SSDP is an international grassroots network of youth and student groups in Australia, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ghana, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Nigeria and UK, who mobilize to transform global drug policy towards one focused on human rights, public health, and harm reduction.

SSDP UK es una red de grupos comunitarios de jóvenes y estudiantes en el Reino Unido, que realiza campañas para desarrollar políticas humanas y racionales sobre drogas, basadas en evidencias.

SSDP est un réseau de jeunes et d’étudiants britanniques qui mènent campagne pour une politique des drogues humaine, rationnelle et basée sur des données scientifiques.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP)

Not enough voices are speaking out against Nigeria's recent approval of the death penalty for drug trafficking. As we gear up for the June 26th Global Day of Action, let's amplify our call for humane and evidence-based drug policies. Join us in condemning this harsh measure and advocating for justice.

Recently, the global conversation surrounding drug policy reform has gained momentum, with many countries advocating for a more humane and evidence-based approach. However, a recent development in Nigeria has sent shockwaves through the international community and threatens to set back progress in the fight against punitive drug policies. On May 9th 2024, the Nigerian Senate amended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) Act to include the death penalty for drug trafficking offences. This is not only a grave violation of human rights but also a stark reflection of the failure of draconian drug policies.

Condemning Nigeria's amendment of the NDLEA act: A violation of human rights and failed drug policy

 Wednesday, 24th January, 2024 - 12:00 (New York) / 17:00 (GMT)

 GIMPA Green Hill Campus, School of Law, Accra - Ghana / 

 (Room will be open in advance to start on time).

Join this very special workshop where students come together to learn and share ideas about substance use and prevention. We'll be comparing how each country approaches their drug policies. It's a unique opportunity for cross-cultural understanding and collaborative learning.

Drug policy reform: A comparative dialogue between Ghana and the USA

Within the frameworks of the Paradigma Coalition, Youth RISE and Students for Sensible Drug Policy International have partnered up once again to provide a Youth Response to the UNODC's World Drug Report. 

This response is written by youth advocates from across the world. As young people we hold keen insights into youth drug use and as advocates, we represent youth perspectives on drug policies. 

 to learn about our reflections on the 2023 World Drug Report and our recommendations for future publications of this report. 

Also watch out for the release of this Youth Response on Monday 21st August, a week before this launch event and come with your questions and comments! 

Youth Response to the UNODC World Drug Report 2023

An ERASMUS+ funded project that aims to provide students & young people from across Europe with the skills, knowledge, network & strategy to engage with European Union Drug Policy.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy International and Youth RISE are launching a new Erasmus+ project intended to increase the capacity of youth-led organisations that engage in drug policy reform and young people to advocate at the European Union level.

To achieve this goal, we are organising a training series that will equip young people with the necessary knowledge, skills, connections and strategy to be able to engage with the EU Drug Policy Creation process and create a youth-led dialogue around EU drug policies. This training has a dual outcome of both increasing the capacity of individuals and organisations to meaningfully engage with EU Drug Policy.


As the protection of young people is often sighted as one of the primary goals of drug policies, it is of the utmost importance that the youth's voice is present in drug policy creation and implementation processes. Young people who use drugs are also a particularly vulnerable population as they are often dependent on families or the government for financial stability, housing, and education. As a highly vulnerable group, policies that are created to protect youth must be influenced by the insights that youth hold about drug use.

The project has four objectives: 1. Knowledge Building: To build a base of knowledge regarding how the EU makes decisions regarding drugs and the historical context of drugs in EU policy. 2. Skills Building: To build a base of advocacy skills tailored to the EU context. 3. Connections: To build connections between young people and key stakeholders in EU drug policy (i.e. EU Decision Makers, Civil Society & Youth), and 4. Strategy Building: To bring the youth participants together to strategize on how they will further the youth's voice in EU Drug Policy.

