Dimensiones del desarrollo de la política de drogas: Evaluar nuevos desafíos, descubrir oportunidades y abordar cuestiones emergentes

El PNUD traza un giro en la política de drogas centrado en los derechos y el desarrollo, priorizando la descriminalización, la reducción de daños, las transiciones basadas en la equidad y vías prácticas para regular responsablemente algunos mercados de drogas. Más información, en inglés, está disponible abajo.

This discussion paper examines how drug policy affects sustainable development, human rights, governance, health, and the environment. It underscores that punitive enforcement has largely failed, fueling violence, corruption, incarceration, and health crises, while doing little to reduce harm. In response, many countries are shifting toward evidence- and rights-based reforms such as decriminalization and harm reduction. Yet, organized crime continues to dominate markets, and debates over legal regulation are expanding.

The paper highlights both the opportunities and risks of regulation. It shows how reforms could redirect resources into health and social programmes, strengthen governance, and support sustainable livelihoods, particularly for marginalized communities. At the same time, it warns of inequities in emerging legal markets, "corporate capture", and insufficient attention to gender, Indigenous rights, and environmental impacts.

Aimed at decision- and policy-makers, multilateral organizations, scholars, and civil society, the paper calls for a development-oriented, rights-based approach that ensures no one is left behind and aligns drug policy with the Sustainable Development Goals. It is the third paper of the series on drug policy and development produced by UNDP.