International human rights standards recognise the right of Indigenous peoples to their traditional medicines and health practices, and its centrality in the context of the right to health. 

However, for decades drug control policies have sought to ban the cultivation, possession, and use of plants with psychoactive effects that are essential to Indigenous medicine and health. As a result, in certain countries people who grow, use, heal or travel with ancestral plants are still criminalised, and traditional medicine is endangered.

In this submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, ICEERS and IDPC provide feedback on the Committee's Draft General Recommendation on racial discrimination in the enjoyment of the right to health, and argue that the General Recommendations should enshrine the right of Indigenous Peoples to grow, use, possess, heal, and travel with their ancestral plants, as an essential part of a right to health free from racial discrimination.

Submission to CERD: The right to health and the criminalisation of ancestral plants

In March 2023, the Human Rights Council requested a report of human rights challenges in drug policy from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The global drug control regime grounded in the three international drug conventions has been a driver of serious and systemic human rights violations worldwide. 

Recognising this fact, this submissions urges the High Commissioner to use the report mandated by the Human Rights Council to call on the international community to transform its approach to drug policy, moving away from prohibition and law enforcement, and towards an international framework enshrined in human rights and health. 

The following concrete steps are suggested:

Recognise that the global drug control regime, including the international drug conventions, has promoted and contributed to punitive policy frameworks that have generated serious and systematic human rights violations.

Recognise that several Member States have already proposed or adopted reforms, including the decriminalisation of drug use and related activities, harm reduction, or the legal regulation of internationally scheduled drugs, that seek to promote a human rights-based approach to drugs while discarding the goal of a society free of drug use.

Call on the UN system and Member States to initiate a process to evaluate the human rights impacts of the global drug control regime, and to propose concrete steps for its reform and modernisation. 

Call on the UN system and in particular on bodies such as WHO, UNODC, and UNAIDS to develop guidelines and minimum standards on how to adopt a human rights and health-based approach to reforms such as decriminalisation of drug use and possession for personal use, alternatives to coercive sanctions and the legal regulation of drugs.

Recommend that the CND, the UNODC, the INCB, and the WHO incorporate into their agendas and work plans a separate item on the human rights dimension of drug policies.

Moving beyond prohibition and towards a human rights-based approach to drugs: IDPC submission to OHCHR 

As per the workplan agreed upon on 24th June 2019, thematic discussions will take place every autumn during the period between 2019-23, addressing the challenges identified by the 

taking stock paragraph of the 2019 Ministerial Declaration

For 2023, immediately preceding the 2014 mid-term review, there will be a comprehensive stock-taking of progress made in implementing all international drug policy commitments to address the challenges identified in the Ministerial Declaration.

Two series of thematic sessions are organised on 

 and on 4-6 December. A 'Chair's summary' will be the outcome of these thematic sessions.

In preparing for these stock-taking sessions, consider checking out the 

 co-organised by members of the IDPC network at this year's CND. Here you will find links to [real-time] transcriptions and recordings, as available.

The thematic sessions taking place between 4-6 December 2023 (10:00 - 13:00 & 15:00 - 18:00) are structured as follows:

"Drug treatment and health services continue to fall short of meeting needs and deaths related to drug use have increased";

"The rate of transmission of HIV, the hepatitis C virus and other blood- borne diseases associated with drug use, including injecting drug use in some countries, remains high";

"The adverse health consequences of and risks associated with new psychoactive substances have reached alarming levels";

 "Synthetic opioids and the non-medical use of prescription drugs pose increasing risks to public health and safety, as well as scientific, legal and regulatory challenges, including with regard to the scheduling of substances";


"The availability of internationally controlled substances for medical and scientific purposes, including for the relief of pain and palliative care, remains low to non-existent in many parts of the world"; 

As was the case in previous years, the thematic discussions aim to provide an inclusive platform for the exchange of views by governmental experts, representatives from the United Nations system, representatives from international organizations, and experts nominated by civil society through the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs. Experts who presented during panel discussions at the previous iterations of the thematic discussions will be contacted by the Secretariat and be invited to provide an update on the relevant challenges.

Following the introductory presentations and Q&A, a guided discussion with interventions from the floor will be held with all participants. In light of the limited time available per challenge, there will this time not be panel discussions with experts nominated by the Regional Groups. 

To promote a focused discussion given the short time available to discuss each challenge, the Chair may ask guiding questions as contained in the discussion guide, which is under preparation. The guided discussion would focus on key updates regarding progress made in addressing each challenge since 2019. 

To ensure a dynamic exchange, it is strongly recommended that interventions from the floor are made in the form of short replies to the Chair, replies or questions to other participants, or comments on the specific challenge (not longer than 3 minutes), rather than a read-out of written statements prepared in advance. 

