Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

Statement delivered by the International Drug Policy Consortium

On behalf of IDPC, alongside five organisations, we welcome the new report by the UN Special Rapporteurs on poverty and housing on ending the criminalisation of homelessness and poverty. We echo the report’s call on States to repeal all laws and policies that penalise individuals for structural inequality, and to move away from punitive and carceral approaches.

There is overwhelming evidence showing that the criminalisation of drug use and of sex work is deeply discriminatory, disproportionately affecting people on the basis of gender, race, ethnicity and class. It also increases exposure to physical and sexual violence. It is used as adriver of other harmful policies, for instance by restricting access to safe housing and shelter, as well as to safe places of work and labour rights for sex workers.

Positively, a growing number of UN entities and experts have called for the decriminalisation of both drug use and sex work, while an increasing number of jurisdictions are moving towards this policy option.

But more remains to be done. We call on the Special Rapporteur to specifically call for the decriminalisation of all activities related to both drug use and sex work, as a human rights imperative. This should be accompanied with measures to address stigma, racism and discrimination.

Finally, we call on the Special Rapporteur to encourage Member States to consider the responsible legal regulation of drugs - as recommended by the OHCHR and the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, among many others.

Women and Harm Reduction International Network

International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW AP)

Decriminalising drug use and sex work to end the criminalisation of poverty and homelessness - IDPC and colleagues' submission to the UNSRs on the right to adequate housing and on extreme poverty and human rights

Breaking the cycle: Ending the criminalization of homelessness and poverty

 - Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

Repeal punitive laws against poverty and inequality - Interactive Dialogue with the UNSR extreme poverty and human rights at HRC56

“The end of the war on drugs, as this is a war on people, is necessary. I urge all states to be centred on dignity, public health and human rights.”

Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, 56th Session of the Human Rights Council, 24th June 2024

Today, on 26th June, thousands of activists are taking to the streets in over 290 cities, across 80+ countries, to mark the 

12th Support. Don’t Punish Global Day of Action

 and will loudly echo the grave and welcome call from the current UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Dr Mofokeng made just two days ago as she 

Drug use, harm reduction and the right to health’

 to the Human Rights Council in Geneva. With this seminal publication, she joins the ranks of a growing number of 

 who have raised the alarm on repressive and punitive drug laws, citing systematic and widespread abuses of human rights. In fact today, an unprecedented 21 special procedures of the Human Rights Council have released a 

“The UN, Member States and the international community as a whole should shift from punishment towards support, through a gender-responsive harm reduction approach, the decriminalisation of drug use and related activities, and the responsible regulation of all drugs to eliminate profits from illegal trafficking, criminality and violence.”

Dr Mofokeng’s report, which centres harm reduction (including ending criminalisation) in protecting and promoting public health while contributing to the realisation of human rights is extremely timely. Earlier this year, at the 67th Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), member states adopted the first ever 

 to explicitly mention ‘harm reduction’, ending the senseless taboo on the term and 

. This CND was also the first time that a High Commissioner for Human Rights attended in person. In his 

, Volker Türk made it clear: ‘After decades of following a largely punitive approach, we can see this simply is not working’.

The 26th of June is also the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking – which is when the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) launches its annual 

. It is always an impressive document that provides a huge array of data on global trends in drug markets, as well as an analysis of the various policies in place to address the ‘world drug problem’. But this report has long been criticised 

 and others for failing to highlight the 

 of punitive drug control, and for refusing to condemn responses that have clearly undermined the health, well-being, safety and security of communities affected by prohibition in all corners of the world.

There was some level of expectation that this year might be different. Firstly, it was understood that there would be a thematic chapter focusing on the right to health. This theme is particularly pertinent in the midst of the ongoing overdose crisis and the fact that people who inject drugs are 14 times more likely to acquire HIV than the general population. Secondly, as mentioned earlier, the CND, UNODC’s governing body, had finally accepted the term ‘harm reduction’ in a resolution led by the agency’s biggest funder, the United States (in response to a toxic drug supply that has resulted in some 500,000 deaths in the past five years). Finally, this year’s World Drug Report follows hot on the heels of Dr Mofokeng’s report and could certainly have echoed some of the messaging given her role as a global authority on the right to health.

