 UNAIDS welcomes the adoption of a key resolution today at the 67th session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), recognizing harm reduction for the first time as an important part of an effective public health response. The resolution encourages member states to develop and implement harm reduction measures to minimize the adverse public health and social consequences of the non-medical use of illicit drugs. UNAIDS congratulates the CND and the CND Chair for this historic milestone.

The resolution encourages member states to develop and implement harm reduction measures to minimize the adverse public health and social consequences of the non-medical use of illicit drugs. UNAIDS congratulates the CND and the CND Chair for this historic milestone.

 represents a landmark in political commitment to a rebalancing of drug policy towards a public health approach. Such a shift is critical to meeting the targets in the 2021-2026 Global AIDS Strategy.

Harm reduction is a “a comprehensive package of evidence-based interventions, based on public health and human rights, including needle syringe programmes (NSPs), opioid agonist maintenance therapy (OAMT) and naloxone for overdose management. Harm reduction also refers to policies and strategies that aim to prevent major public and individual health harms, including HIV, viral hepatitis and overdose, without necessarily stopping drug use.” (World Health Organization, 2022).

Since 2018 only five countries have reported achieving the target of providing 200 sterile needles and syringes per person who inject drugs. In that same timeframe only three countries reported achieving the target of 50% coverage of opioid agonist maintenance therapy among people who inject drugs.

The criminalization of drug use and possession for personal use in at least 145 countries, along with stigma, discrimination and violence, continues to restrict both the provision of and access to life-saving harm reduction services.

A failure to invest in harm reduction services or remove the structures that inhibit access, including those relating to gender, have led to a situation where HIV prevalence among people who inject drugs is 7 times that of the rest of the population, and people who inject drugs have the highest incidence globally of any key or vulnerable population. In countries with data, median HIV prevalence among women who inject drugs is almost twice that of men who use drugs.

Under the UN Common Position on Drugs, UNAIDS collaborates with other UN agencies and partners with governments, community-led organizations and donors to increase the provision of harm reduction services and remove harmful laws and policies which create barriers to accessing such services, such as the criminalization of possession of drugs for personal use. UNAIDS works to ensure all efforts relating to drug policy are in conformity with international human rights, as outlined in the international guidelines on human rights and drug policy.

UNAIDS welcomes the adoption of a crucial resolution recognizing harm reduction measures at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs

The prohibition and criminalization of drug use and possession continue to fuel the global HIV and viral hepatitis epidemics — sharply increasing risks for people who use drugs, obstructing efforts to prevent new transmissions, and hindering treatment. Proven harm reduction interventions are scarcely resourced, while billions are spent to enforce punitive drug laws and policies. People who use drugs are routinely caught up in the criminal justice system, frequently remain the target of abusive policing practices, and are incarcerated at massively disproportionate levels — all of which further increase their risks for HIV and viral hepatitis. Meanwhile, stigma and discrimination created and perpetuated by criminalization drive people to use drugs in increasingly dangerous settings and impede their ability to use drugs safely. At the same time, people who use drugs face prohibition- and law enforcement-related barriers to accessing services within and beyond the health sector.

Even on its own terms, prohibition is a failure. As the Global Commission on Drug Policy noted more than a decade ago, current drug control efforts have failed to reduce drug use or supply, or to reduce the risks for HIV and viral hepatitis among people who use drugs. While people who inject drugs are at particular risk, there has been no appreciable decline either in the prevalence of injecting drug use, nor in HIV, hepatitis C (HCV) or hepatitis B (HBV) prevalence among people who inject drugs.

People who use drugs have been left behind. Among people who inject drugs, one in seven is living with HIV, one in five is living with chronic HCV and one in 12 is living with chronic HBV.

None of this has to be the case. Globally, the end of the HIV and viral hepatitis epidemics is within grasp. Aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals, the UN has set achievable targets for ending HIV and eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030. The scale-up of antiretroviral treatments for HIV over the past 20 years has been a dramatic success, reducing HIV-related deaths to their lowest in almost three decades. And yet… because of denial or willful neglect, many countries have failed to address epidemics among people who use drugs

A course correction is greatly needed. Effectively addressing HIV and viral hepatitis among people who use drugs could end both epidemics. On the other hand, the continued failure to systematically confront HIV and viral hepatitis among people who use drugs will thwart global efforts.

