UN drug conventions

News12 February 2026

‘Coca leaf is life itself’: Andean growers’ hopes fade as WHO upholds global curb

The WHO has upheld the coca leaf’s severe international scheduling, maintaining restrictions despite evidence of its safety and longstanding Indigenous use.

Publications2 February 2026

The UNGASS decade in review: Gaps, achievements and paths for reform

IDPC assesses the state of play in global drug policy, reflecting on areas of progress while highlighting new and ongoing challenges, and concluding with recommendations for the future of international drug policy.

Press Releases2 February 2026

New report warns international drug policy is failing — as ‘war on drugs’ regains momentum

As the United Nations embarks on far-reaching institutional reform, a major new report from the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC) delivers a stark warning: global drug control is failing.

News27 January 2026

Hungary infringed EU law by voting against the Council’s common position regarding the rescheduling of cannabis, EU Court rules

The European Commission may seek financial penalties if it considers that Hungary fails to comply with the judgment.

News11 December 2025

INCB statement for Human Rights Day 2025

The INCB warns against extrajudicial responses to drug offences and calls for rights-based, proportionate, and health-focused drug control.

News11 December 2025

WHO rejects request from Bolivia and Colombia to remove the coca leaf from list of most-persecuted substances

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.

News8 December 2025

A critical failure of a system still mired in the past - IDPC joint statement at the CND Reconvened 68th Session

By ignoring Indigenous knowledge and human rights impacts, the coca leaf review reveals a system unable —or unwilling— to shed colonial bias.

Events

Rethinking coca: Indigenous knowledge, science, and international drug policy

Vienna, Austria

3 December 2025

Join researchers, policymakers and Andean community voices at CEU Vienna to explore coca’s cultural, scientific and political dimensions — and what the WHO’s review means for global drug governance.

News16 October 2025

Repairing the machinery - IDPC statement at the CND thematic discussions on drug policy commitments

IDPC joined this year’s CND thematic discussions to call for bold, evidence-based reform — urging governments to support the new expert panel reviewing the UN drug control system and ensure civil society’s full participation.

Publications15 October 2025

Scientific distinctions between coca and cocaine support policy reform

White et al. argue that scientific, cultural and legal evidence clearly distinguishes coca from cocaine — and that global drug policy must correct this long-standing misclassification rooted in colonial bias.

Publications14 October 2025

Statement by traditional coca leaf producers and consumers to the World Health Organization

Traditional coca leaf producers and consumers from Peru reject their government’s stance before the WHO, urging the organisation to deschedule coca, recognise its cultural and medicinal uses, and support research and rights-based policies

News14 October 2025

Coca isn’t just for cocaine, Bolivia wants the world to know

Bolivia's campaign to remove the coca leaf from the list of the world’s most dangerous drugs highlights the plant's cultural, medicinal and economic importance — and its potential to reshape global drug policy.

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