential medicines, to promote the exchange of evidence and to ensure that they do not weaken the public health objective.

Research for medical and scientific uses requires the elimination of barriers and the promotion of studies on new psychoactive substances.

Working Group 3. Social impact of the illicit drugs market and counternarcotics policies

Addressing the economic and social factors that underlie the drug problem requires the following: First and foremost, the recognition that poverty and marginalization facilitate recruitment, particularly of the young, by criminal organized groups engaged in drug trafficking or sale. At the same time, policymakers should address the negative social and environmental 8 consequences of the implementation of drug policies, and overcome the disadvantages of public administration in generating institutional responses that are quick and constant enough to match the efficiency of criminal structures and counter their strategies for subjecting the most vulnerable groups of society to their purposes. In the prevention of violence associated with common and organized crime, there should be territorially-focused policies to incorporate communities into social inclusion and development programs, strengthening public participation in the oversight of criminal activity and promoting a culture of lawfulness, paying particular attention to vulnerable situations. Besides, social policy should put a greater emphasis and focus on resources to counter the impact of drug policies and on the enjoyment of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

Likewise, drug policies should empower marginalized communities who live in conditions of vulnerability, encourage their participation and the collective construction of support networks and collaboration with State institutions and civil society organizations.

Drug policies must be harmonized with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda to promote equitable and sustainable development, transform regions and territories, guarantee civic security based on a comprehensive reform of the security and justice system, link subregional agendas to the quest for specific actions that can be pursued at national level to help define the operative recommendations of UNGASS 2016; increase the coordination and harmonization of criteria among the different UN agencies, in order to enhance efforts made in the social and economic areas.

The concept of alternative development needs to be redefined, as it has so far been tied to punitive measures and confined to the control of crops bound for the illicit markets. It is a matter of adopting a comprehensive and preventive approach, with an emphasis on social and economic considerations, contextualized and sustainable strategies to improve the opportunities of vulnerable groups in the population; they must bring together the entire institutional and multi-sectorial supply, improve their quality of life and territorial conditions exposed to all segments of the illegal drugs economy. This means that they cannot be restricted to crop eradication or other supply reduction measures, nor to incentives for alternative economic activities, strengthening added-value chains in cooperation with local, national and international actors. It also requires addressing situation of small growers and those who are involved in the illicit drugs market for their subsistence, through the application of a comprehensive set of measures for social development and inclusion.

The interpretation of the drug Conventions should be made on the basis of their ultimate purpose. Some participants in the Cartagena Dialogue spoke of the need to reform the Conventions, because there was not enough flexibility in their interpretation. Others said that the interpretation of the Conventions is a matter for experts (particularly, those of the International Law Commission). All agreed that conditions are not present today to enter into a process of renegotiation of these international treaties, because at present, efforts should be directed to open an honest discussion about its deficiencies and inconsistencies, and about new interpretations based on scientific evidence, international law fundamentals, and possible conflicts with human rights obligations. It was proposed that a group of like-minded countries should explore the scope and limits of the reinterpretation of the treaties, analyze the legal tensions that have arisen, and start developing possible reform proposals in the wake of the UNGASS 2016 process.