We have the knowledge and the means. But such a shift will require political will — and for governments and societies to embrace a new way of thinking about drugs. It has been more than a decade since the Global Commission called on the international community to act urgently to avert the significant public health harms that result from HIV and viral hepatitis. We need a new path forward. The time to act is now.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy calls on the 

Fully and effectively implement the UN Common Position on Drugs

 (2018), which calls for changes in laws, policies and practices that threaten the health and human rights of people. UN agencies should implement the United Nations system common position supporting the implementation of the international drug control policy through effective interagency collaboration77 through joint actions at regional and country levels to support decriminalization of drug possession for personal use and measures to reduce stigma and eliminate discrimination faced by people who use drugs.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy calls on 

Decriminalize drug use, drug possession for personal use, and the possession of drug paraphernalia. 

Decriminalization entails eliminating all punitive measures associated with drug use or possession. It is also critical to address police harassment, coercion, extortion and violence against people who use drugs. Where drug use or possession remains illegal, people who use drugs must be guaranteed due process and judicial responses must be proportional. Legal impediments to opioid agonist treatment, or to the availability of harm reduction programs, such as drug paraphernalia laws, should be eliminated. The death penalty for drug-related offenses is a never justifiable violation of human rights that must be abolished. 

Implement anti-discrimination measures to protect people who use drugs from discrimination in accessing benefits or services, including healthcare, education, housing, social benefits, and employment. 

Ensure the availability of drug dependence treatment. 


Opioid agonist treatment should be a basic and essential service standard for the treatment of opioid dependence. 
Rigid requirements for daily clinic visits and observed dosing are demeaning and counterproductive, as they may limit retention and impede employment. Abstinence requirements or other conditions, such as compulsory psychosocial care or requirements for negative urine tests, constitute an unjustifiable barrier and should be eliminated. 
Compulsory drug dependence treatment should be discontinued. Compulsory drug treatment detention centers must be closed.

Fully resource and scale-up HIV and viral hepatitis prevention (harm reduction), diagnosis and treatment programs, including in prisons and other closed settings. 


Resources should be reallocated from prohibition-driven law enforcement to health programs, including HIV and viral hepatitis prevention and treatment. HIV and viral hepatitis services should be integrated with programs to address overall health needs, including drug dependence treatment, mental health, and sexual and reproductive health services, and should be accessible and acceptable to people who use drugs. At minimum, prevention programs should provide sufficient coverage of needle-syringe programs, opioid agonist treatment for opioid dependence, and take-home naloxone for overdose management. Individuals who test positive for HIV or viral hepatitis should be offered treatment immediately and without conditions, preferably on the same day and at the same site. Ideally, rapid point-of-care diagnostic testing (for multiple pathogens) should be offered in settings that facilitate access, including primary care, harm reduction sites and prisons. Self-testing and community-led testing initiatives should be expanded. HIV and viral hepatitis prevention and treatment services must be available in prisons and other closed settings, both when people are incarcerated and via linkages upon release.

Support the exploration, development and evaluation of innovative harm reduction strategies — including drug consumption rooms, drug checking, heroin-assisted treatment and safe supply initiatives.


Harm reduction strategies have the potential to mitigate the multiplicity of risks faced by people who use drugs and connect them with HIV, viral hepatitis and drug dependence treatment services. While many programs target people who inject opioids, some newer initiatives help people who inject non-opioid drugs such as stimulants, use non-injection drugs such as smoked crack cocaine, or use novel psychoactive substances.

Involve people who use drugs in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all HIV and viral hepatitis programs.

 Many people who use drugs experience directly the harms caused by prohibition, including discrimination, incarceration, police violence and overdose, and are well positioned to understand and mitigate service barriers, contribute to program design, monitor the extent to which programs meet targets, and in many instances, deliver services, enhancing their effectiveness.