UNODC ignores the flurry of evidence on other essential harm reduction services – including drug checking, overdose prevention centres, as well as housing, employment and education, all explicitly discussed in the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health.

Spoiler alert….. the chapter, titled ‘the right to health in the framework of drug use’, is deeply disappointing and lacks credibility from a human rights standpoint. Not least among the most problematic aspects of the chapter is the failure to explicitly use the term ‘harm reduction’, which is curious given the resolution which was 

supported by the great majority of CND members

 (38 states in favour, 2 against and 6 abstentions). Instead of recognising harm reduction as an essential pillar of drug policy and critical to ensuring the right to health, these measures are included as part of drug treatment services, and limited to the comprehensive package of HIV prevention, treatment and care interventions for people who inject drugs. In so doing, the UNODC ignores the flurry of evidence on other essential harm reduction services – including drug checking, overdose prevention centres, as well as housing, employment and education, all explicitly discussed in the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health.

The UNODC also demonstrates how drastically out of step it is with the general UN system position in failing to clearly acknowledge how the criminalisation and punishment of people who use drugs drives stigma, discrimination and undermines the right to health. In fact, the chapter seems to suggest that there is no need to reconsider the international approach to drug control, when concluding that ‘The goal of fulfilling the right to health, as articulated in this chapter, does not preclude or contradict the goals of reducing illicit supply and demand of drugs, or with the functioning of the international drug control system’. This denial is also at odds with the increasing recognition by UN Member States that a serious review of the UN drug control regime is needed (see the 

 of 62 countries led by Colombia at the 67th Session of the CND).

Finally, in failing to adequately centre the chapter on the 

populations that are often stigmatised and discriminated against in the context of drug use and the enforcement of drug laws and policies

 (as Dr Mofokeng has done in her report) UNODC risks further stigmatising people who use drugs. Stating that “Drug use may negatively impact families and entire communities” (pg 133) is deeply problematic, as this fuels a dangerous and false narrative that any drug use creates harm in the wider community. This framing could be used to justify the criminalisation of people who use drugs with the aim of protecting communities by creating a ‘drug-free society’. This formulation is not new. It has been used regularly by various Member States in UN drug debates over the years and it is concerning to see UNODC’s attempts to legitimise it.

This chapter has been a true missed opportunity by UNODC to realign itself the emerging UN consensus that urgent policy reforms are overdue, and to unequivocally support harm reduction and decriminalisation. Its reticence to do so costs lives.

There can be no doubt that international drug policy is at a crossroads and it is hard to imagine that a moment of reckoning is not drawing nearer. The billions spent on law enforcement each year to stem the illegal drug trade have had no impact in reducing the scale of the market. In fact, the rest of the World Drug Report is a sobering read towards this end - a chronicle of the robustness, diversity and exponentially increasing nature of the global drug market. The human suffering caused by the ‘war on drugs’ is the urgent impetus to change course and this is no time for denial. 

On this 26th June, we stand in solidarity with all the activists marking the Support. Don’t Punish global day of action - and say enough is enough. It is time to end the ‘war on drugs’.

World Drugs Day 2024: Human rights and harm reduction take centre stage while UN drugs agency grapples with denial

A global reference on drug markets, trends and policy developments, the World Drug Report offers a wealth of data and analysis and in 2024 comprises several elements tailored to different audiences. The web-based Drug market patterns and trends module contains the latest analysis of global, regional and subregional estimates of and trends in drug demand and supply in a user-friendly, interactive format supported by graphs, infographics and maps. The Key findings and conclusions booklet provides an overview of selected findings from the analysis presented in the Drug market patterns and trends module and the thematic Contemporary issues on drugs booklet, while the Special points of interest fascicle offers a framework for the main takeaways and policy implications that can be drawn from those findings.