We are looking for participants who are citizens of the European Union and fulfil the following criteria:

18-30-year-old students and young people interested in civil society and European advocacy;

a strong interest in drug policy and/or European advocacy, and/or

directly affected by drugs. (e.g. people who use drugs, people who have been or have been related to somebody who has been incarcerated for a drug-related charge, people who have lost friends or relatives as a result of drug-related death).

Most of the project activities will take place virtually, alongside two in-person components requiring 3-4 days of travel. Participant eligibility - nationality or residency in the following countries:

North Macedonia / Северна Македонија

EU drug policy training & strategy series - Call for applications

Students for Sensible Drug Policy Foundation and Students for Sensible Drug Policy International, alongside 64 NGOs, call on the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to provide transparency on youth involvement in decision making and ensure their meaningful participation in the development and implementation of drug policies and programs. Signatories include 19 youth organizations, 13 international organizations, and organizations from 23 countries.

The international community has outlined in the UNGASS 2016 Outcome Document and in the 2019 Ministerial Declaration the need to ensure active and meaningful youth engagement in the drug policy space. While some significant progress has been made by UNODC with the Youth Forum and the Listen First program, there are some key concerns that young people and civil society would like to get addressed.

This includes the lack of transparency surrounding the purpose, selection process and methods used by the Youth Forum, as well as reduced opportunities for youth-led organizations to engage with its delegates.

In this context, we call on the UNODC to take action in this sense and provide clear guidelines for Member States that wish to engage with the Youth Forum. Alongside this, we emphasize the importance of having the Youth Forum as a youth-led space, run by youth for youth. In tandem, there is a need for country delegations to lead by example and actively include youth representatives in their work at national and international level.

The challenges we collectively face today in the drug policy realm cannot be addressed in an effective and sustainable way without bringing youth to the forefront of international and national policy making mechanisms. We cannot create a better, safer society for young people whilst leaving their voices behind. It is our hope that this letter can lead the international community in the right direction.

To read our recommendations in full, please access the letter here.

For non-governmental organisations that want to add their signature, you can still do this by completing the following form.

We look forward to working closely with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and related bodies in order to advance youth representation at all levels of decision making.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy: Open letter on youth engagement to Ms. Ghada Waly, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime

To: Ms Ghada Waly, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Subject: Open letter on UNODC statement on International Human Rights Day 2021

We urge you to mark International Human Rights Day 2021 by calling on Member States to change drug policies and practices that violate human rights and perpetuate inequality and discrimination.

We are writing to you ahead of International Human Rights Day 2021, which will take place on the 10th December amidst escalating global demands for the reform of laws and practices that entrench racial discrimination and social inequality, including drug policies. Last year, IDPC – together with dozens of other civil society and community organisations – called on you to issue a statement on International Human Rights Day urging Member States to change drug laws and practices that undermine health and human rights. A year later, we ask you to seize this day as an opportunity to show UNODC´s alignment with other UN entities in calling for an end to drug policies and practices that perpetuate inequality and discrimination, and violate human rights.

For decades, punitive drug policies have driven widespread human rights abuses, as has been amply documented by the UN. These include the death penalty for drug offences; extrajudicial killings; arbitrary detention, often masquerading as ‘rehabilitation’; the denial of access to life-saving harm reduction services; widespread barriers to accessing controlled medicines for pain relief; the criminalisation of people who use drugs, subsistence farmers and others groups in situations of vulnerability; corporal punishment; and mass incarceration. In all of these cases, draconian drug policies have disproportionately affected people marginalised on the basis of their gender, race, ethnicity, and economic status, thus entrenching inequality and discrimination.

