Ten years after the 2016 UNGASS, punitive drug policies remain dominant globally, with human rights violations, rising deaths and shrinking civic space undermining promises of reform.
UN experts raised serious concerns about implementation gaps, including conditions and coercive practices in drug rehabilitation centres operating without adequate oversight.
Major donor nations have slashed pledges to the Global Fund, creating a multi-billion-dollar financing gap that threatens to reverse decades of progress and endanger millions of lives.
Deep budget cuts to the UN’s human rights pillar will severely weaken the organisation’s ability to prevent abuses, protect defenders and support human rights.
Public health officials warn that the Trump administration’s budget cuts and staff reductions could derail national progress against the opioid crisis by jeopardizing addiction services, treatment, and lifesaving overdose-prevention programs.
The Commissioner warned that ignoring expert recommendations on harm reduction and safe supply violates human rights while claiming over five lives daily across the province.
Scotland’s "Stop the Deaths" conference highlighted a critical gap where evidence-based policies like safe consumption rooms and same-day treatment struggle to keep pace with a public health emergency, claiming over 1,000 lives annually.