As well as providing an in-depth analysis of key developments and emerging trends in selected drug markets, the Contemporary issues on drugs booklet looks at several other developments of policy relevance. The booklet opens with a look at the 2022 Taliban ban on the cultivation and production of and trafficking in drugs in Afghanistan and its implications both within the country and in transit and destination markets elsewhere. This is followed by a chapter examining the convergence of drug trafficking and other activities and how they affect natural ecosystems and communities in the Golden Triangle in South-East Asia. The chapter also assesses the extent to which drug production and trafficking are linked with other illicit economies that challenge the rule of law and fuel conflict. Another chapter analyses how the dynamics of demand for and supply of synthetic drugs vary when the gender and age of market participants are considered. The booklet continues with an update on regulatory approaches to and the impact of legalization on the non-medical cannabis market in different countries, and a review of the enabling environment that provides broad access to the unsupervised, “quasi-therapeutic” and non-medical use of psychedelic substances. Finally, the booklet offers a multi-dimensional framework on the right to health in the context of drug use; these dimensions include availability, accessibility, acceptability, quality, non-discrimination, non-stigmatization and participation.

The World Drug Report 2024 is aimed not only at fostering greater international cooperation to counter the impact of the world drug problem on health, governance and security, but also at assisting Member States in anticipating and addressing threats posed by drug markets and mitigating their consequences.

World Drug Report 2024

On the eve of the May 27 general elections, which saw the ruling African National Congress lose its majority for the first time in 30 years of South African democracy, a major change to the country’s drug laws slipped through, barely noticed by most.

Just one day before the historic ballot, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act, making South Africa the first African nation to legalise the use of marijuana.

The bill removes cannabis from the country’s list of outlawed narcotics, meaning adults are now free to grow and consume the plant (except in the presence of children). The bill also stipulates that those who broke the law by committing such deeds should have their records automatically wiped clean. However, it is unclear how this will take place or when and if any of the 3,000 people in prison for cannabis-related offences as of 2022 will be released.

But after years of campaigning and negotiations, activists say the fight is not over yet.

South Africa legalises cannabis use. Will the rest of Africa follow?

President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the Cannabis for Private Purposes Act (“CfPPA”). The CfPPA regulates the cultivation, possession, and use of cannabis by adults in a private setting.

The consequent regulatory reform enabled by the CfPPA will, amongst others, entirely remove cannabis from the Drugs and Drug Trafficking Act. This will further enable amendment of the Schedules to the Medicines and Related Substances Act and provide for targeted regulatory reform of the Plant Breeders Rights Act and the Plant Improvement Act, as well as other pieces of legislation that require amendment to allow for the industrialisation of the cannabis sector.

The Bill further guides the medically prescribed administration of cannabis to a child while also protecting children from undue exposure to cannabis. It provides for an alternative manner by which to address the issue of the prohibited use, possession of, or dealing in, cannabis by children, with due regard to the best interest of the child. It also prohibit the dealing in cannabis.

South African president assents to the Cannabis Private Purposes Bill

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency announced in late April 2024 that it plans to ease federal restrictions on cannabis, reclassifying it from a Schedule I drug to the less restricted Schedule III, which includes drugs such as Tylenol with codeine, testosterone and other anabolic steroids. This historic shift signals an acknowledgment of the promising medicinal value of cannabis.

The move comes in tandem with growing interest in the use of psilocybin, the active component in magic mushrooms, for treatment of depression, chronic pain and other conditions. In 2018 and 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted a breakthrough therapy designation to psilocybin, meant to expedite drug development given that preliminary studies suggest it may have substantial therapeutic value over currently available therapies for treatment-resistant depression and major depressive disorder.

Both of these developments represent a dramatic change from long-standing federal policy around these substances that has historically criminalized their use and blocked or delayed research efforts into their therapeutic potential.

How cannabis and psilocybin might help some of the 50 million Americans who are experiencing chronic pain

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin may mean well in attempting to re-list cannabis as a narcotic, but his aim only attests to his mediocre knowledge about the plant and the dilemma facing the country. 

Cannabis was decriminalised in 2022 by the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration. The liberalisation of the plant was the flagship election policy of Bhumjaithai, a coalition party, ahead of the 2019 polls.

Thailand has come far regarding its cannabis policy, and there is no point in reversing it. Mr Srettha should keep the right focus and, instead of over-reacting, recognise the main problem of cannabis in this country: its unregulated usage.


Mr Srettha should keep his promise of listening to all sides, and not rush to recriminalise the plant, but instead support laws that will control its usage.


