Youth R.I.S.E is a youth-led international network established to reduce the risks and harms associated with substance use and drug policy amongst young people and provide a platform for young people to be engaged in the policies that affect their lives.

Youth R.I.S.E es una red internacional dirigida por jóvenes que fue establecida para reducir los riesgos y los daños asociados al consumo de drogas y a las políticas de drogas entre los jóvenes. Youth R.I.S.E proporciona una plataforma de dialogo para que personas jóvenes puedan participar a las políticas que afectan a su vida.

Youth R.I.S.E. est un réseau international dirigé par des jeunes désirant réduire les risques et dommages subis par la jeunesse à cause de l’usage de drogues et de politiques de drogues inefficaces. Le réseau offre un espace permettant aux jeunes de s’impliquer dans les politiques qui touchent leur vie de tous les jours.

Youth RISE

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

As organisations that work in drug policy and harm reduction, we welcome the evidence-based proposals in the new report published by the Scottish Government proposing a road map for the future of drug policy and law in Scotland. We share the view of the report that drug policy based on health and human rights achieves better outcomes for individuals, their families, communities and wider society.

In recognition of the damaging global impact of criminalisation, the United Nations 

 a legal and policy position that promotes the reduction of harm and the decriminalisation of people who use drugs. We welcome this report as a step towards the UN’s position, and the development of effective policy and services in Scotland.

Ending criminal sanctions for people in possession of drugs for personal use; the provision of a full range of harm reduction services and support; and improvement in the accessibility and acceptability of treatment services for people who experience drug dependency are all required to address the public health emergency that Scotland has been in for some years.

Scotland has made progress on all these fronts, and yet the prevalence of people experiencing drug dependence, and the number of drug related deaths remain very high by international standards, underpinned by persistent broader health inequalities. Further innovation and investment is clearly required.

We further support the proposed evidence-led review into how the use of drugs, their production and supply could be regulated. This review would inform a debate around wider reforms to drugs legislation.

We welcome the recognition of the harmful role that criminalisation, poverty and stigma, play in the lives of so many. People who use drugs, especially those who experience dependence, face discrimination every day, and the Scottish Government’s desire to end the exclusion of this group from equality legislation is to be commended.

We also welcome the Scottish Government’s acknowledgment and commitment to centring those with living and lived experience in policy making and implementation.

UK legislation and regulations, especially the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, serve as an impediment to many of the urgently needed evidence-based reforms highlighted in the report, including the decriminalisation of drug possession; the provision of supervised drug consumption facilities and drug safety checking services; and even heroin assisted treatment.

Scotland has developed innovative responses using its own legal system, police force, healthcare system and civic society. Progress has already been made in terms of the extension of recorded warnings for drug possession, policing arrangements and the legal basis for injecting equipment provision services and its world-leading take home naloxone programme. Scotland must also use these same assets to deliver supervised drug consumption rooms and drug checking services as a matter of urgency.

Drug-related deaths are at an all-time high, in Scotland and across the UK. The UK Government must either work to reform legislation to enable the vital reforms proposed in this report across all four nations, or sufficiently devolve powers to allow each country to enact these policies themselves in order to save lives, and support communities.

INPUD – International Network of People who Use Drugs

EuroNPUD – European Network of People who Use Drugs

Jason Kew, Senior Innovative Practice Officer,

IDPC joins NGO coalition's response to Scottish Government's report on drug policy reform

Returning from the 23rd iteration of Harm Reduction International’s global conference felt like waking up from a dream. In the dozens of hours travelling back from H23, which took place in Melbourne and was paused since the start of the global pandemic, I had a chance to reflect on the sheer amount of stories and emotions I lived and shared with passionate advocates from all over the world. 

A true melting pot of harm reductionists, state partners and rogue activists, HR23 felt like a unique space in the international conference circuit – one where people didn’t have to defend the basis of harm reduction or the need to centre drug-related solutions on people and communities, unlike other addiction-focused conferences. While colleagues presented fascinating research from across the globe, the truly impactful moments were the relationships made in between talks and presentations, where we connected with other passionate advocates working towards a common goal: defending the rights of people who use drugs.

“A melting pot of harm reductionists”: Reflections on the Harm Reduction International conference

This project intends to increase the capacity of youth-led organizations that engage in drug policy reform and young people to advocate at the European Union level. 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 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. 

To achieve our goal of increasing the capacity of youth-led organizations and young people to engage with EU drug policy, we organized a training series that equipped 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 project intends to increase the capacity of youth-led organizations that engage in drug policy reform and young people to advocate at the European Union level. 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 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. 

This training has had a dual outcome of increasing the capacity of individuals and organizations to meaningfully engage with EU Drug Policy.

EU drug policy training & strategy series - Final report

We would like to invite you to join SSDP International and YouthRISE in launching the Project Report and Consortium Strategy for our 2022 ERASMUS+ Project this Thursday, February 2nd at 6 pm CET. 