HIV, hepatitis & drug policy reform

Beyond Prohibition: Unpacking the Connection between Drug Policies and Sustainable Development Priorities

Side event on the margins of the 2023 SDG Summit, 19 September 2023, 6:30-7:30 PM, UN Conference Building, Conference Room 7

The Permanent Missions of Brazil and Colombia to the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme and Open Society Foundations are co-organizing a side event entitled "Beyond Prohibition: Unpacking the Connection between Drug Policies and Sustainable Development Priorities” in conjunction with the 2023 SDG Summit. The event aims to raise awareness about the intricate relationship between drug policies and development, inform policymakers, and showcase exemplary practices. Attendees will include representatives of UN Member States, UN entities, civil society, academics, donors, and the media. Tentatively, our program will include the following speakers:

Kasia Malinowska, Director, Drug Policy, Open Society Foundations

Mandeep Dhaliwal, Director, HIV and Health Group, UNDP

Arlene Tickner, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Colombia to the UN

Marta Machado, National Secretary for Drug Policy of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, Brazil

Helen Clark, Commissioner, Global Commission on Drug Policy

Ilze Brands Kehris Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Head, OHCHR Office in New York

The 2023 World Drug Report identifies a recognized link between drug cultivation and transit with deforestation, illegal logging, and illegal mining operations in the Amazon region, covering Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, and Peru. Recognizing there are many drivers contributing to these dynamics, the report fails to consider the gaps and problems of current drug policies which create significant incentives for such activities, particularly in areas of conflict, poverty and economic disadvantage. Without a major reframing of the "world drug problem" which centers sustainable development priorities alongside drug policy dynamics, there is a risk of falling short of achieving the 2030 Agenda.

The UNGASS 2016 Outcome Document emphasizes the complementary and mutually reinforcing nature of efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and effectively address the world drug problem. In November 2018, the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB) adopted the “United Nations System Common Position supporting the implementation of the international drug control policy through effective inter-agency collaboration.” The Common Position calls for evidence-informed, rights-based, health-centered and more effective drug control policies. However, the proposed comprehensive zero draft of the Political Declaration to be adopted at the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development in September 2023 does not currently mention the issue at hand. Without a robust, sustainable development-led approach to drug policy, drug control efforts are likely to impede progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda and leaving no one behind.

The expected outcomes are increased awareness of policymakers on the relationship between drug policies and development priorities and familiarity with global good practices. The event will contribute to improving alignment of national drug control mechanisms with the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. The proposed event will also contribute to better informed national development plans and strategies that effectively address the “world drug problem,” while achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

For more information please contact: Boyan Konstantinov, Policy Specialist, UNDP HIV and Health Team (boyan.konstantinov@undp.org)

Nabina Panday, Programme Officer, Open Society Foundations (nabina.panday@opensocietyfoundations.org)

Beyond prohibition: Unpacking the connection between drug policies and sustainable development priorities

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

GENEVA (23 June 2023) – The international community must replace punishment with support and promote policies that respect, protect and fulfil the rights of all, UN experts* said today. Ahead of the

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2023, they called for transformative change in the international approach to drugs, focusing on health and other human rights and issued the following statement:

“The ‘war on drugs’ may be understood to a significant extent as a war on people. Its impact has been greatest on those who live in poverty, and it frequently overlaps with discrimination directed at marginalised groups, minorities and Indigenous Peoples. In our reporting and experience, we have 

 that such discriminatory impact is a common element across drug policies with regard to the widest range of human rights, including the right to personal liberty; freedom from torture, ill-treatment and forced labour; fair trial rights; the right to health, including access to essential medicines, palliative care, comprehensive drug prevention and education, drug treatment, and harm reduction; the right to adequate housing; freedom from discrimination and the right to equal treatment before the law; right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment; cultural rights and freedoms of expression, religion, assembly and association.

