A drug-free ASEAN by 2015: Comments on the final assessment from a civil society perspective

As the deadline for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s goal of achieving a drug-free region by 2015 nears, ASEAN ministers have continued to make high-level statements reiterating their commitment to eliminating the use, trafficking and production of drugs.

A final assessment of their efforts in realising that commitment, through implementing the ASEAN Work Plan on Combating Illicit Drug Production, Trafficking and Use (2009-2015) (the Work Plan),is due to be conducted by the ASEAN senior officials on drug matters (ASOD) group mandated with designing, implementing and evaluating ASEAN drug-related programmes. ASOD expects that the final assessment will clearly outline the achievements and gaps in implementation of the Work Plan, and to then develop an updated work plan to take effect after 2015.

While evaluating the implementation of ASEAN’s drug strategy is an essential component of evidence-based policy making, it is also necessary for such an evaluation to consider the effectiveness of the strategy itself in addressing the full range of drug-related problems encountered in the region. In 2012 and 2013, the International Drug Policy Consortium published advocacy notes discussing the ineffectiveness and negative consequences of pursuing a drug policy focused solely on eradicating drug markets, and recommending policies which aim to reduce the most serious harms associated with drug markets, with new indicators for measuring drug policy successes.

As ASEAN’s Senior Officials on Drug Matters (ASOD) prepare to conduct the final assessment of its achievements and remaining challenges in implementing the Work Plan, the intention of this paper is to provide comments on that process from a civil society perspective.

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