Thailand: Control weed, don't kill it

Permission for the use of the two Category 5 drugs was announced in a directive of the ministry that was published in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday.

The directive, which was signed by Public Health Minister Cholnan Srikaew, took effect on Wednesday.

The directive referred to opium and psilocybin mushrooms, better known as magic mushrooms for their hallucinogenic effects when eaten, as narcotics on the Category 5 list, which are not extracts of marijuana and hemp.

Thailand allows use of opium, magic mushrooms for medical purposes, research

The 55th Human Rights Council took place between 26 February and 4 April 2024. This briefing highlights the key debates, decisions and documents that discuss drug control and its impact on human rights.

 of the High Commissioner’s annual report on the situation of human rights in Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras, the High Commissioner, Volker Türk, welcomed the adoption of Colombia’s key policies as part of its post-conflict peacebuilding process, which includes a new drug policy which integrates the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy (

Despite the Sri Lankan government’s Operation ‘Yukthiya’, an ongoing anti-drug operation which has led to over 40,000 arbitrary arrests and detention in overcrowded prisons and compulsory drug treatment centres, drug control was not addressed by the High Commissioner during his oral 

ID with the Special Rapporteur on torture

The Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, Alice Jill Edwards, 

 her two reports. In the first report regarding current issues and good practices in prison management globally (

), she addressed the link between poverty and prisons – with prison populations being largely composed of members of economically disadvantaged and marginalised communities, including people convicted for “low-level” drug or related offences. Additionally, the Special Rapporteur addressed the high risk of spread of contagious diseases in closed settings and called on all Stakeholders to include prisons in national pandemic planning as well as in the Pandemic Treaty currently negotiated at WHO...

ID with the Special Rapporteur on Iran and the death penalty

), The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Javaid Rehman, expressed concerns at the recent spike in death sentences and executions. As he noted on his report, 2023 saw a 43% increase in executions compared to 2022, with over 56% of the executions carried out in 2023 being for drug-related charges. This is in line with HRI’s findings reported in 

The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2023

. The Rapporteur also paused on the disproportionate imposition of capital punishment against ethnic and religious minorities, especially for drug or security-related crimes. He also recalled on some positive steps, particularly the 2017 amendment of the drug trafficking law which until 2020 had led to a significant decline in drug-related executions. Accordingly, in his report the Rapporteur recommended that pending total abolition Iran imposes an immediate moratorium on drug-related executions and abolishes the death penalty for offences that do not amount to “the most serious crimes” threshold...

55th Human Rights Council: Drug policy highlights

The Senate is expected to vote in the coming days on an amendment to article 5 of Brazil’s Constitution, which guarantees the right to privacy, that would restrict that right by criminalizing the possession of illegal drugs regardless of quantity. If approved, the proposed amendment would be put to a second vote at the full Senate and then go to the Chamber of Deputies.

“Decades of drug policy failure in Brazil should make clear that criminal law is simply ineffective to address the harmful use of drugs and leads to serious human rights abuses,” said Andrea Carvalho, Brazil researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of cementing a failed policy in the constitution, lawmakers should follow the example of many other countries by decriminalizing the possession of drugs for personal use and developing effective health strategies to prevent and respond to problematic substance use.”

Current law already criminalizes drug possession for personal use, but introducing this language in the constitution would make it much harder to pursue much-needed drug policy reforms in Brazil, Human Rights Watch said.

The president of the Senate, Rodrigo Pacheco, has made clear that the constitutional amendment is a pre-emptive attempt by lawmakers to counter an upcoming Supreme Court decision that could improve drug policy, Human Rights Watch said. Pacheco introduced the proposal on September 14, 2023, a few weeks after the Supreme Court resumed its review of a case that will decide whether current Brazilian law violates the Constitution. Upon introducing the bill, Pacheco stressed that it is Congress that “defines the laws in the country” and other branches of government should recognize that authority.

Brazil: Reject bill that entrenches failed drug policy

Several actors in the field of drug policy have indicated that a punitive approach is counterproductive to achieving the health and welfare of humankind. The 2016 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the World Drug Problem confirmed that this is an important step towards active drug policies that are based on human rights and health approaches.