Since early 2022, SSDP International and YouthRISE have been working with young people passionate about drug policy reform from across Europe to develop the skills, knowledge, network and strategy for young people to engage with drug policy, both nationally and internationally. As a result of this, we have established a consortium of young people and youth organisations dedicated to building drug policies rooted in human rights and compassion. 

We invite you to join us as we share the results of our project and walk you through the strategy we built.

European Youth Drug Consortium launch event

Authored by Tripti Tandon, Deputy Director, Lawyers Collective (India).

With the support of Dristi Nepal, the International Drug Policy Consortium, Recovering Nepal, YKP LEAD Nepal and Youth Rise International.

This report provides a comprehensive review of the human rights situation of people who use drugs in Nepal, and examines how Nepal’s repressive and outmoded drug policies are con­tributing to the violation of several human rights recognised under international and domestic law.

This briefing is the result of desk research, a nation-wide consultation with 56 representatives of communities and civil society from across the country, as well as focus group discussions with women and youth-led organisations.

The main findings of the report are as follows:

. According to official data, an estimated 1,300,000 people use drugs in Nepal, while approximately 70% of them, or 90,000 people, inject drugs. In 2019, HIV prevalence amongst people who inject drugs was at 8.8% – a much higher rate than that of the general population in Nepal, which was 0.2%.

. The 1976 Narcotic Drugs (Control) Act, still in force, criminalises the use, possession for personal use, and ‘addiction’ to drugs. As such, Nepal criminalises drug dependence itself – a medical condition. According to a 2019 survey of people who use drugs, nearly half of the respondents, including 63% of respondents who injected drugs, had been arrested for drug use or a related offence.

 Treatment for drug dependence is available only in private facilities, and at a cost that is beyond reach for most people who use drugs. Legal provisions granting immunity from prosecution to those who enter drug treatment are denied to people who cannot afford it. Services in border areas are scarce, though the prevalence of drug use is higher near the Nepal-India border.

. Private actors operate so-called drug treatment and rehabilitation centres without training, authorisation or approval. Nearly 11% of the respondents surveyed in the 2019 Nepal Drug Users’ Survey reported experiencing violence during treatment, and cases of torture and ill-treatment. Cases of death have also been reported.

. Although the government of Nepal supports harm reduction programmes, the police frequently harass and detain people visiting needle and syringe programmes (NSP) and opioid agonist therapy (OAT) services. This has contributed to the poor uptake of harm reduction in the country. People who use drugs are routinely stopped and searched without a warrant.

Disproportionate impact on women who use drugs

. Women who use drugs are disproportionately impacted by the stigma and criminalisation against people who use drugs, which are amplified by patriarchal norms and gender stereotypes. Drug policies and programmes are neither informed by gender-based considerations, nor do they address the concerns of women who use drugs.

Over 54% women who use drugs have faced arrest, compared to 45.2% of men. Women are often searched by male police officers, and are verbally and physically abused in detention. Women are disproportionately detained for drug offences, and are incarcerated in alarming conditions, especially in relation to nutrition and sexual and reproductive healthcare. Women who use drugs report severe forms of domestic and partner violence, but do not have access to legal remedy.

Human rights and drug policies in Nepal

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

Most countries fail drug policy test according to new Index

First-ever accountability tool assesses and ranks countries’ drug policies against key UN-system recommendations

Norway tops the Index; Brazil comes in last

 -- Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, the UK and Australia are the five leading countries on humane and health driven drug policies according to the inaugural edition of the Global Drug Policy Index released today by the Harm Reduction Consortium. Brazil, Uganda, Indonesia, Kenya, and Mexico are the five lowest-ranking countries.

However, Norway, despite topping the Index, still only managed a score of 74/100. And the median score across all 30 countries and dimensions is just 48/100.

“48 out of 100 is a drug policy fail in anyone’s book,’ said 

, Executive Director of the International Drug Policy Consortium which led on the development of the Index with the partners in the Harm Reduction Consortium.

“None of the countries assessed should feel good about their score on drug policy, because no country has reached a perfect score. Or anywhere near it. This Index highlights the huge room for improvement across the board.”

For decades, tracking how well - or badly - governments are doing in drug policy has been an elusive endeavour. In no small part, this is because data collection efforts by both governments and the UN have been driven by the outdated and harmful goal of achieving a ‘drug-free society.’

Most governments continue to employ a repressive approach to drug control based on this skewed data, which in turns means they cannot be held accountable for the damage their policies inflict on the lives of so many people.

The success of drug policies has not been measured against health, development, and human rights outcomes, but instead has tended to prioritise indicators such as the numbers of people arrested or imprisoned for drug offences, the amount of drugs seized, or the number of hectares of drug crops eradicated.

