The INCB has asked the VNGOC for suggestions of suitable civil society organisations to meet during their upcoming mission to Austria in mid June 2019. Apply before 5th June!
Mr de Joncheere is a Dutch citizen and has expertise in pharmacy and health sciences. He was previously Director of the Department of Essential Medicines and Health Products at the World Health Organization.
As part of its recently concluded 125th Session in May 2019, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) invited civil society to a special ‘hearing’ on the topic of young people and drugs – which will be the thematic focus for the Board’s 2019 Annual Report.
The INCB's participation at CND showed how far the Board has come in terms of supporting human rights norms in the pursuit of drug control obligations, but the Board's outdated inflexibility on cannabis is regrettable.
To remain relevant, INCB would do well to support governments to negotiate this new terrain rather than seeking to stall and undermine developments in cannabis legislation.
The response by the Board's President to a Thai party including the legal regulation of cannabis in their electoral platform is beyond disproportionate.
The INCB’s intervention was an overwhelmingly positive one, promoting better access to controlled medicines, as well as an end to the application of the death penalty and extrajudicial killings in the name of drug control.