Since then, many UN agencies have reported the negative impact of criminalisation on people who use drugs and on their surrounding communities. Recommendations have also been brought that favour a decriminalisation process in drug policies. This process aims to remove the stigma against people who use drugs as well as to ensure that they have access to a broad range of support and health services, including prevention, treatment, recovery, and harm reduction.

The decriminalisation of drug use and related activities is a policy option that is widely supported by the United Nations as a core component of a human rights- and health-based approach towards people who use drugs.

The UN System Common Position on drugs – the UN overarching policy document on drug policy – and the more recent UN System Common Position on Incarceration, have also recommended decriminalisation of drug use and possession. The International Narcotics Control Board, which supports UN Member States in implementing the international drug control treaties, has even concluded that decriminalisation is aligned with the drug conventions.

In addition, an increasing number of UN entities and experts have recently come out in favour of decriminalisation as a critical enabler for ensuring the promotion and protection of human rights. This includes the World Health Organization, the United Nations Development Programme, UN Women, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health. Adding to these calls, on 24 June 2023, 16 UN Human Rights Special Mandates concluded that ‘drug use and possession for personal use should be decriminalised as a matter of urgency’.

In 2023, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Report ‘Human rights challenges in addressing and countering all aspects of the world drug problem’, published as an official contribution to the 2024 mid-term review of the 2019 Ministerial Declaration on Drugs, strongly stresses the importance of decriminalisation as a crucial factor to limit human rights violations in drug policies. The OHCHR concluded that ‘if effectively designed and implemented, decriminalization can be a powerful instrument to ensure that the rights of people who use drugs are protected’. The report includes decriminalisation as a key recommendation, calling on policymakers to ‘review convictions and/or sentences and, where appropriate, quash, commute, or reduce convictions and/or sentences’.

One of the focus areas of UNAIDS “Save lives: decriminalize”, includes a strong position that “Decriminalization is a critical element to end AIDS by 2030”. This UN agency also states that “Punitive laws have been shown to block HIV service access and increase HIV risk” and that “Countries that criminalize key populations [including people who use drugs] saw less progress towards HIV testing and treatment targets over the last five years – with significantly lower percentages of people living with HIV knowing their HIV status and achieving viral suppression than in countries that avoided criminalization”.

The UNAIDS statement on the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights reaffirms its commitment to keep human rights at the centre of its approach to ending the AIDS pandemic. The statement also calls on all governments to uphold human rights, through removal of laws that cause harm and infringe on people’s rights and enactment of laws that uphold the rights of every person, including people in marginalized communities.

The current EU Drug Strategy 2021-2025 endorses alternatives to coercive sanctions as the approach that respects the human rights of people who use drugs.

While some EU member states retain a stance of criminalisation of personal use and related behaviours in their national legislations, several member states have already decriminalised use and possession for personal use, and various EU member states have bills in their parliament to take that step as well.

The Civil Society Forum on Drugs, an expert group of the European Commission, is of the opinion that the perspective established by the EU Strategy 2021-2025 – a balanced, human rights-based approach to drug policy – needs to be improved at the EU level and in member states.

Civil Society Forum on Drugs in the EU: Position paper on decriminalisation

The legal framework surrounding ayahuasca in Portugal is complex and nuanced. It reflects a broader global conversation occurring on the intersection of traditional practices, religious freedom, and drug policy. The history of ayahuasca in the country has been influenced by globalization, migration, and evolving attitudes toward psychedelics and alternative forms of healing. A recently published, comprehensive legal opinion, authored by Ana Sofia Machado Ferreira, Francisco Quelhas Lima, and Armando Rocha thoroughly examines the legal framework surrounding ayahuasca in Portugal and discusses its implications for religious and ceremonial contexts.

Clarity is paramount when navigating the legal landscape of ayahuasca in any country. While existing laws in Portugal offer some protections for religious and ceremonial purposes, inconsistencies and challenges persist. The country can establish a legal framework that respects tradition, upholds individual rights, and embraces the transformative potential of ayahuasca within society. As the legal and cultural landscape evolves, it is imperative that legislation supports cultural diversity, honors Indigenous wisdom, and is dedicated to justice and inclusivity.

Decriminalisation, legal regulation & reform