Leaked UN policy draft exposes growing rejection of drug war

A leaked draft of United Nations’ drug policy reveals eroding support by some member states for the organization’s longstanding prohibitionist policies.

The draft document, written in September, is set to be made public next March at the annual meeting of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs. The Commission, made up of 53 member states, guides the UN’s drug policy. The body adopts resolutions by consensus and is noted for shunning appearances of internal disagreement. The result of this consensus building, says Kasia Malinowska-Sempruch, director of the Open Society Global Drug Policy Program, is that resolutions “basically become watered down to the point of meaninglessness.”

The leaked document, which I obtained this week, provides the unfiltered views of various member states. It presents a picture of a global community in open disagreement about how to address drugs – in sharp contrast to the UN’s official drug policy…

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