The Global Drug Policy Index is the first-ever data-driven global analysis of drug policies and their implementation. It is composed of 75 indicators running across five broad dimensions of drug policy: criminal justice, extreme responses, health and harm reduction, access to internationally controlled medicines, and development.

“The Global Drug Policy Index is nothing short of a radical innovation,’ said 

, Chair of the Global Commission on Drug Policy and former Prime Minister of New Zealand.

“Good, accurate data is power, and it can help us end the `war on drugs´ sooner rather than later.”

“What’s clear from the results is that no government can be complacent,” said 

, former Director of the Prison System of the State of Rio de Janeiro. “Even in the highest-ranking countries, progress is sorely needed. Governments worldwide must abandon the idea of drug policies as instruments of “war” and understand them as means to promote human rights and citizenship.”

The Index’s first iteration evaluates the performance of 30 countries covering all regions of the world and is illustrated by real life stories, including of people who use drugs, from around the world.

The militarised and law enforcement approach to drug control continues to prevail: 

Some level of lethal use of force by military or police forces was reported in half of the countries surveyed, with widespread cases in Mexico and Brazil.

The disproportionate impact of drug control on marginalised people on the basis of gender, ethnicity and socio-economic status

 was reported to some extent across all dimensions, and across all countries.

Drug law enforcement targets primarily nonviolent offences, and especially people who use drugs: 

Only 8 out of the 30 countries surveyed have decriminalised drug use and possession, and out of those, only 3 managed to truly divert people away from the criminal justice system.

The funding gap for harm reduction remains highly concerning:

 Only 5 out of 30 countries have allocated ‘adequate’ funding to harm reduction, and of those countries, funding is considered secure in only one (Norway).

There is a huge gap between government policies and their implementation on ensuring access to controlled medicines

, especially in countries like India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Senegal which score high on policy, but score 0/100 for actual availability for those in need.

Alternative development programmes in areas of illegal cultivation remains entrenched in interdiction and eradication

,with Colombia scoring particularly low (23/100) due to its militarised strategy focusing on forced eradication and the harmful use of aerial spraying.

, including its companion analytical report and real-life stories of individuals’ experiences with drug policies from across the globe, will be available on Monday November 8 through an interactive web-tool accessible through this link: www.globaldrugpolicyindex.net

The Global Drug Policy Index is a project of the 

, which includes the following partners: the European Network of People Who Use Drugs (EuroNPUD), the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA), the Eurasian Network of People who Use Drugs (ENPUD), the Global Drug Policy Observatory (GDPO) / Swansea University, Harm Reduction International (HRI), the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), the Middle East and North Africa Harm Reduction Association (MENAHRA), the West African Drug Policy Network (WADPN), the Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN), and Youth RISE.

 (English / Spanish)
GDPI Media Relations
Mob. +34 655 792 699
Email: michael.kessler@intoon-media.com
Twitter: @mickessler

 (French/Spanish)
IDPC Head of Research and Communications
Mob: +44 7807 077 617
Email: mnougier@idpc.net
Twitter: @ marienougier

By Marie Nougier and Adria Cots Fernandez (IDPC) / Harm Reduction Consortium

The Global Drug Policy Index is a unique tool that documents, measures and compares national-level drug policies, providing each country with a score and ranking that shows how much their drug policies and their implementation align with the UN principles of human rights, health and development. As such, the Index provides an essential accountability and evaluation mechanism in the field of drug policy. It is composed of 75 indicators running across 5 broad dimensions of drug policy. This first iteration evaluates the performance of 30 countries covering all regions of the world.

Key takeaways from the Global Drug Policy Index

The global dominance of drug policies based on repression and punishment has led to low scores overall, with a median score of just 48/100, and the top-ranking country (Norway) only reaching 74/100.

Standards and expectations from civil society experts on drug policy implementation vary from country to country.

Inequality is deeply seated in global drug policies, with the top-ranking 5 countries scoring 3 times as much as the lowest-ranking 5 countries. This is in part due to the colonial legacy of the ‘war on drugs’ approach.

Drug policies are inherently complex: a country’s performance in the Index can only be fully understood by looking across and within each of the dimensions.

Drug policies disproportionately affect people marginalised on the basis of their gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation and socio-economic status.

There are wide disparities between state policies and how they are implemented on the ground.

With a few exceptions, the meaningful participation of civil society and affected communities in drug policy processes remains severely limited.

The Global Drug Policy Index is a project of the Harm Reduction Consortium, which includes the following partners: the European Network of People Who Use Drugs (EuroNPUD), the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA), the Eurasian Network of People who Use Drugs (ENPUD), the Global Drug Policy Observatory (GDPO) / Swansea University, Harm Reduction International (HRI), the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), the Middle East and North Africa Harm Reduction Association (MENAHRA), the West African Drug Policy Network (WADPN), the Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN), and Youth RISE.

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