Along 2021, a broad range of UN entities called on Member States to reform drug policies with discriminatory outcomes. In June 2021, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention released a landmark study on arbitrary detention and drug polices, which found that ´

the war on drugs may be understood to a significant extent as a war on people. Its impact is often greatest on those who are poor, but also frequently overlaps with discrimination in law enforcement directed at vulnerable groups

´. At the same time, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights published a new ‘Agenda towards transformative change for racial justice and equality´, highlighting that ´

The discriminatory application of criminal law must be tackled at every stage, including by reforming drug-related policies

´. The High Commissioner´s proposal led to Human Rights Council Resolution 47/21, which contains key commitments to uproot systemic racism in the law enforcement and criminal justice systems. The Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS, adopted in June 2021, also showcased the international community´s commitment to ending inequalities as a step towards ending AIDS. Lastly, the new UN system Common Position on Incarceration, led by UNODC in partnership with other UN entities, notes ‘

the overrepresentation of minority and marginalized groups among prisoners, many of whom are charged with petty and nonviolent offences

support reform efforts aimed at ensuring proportionate and individualized sentencing and alternatives to conviction or punishment in appropriate cases, including for minor drug-related offences

These various commitments emerging across the United Nations are aligned with the 2018 Chief Executives Board’s UN System Common Position on drug-related matters, which makes clear that ‘

should be designed and implemented by States in accordance with their human rights obligations

’, and commits all UN agencies, including UNODC, to support drug policies ‘

that put people, health, and human rights at the centre

Similar human rights concerns have been highlighted in the just-released Global Drug Policy Index, which measures and ranks the national drug policies of 30 countries according to how well they align with the UN system Common Position on Drugs and its Task Team report of March 2019.

The theme of the 2021 International Human Rights Day is ‘Equality: Reducing inequalities, advancing human rights’, and is aimed at ´

addressing and finding solutions for deep-rooted forms of discrimination that have affected the most vulnerable people in societies

´. As such, it presents a crucial opportunity for UNODC to align itself with other UN entities in calling for the end of policies that perpetuate inequality and discrimination, while highlighting its commitment to the promotion of human rights, in line with the UN system Common Positions.

It is in this context that we urge you to issue a strong statement on International Human Rights Day, calling on states to change the drug laws, policies and practices that violate health and human rights, and entrench inequality. To be credible, such a statement should explicitly acknowledge the disproportionate impact of drug laws and drug control on people marginalised on the basis of their gender, race, ethnicity, and economic status, and urge Member States to:

Abolish the death penalty in all circumstances. Imposing capital punishment for drug offences has been found to be contrary to international human rights law by the Human Rights Committee, and the Human Rights Council.

Put an immediate end to extrajudicial killings committed in the name of drug control, as has been repeatedly called for by the Human Rights Council and UN human rights experts.

Permanently close compulsory drug detention centres, including those that masquerade as ‘rehabilitation’, and implement voluntary, evidence-informed, and rights-based health and social services, as recently called for by sixteen UN agencies, including UNODC.

Stress the urgent need to provide accessible, affordable, and adequately funded harm reduction services in community and closed settings, to fulfil the right to health and the right to life of people who use drugs, as demanded by several UN human rights bodies and experts. This is also central to UNODC’s core role as lead UNAIDS co-sponsor regarding prisons and HIV amongst people who use drugs.

Take immediate measures to address prison overcrowding, as already recommended by UNODC and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, by promoting alternatives to incarceration, and ensuring proportionate sentencing for all drug offences, including by taking into account mitigating factors – in line with the basic principle that prisons should only be used as a last resort in all circumstances.

Ensure that people who use drugs are not subject to arbitrary detention, torture, or ill-treatment – whether in state custody or public or private drug services. While under detention, people with a drug dependence or health problems associated with their drug use must be offered evidence-based treatment, harm reduction and other drug services on a strictly voluntary basis.

Promote the end of all punishment for drug use, and drug possession and cultivation for personal use, as permitted within the three drug control conventions. Such policy shifts will help to end the stigma, criminalisation, and exclusion faced by people who use drugs, and to facilitate access to health and social services, as called for by the UN system Common Position, UNAIDS, and UN human rights bodies.

Make sure that drug policies incorporate a gender-sensitive perspective. This should be done by tailoring drug services to the specific needs of women, and by ensuring that criminal laws take into account the circumstances of women involved in drug offences, as most of them come from backgrounds of poverty, marginalisation, and oppression.

