The recent WHO decision to maintain the international classification of coca leaf highlights ongoing tensions between drug control frameworks and Indigenous rights, cultural practices and scientific evidence.
The WHO’s decision to keep coca leaf under strict controls highlights weak legal reasoning, disregard for scientific evidence, and ongoing harms to Indigenous rights.
The UN Human Rights Committee challenged Canada’s refusal to accept positive obligations under the right to life, as advocates warn that punitive drug policies and the denial of life-saving services like supervised consumption are driving thousands of preventable toxic drug deaths.
This report summarises major topics from the meeting, such as the current geopolitical climate and the importance of rights-based policy for vulnerable communities.
IDPC welcomes Resolution 60/26 as a landmark affirmation of the Council's authority to address the human rights implications of drug policy, strengthening the UN human rights system and reinforcing calls for health-, rights- and evidence-based drug policies globally.
The WHO has upheld the coca leaf’s severe international scheduling, maintaining restrictions despite evidence of its safety and longstanding Indigenous use.
As drug policy reform faces renewed repression and securitisation worldwide, 2026 will test whether evidence, human rights and community leadership can still reshape a system under strain — and where the next openings for change may emerge.
McAdam et al. examine how decriminalisation reduced policing-related barriers to services, revealing important benefits for young people, including Indigenous.
By recommending that coca remain in the most restrictive category, the WHO has reinforced a decades-old, colonial classification that undermines scientific research and Indigenous rights.
