INCB releases its contributions to global debate ahead of High Level Segment

In advance of the 57th CND and its High Level Review in March 2014, The International Narcotics Control Board has issued a new publication entitled Contribution of the International Narcotics Control Board to the High Level Review of the implementation by Member States of the Political Declaration and Plan of Action on International Cooperation towards an Integrated and Balanced Strategy to counter the World Drug Problem.

The publication is in fact made up of excerpts of previous INCB Reports, assembled as an intervention that the INCB hopes will guide the mid-term examination of the UNGASS review process. Part One contains excerpts from the thematic chapters of those Reports, on topics such as 'Shared responsibility in international drug control' and 'Social cohesion, social disintegration and illegal drugs'. The second section focuses on 'Emerging developments and trends in drug control'.

The only 'new' passages in the text appear in the Foreword by INCB President Raymond Yans, who once again expresses his 'grave concern' regarding 'some initiatives aimed at legalisation of the non-medical and non-scientific use of cannabis'. Echoing the Board's strident and intemperate attacks upon the government of Uruguay, which plans to institute a regulated market for cannabis in line with its own constitutional principles, Mr Yans insists that 'the pursuit of such initiatives- and the corresponding implications for drug abuse prevention- constitutes a significant obstacle to efforts to address the world drug problem'.