Globally, drug control has had massive costs for the dignity, humanity and freedom of people of African descent, with reports showing that people of African descent face disproportionate and unjust law enforcement interventions, arrests and incarceration for drug-related offences. In various countries, the ‘war on drugs’ has been more effective as a system of racial control than as a tool to reduce drug markets. Policing interventions based on racial profiling remain widespread, whilst access to evidence-based treatment and harm reduction for people of African descent remains critically low.

Around the world, women who use drugs face significant stigma and discrimination in accessing harm reduction programmes, drug dependence treatment and basic health care. Although one in three people who use drugs are women, women constitute only one in five people in treatment. Women are also 

 affected by criminalisation and incarceration, with 35% of women in prison worldwide having been convicted of a drug-related offence compared to 19% of men. The causes of women’s interaction with the criminal justice system in relation to drugs are complex, often linked to other factors such as poverty and coercion, and may reflect systemic gender inequality in society more broadly. Of note, most women in prison for drug related offences have little education.

Under international law, States that have not yet abolished the death penalty may only impose capital punishment for the ‘most serious crimes’, meaning crimes of extreme gravity involving intentional killing. Drug offences clearly do not meet this threshold. However, drug-related offences are still punishable by death in over 30 countries, and human rights experts have raised concerns about evidence of its discriminatory impact on individuals belonging to minorities.

Everyone without exception has the right to life-saving harm reduction interventions, which are essential for the protection of the right to health of people who use drugs. However, according to UN 

, only 1 in 8 people with drug dependence have access to appropriate treatment, and the coverage of harm reduction services remains very low. The situation is particularly critical for women, LGBTIQ+ persons, and other marginalised groups, for whom harm reduction and treatment services may not be adapted or respond to their specific needs. Women and LGBTIQ+ persons also face even higher levels of stigma, including self-stigma, and discrimination than men who use drugs.

As the world grows older, drug use among people over 65 has also increased. The COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the health and well-being of older persons, and studies show an increased use of pain relievers, tranquillizers, and sedatives among this age group. Older drug users are also more often using the dark web, social media, and online forums to obtain illicit substances resulting in a rise of drug-related deaths among older populations.

The criminalisation of substances traditionally used by Indigenous Peoples such as the coca leaf can also result in the suppression, undermining and marginalization of traditional and indigenous knowledge systems and medicine, which has wide-ranging health impacts and is rooted in discriminatory hierarchies and conceptions. Forced eradication of crops, including through the aerial spraying of highly hazardous pesticides, can cause serious harm to the environment and clean water, as well as to the health and welfare of Indigenous communities. Indigenous Peoples that might be affected by these and other drug control operations must be meaningfully consulted, and guarantees should be given that their lives, cultural practices, lands and natural resources are not violated.

Criminal laws and the punitive use of administrative and other sanctions stigmatise already marginalised populations. Criminalisation results in significant barriers to access to health services (including those for HIV and palliative care) and in other human rights violations. As called for by the UN system Common Position on drug-related matters, drug use and possession for personal use should be decriminalised as a matter of urgency. Drug use or dependence are never a sufficient justification for detaining a person. Compulsory drug detention and rehabilitation centres need to be closed and replaced with voluntary, evidence-informed, and rights-based health and social services in the community.

“People first: stop stigma and discrimination, strengthen prevention”

 the United Nations and the international community have a historical responsibility to reverse the devastation brought about by decades of a global ‘war on drugs’ on communities that have been marginalised and discriminated against.

, we call on Member States and all UN agencies to ground their drug policy responses in international human rights law and standards. States and international bodies that provide financial or technical assistance on drug policy should ensure that these policies are gender-responsive while upholding and actively seeking to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms.

We urge Member States and international bodies to supersede their current drug policies with ones grounded in the principles of the application of a comprehensive, restorative and reintegrative justice approach. Effective, community-based, inclusive, and preventive measures are equally important.

Now more than ever, the international community must replace punishment with support and promote policies that respect, protect and fulfil the rights of all.”

Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights

Meskerem Geset Techane and Melissa Upreti

Working Group on discrimination against women and girls

Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences

Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities

Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health

Special Rapporteur on the right to education

Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences

Special Rapporteur on trafficking in person

Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism

Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment

Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples

Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons

Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes

of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work voluntarily; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent of any government or organisation and serve in their individual capacity.

UN experts call for end to global ‘war on drugs’

Conference room paper submitted by Czechia at the 66th CND, titled “Opportunities and Challenges for the Engagement of Civil Society in Human Rights Oriented Drug Policies”

The conference paper concerns Item 6 of the provisional agenda for the 66th Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna, 13–17 March 2023.

Follow-up to the implementation at the national, regional, and international levels of all commitments, as reflected in the Ministerial Declaration of 2019, to address and counter the world drug problem.

The Czech Republic puts strong emphasis on evidence-based, integrated, balanced drug policies rooted in the freedom of citizens, the protection of human rights, dignity and the rule of law, and these values were central to the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) from July to December 2022 – culminating in the adoption by consensus of Council Conclusions on Human Rights-Based Approaches in Drug Policies in December 2022.

This Conference Room Paper, presented to the 66th Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in March 2023, seeks to explore the importance of the human rights approach within drug policies. This includes, inter alia, the effective implementation of all human rights commitments, the adoption of more humane, proportionate and rational approaches to drug policies, the prevention of stigma and discrimination, and the mainstreaming of comprehensive health responses to the world drug situation, including risk and harm reduction measures, and gender- and age-sensitive perspectives. This Paper focuses especially on the effective drug responses that are grounded in human rights obligations, such as the decriminalization of low-level drug offences and personal use, harm reduction, and civil society participation as a central principle. 

As such, this paper mirrors the Czech Republic’s own national and international commitments in line especially with the 

Outcome Document of the 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS)

United Nations System Common Position Supporting the Implementation of the International Drug Control Policy Through Effective Inter-agency Collaboration

International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy

Furthermore, the CND and the Czech Republic can both demonstrate a track record of, and strong commitments to, the promotion and protection of civil society engagement and civic space within drug policy. This Conference Room Paper also explores the vital role that civil society partners play in this sector, and how this can be further enhanced and secured as we approach the midterm review of the commitments made in the 2019 Ministerial Declaration, anticipated in March 2024.

'Opportunities and challenges for the engagement of civil society in human rights oriented drug policies' - Czechia CND conference room paper 

On the 12th and 13th December 2022, Ghana hosted the first ever National Dialogue on the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy, with the involvement of more than 60 participants from Ghana’s government, the UN system, and national and international civil society associations. 

The two-day event was co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Narcotics Control Commission, in partnership with the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Development Program, the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy at the University of Essex, and the International Drug Policy Consortium. 

After welcome addresses by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the session was opened by the Minister of Interior Hon. Ambrose Dery, who emphasized that in 2020 Ghana adopted the Narcotics Control Act (Act 1019) in order to treat drug use and drug dependence as health matters. In this context, the National Dialogue aimed to create space for a broad range of stakeholders to discuss drug-related issues from a human rights perspective, and to develop key recommendations for the way forward. 

A series of high-level speakers noted that human rights approaches to drug policy are crucial to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and discussed how the Guidelines could be used to help implement and strengthen Ghana’s 2020 reforms. A series of technical panels and breakout group discussions ensued, concluding in recommendations for the way forward. Highlights included recommendations to ensure the effective depenalization of drug use and drug dependence (including retroactively); ensuring access to drug treatment and harm reduction services in the community; developing cannabis regulations that improve the lives of small-scale farmers and communities; and establishing gender-sensitive drug services.

UN Common Position on Drug Policy

UNAIDS welcomes the adoption of a crucial resolution recognizing harm reduction measures at the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs

HIV, hepatitis & drug policy reform

Beyond prohibition: Unpacking the connection between drug policies and sustainable development priorities

UN experts call for end to global ‘war on drugs’

'Opportunities and challenges for the engagement of civil society in human rights oriented drug policies' - Czechia CND conference room paper

'National Dialogue on the International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy' - Ghana CND conference room paper