Clearly outline the ways in which UNODC will work to achieve these changes, and the measures being taken to ensure that human rights are effectively embedded as a core strand for all of the Office’s work.

As the lead UN agency in drug-related matters, UNODC has the responsibility to promote drug policies that respect, protect, and fulfil human rights, in a way that is consistent with the standards developed by the UN system, and in line with the commitments set in the UN system Common Positions on drugs and on incarceration. A strong statement in the forthcoming International Human Rights Day would be an important and welcome step to signal UNODC’s unequivocal commitment.

We look forward to discussing these concerns and recommendations with you.

NGOs urge UNODC's Executive Director to mark Human Rights Day with a call to reform drug policies that entrench inequality

Civil society engagement at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and related meetings has improved dramatically over the past decade – in terms of the numbers attending, the opportunities to interact and participate, and the levels of experience and professionalism of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) themselves. These changes are very important given that the contribution of NGOs and civil society organisations make policymaking more responsive to the needs of society.

Moreover, youth involvement specifically makes the voice of those who are normally excluded from policymaking but are disproportionately affected by the results heard. In their efforts to promote an inclusive and evidence-based debate, SSDPers have been organizing side events and have even been elected on the board of the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs (VNGOC) and the New York NGO Committee on Drugs (NYNGOC) which advocate for and oversee civil society involvement with the UN.

In order to encourage youth engagement with international policymaking, this Advocacy Handbook gives an overview of the main UN institutions involved with the making of global drug policy, as well as highlights the ins and outs of advocacy. We hope that such an overview will help you make valuable contributions to the work of the CND and related processes, this way advocating for evidence-based drug policy embedded in the protection of human rights.

Drug policy reform at the United Nations: A youth advocacy handbook (2nd edition)

We would like to commend the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on developing the World Drug Report, as it provides both governments and civil society with essential information on global developments in drug cultivation, trafficking and consumption, that in turn could inform future policy decisions. Throughout this response we provide our insights on the report and ways in which it could provide more meaningful data and representation, that could better advise governments, international bodies and civil society moving forward.

We see throughout this report that drug cultivation, trafficking and use have consistently increased over the last 50 years. With consistent increasing rates of drug consumption and drug related death across the globe, it is clear that both drug supply and demand reduction efforts are failing us. We are seeing more potent and purer drugs (particularly cocaine and cannabis) becoming more commonplace. As traditional policies focused on creating a “drug free world” are proven consistently infective, we call for a shift in policies which maximises the health and welfare of all those in society, particularly people who use drugs.

The overall framing of the document as “Drugs cost lives”, though well meaning, is stigmatising and even potentially harmful, given the recent strides made by the international community, particularly towards those vulnerable that are caught in the illicit drug trade. We find it more reflective of our lived realities to assert that the criminalisation and underfunding of life saving harm reduction services, lack of fact based drug education, inefficient mental health services and the lack of access to an unadulterated drug supply is what costs lives. Drugs themselves are not inherently life-threatening, as evidenced by the medical benefits that can be derived from both legal and illegal psychoactive substances, an aspect acknowledged by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs and many member states.

“Drugs cost lives” therefore highlights an outdated attitude that fails to account for the recent decisions taken by the international community, overlooking the need for member states to address the funding shortages experienced by harm reduction services, as well as their commitment to upholding the human rights of drug users. In a time when we need attitudes that seek to maximise the health and life quality of society as a whole, but particularly those who are exposed to the drug trade and people who use drugs, youth representatives urge for holistic data and observations to back the commitments and ethos displayed by the United Nations.

Youth Response to the World Drug Report 2021

Join us for the launch of the Youth Response to the World Drug Report 2021. We will be joined by incredible youth advocates who helped form this response, as we discuss the importance of young people in drug policy, this year's World Drug Report and much more.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP)

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