During the guided discussion, delegates and experts participating in person can raise their flag or nameplate to indicate their wish to speak. Participants joining the meeting online can indicate in the meeting chat if they wish to intervene. A few speaker slots during each discussion will be provided to experts nominated by civil society through the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs. 

It will be the prerogative of the Chair to give the floor to speakers according to the flow of the discussion.

CND Intersessional meeting - Thematic session on the implementation of all international drug policy commitments following up to the 2019 Ministerial Declaration (December 2023)

Two series of thematic sessions are organised on 23-25 October and on

. A 'Chair's summary' will be the outcome of these thematic sessions.

The thematic sessions taking place between 23-25 October 2023 (10:00 - 13:00 & 15:00 - 18:00) are structured as follows:

: "Both the range of drugs and drugs markets are expanding and diversifying".

: "The abuse, illicit cultivation and production and manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, as well as the illicit trafficking in those substances and in precursors, have reached record levels, and that the illicit demand for and the domestic diversion of precursor chemicals are on the rise

: "Increasing links between drug trafficking, corruption and other forms of organized crime, including trafficking in persons, trafficking in firearms, cybercrime and money-laundering and, in some cases, terrorism, including money-laundering in connection with the financing of terrorism, are observed";

: 'The value of confiscated proceeds of crime related to money - laundering arising from drug trafficking at the global level remains low

: "The criminal misuse of information and communications technologies for illicit drug-related activities is increasing"

: "Responses not in conformity with the three international drug control conventions and not in conformity with applicable international human rights obligations pose a challenge to the implementation of joint commitments based on the principle of common and shared responsibility"

For each topic up to 3 NGOs will have the possibility to present their work and positioning. In order to ensure an inclusive, comprehensive and meaningful civil society participation, NGOs will work through the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs (VNGOC) which has been requested to coordinate contributions. Each speaker will have 3 minutes to present their work on the thematic focus of the half-day.

Interpretation will not be available during the meetings and all abstracts and statements have to be submitted in English.

In order to apply for a speaking slot, 

DEADLINE: 17 SEPTEMBER 2023 at 11.45PM CEST (Vienna time, UTC+2)



Make sure that your abstract is relevant to the topic of the half-day, and clearly describes what you will be presenting about. Statements focusing on good practice examples and lessons learned with regards to addressing each challenge identified in the 2019 Ministerial Declaration are especially welcome. NGO representatives that spoke in previous thematic discussions are invited to re-apply and could provide an update since their last intervention.

CND Intersessional meeting - Thematic session on the implementation of all international drug policy commitments following up to the 2019 Ministerial Declaration (October 2023)

Since the adoption of the international drug control framework sixty years ago, drug production, demand and use have increased, reaching record highs every year since 2015 despite fierce repression. In the last 10 years, more and more countries started reviewing their approach to drugs while the international multilateral system has recognised the need to integrate drug policy within sustainable development objectives. Throughout this three-day immersive course, you will examine how drug control policies impact sustainable development and how it closely relates with public health and human rights.

Strengthen stakeholders mapping skills for better analysis of the different roles of Geneva and Vienna-based agencies in international processes

Negotiate and influence the design and the implementation of drug policies nationally and internationally

Gain insight into the key concepts and current issues related to the international drug control regime and its intersection with public health and human rights

Identify the stakeholders of the current drug policy debate and international processes

Prioritise public health based approaches to drug policy at national level

Professionals who work in the area of policy making, public health and human rights including:

Government representatives from ministries of health, foreign affairs, justice, interior and drug control agencies

Representatives from international and regional institutions

Representatives from non-governmental organisations

Health attachés and diplomats with a portfolio linked to health, drug policy or human rights

Current perspectives on drug policy - Short course

Yong-an Zhang - International Center for Drug Policy Studies ICDPS, Shanghai University (Chair)

Khalid Tinasti CCDP, Geneva Graduate Institute (Switzerland) ICDPS, Shanghai University (Moderator)

Gloria Lai, International Drug Policy Consortium Asia (Thailand)

Luciana Pol, Centro de Estudos Legales y Sociales (Argentina)

Deborah Alimi, Paris University Panthéon-Sorbonne (France)

Adeolu Adebiyi, West Africa Commission on Drugs (Nigeria)

Nazlee Maghsoudi, University of Toronto (Canada)

2009-2019: Capturing a decade of international drug policy advocacy

The present report has been prepared pursuant to General Assembly resolution 76/188. The report provides an overview of the world drug situation and the implementation of the mandates relating to international drug control, taking into account the follow-up to the Ministerial Declaration on Strengthening Our Actions at the National, Regional and International Levels to Accelerate the Implementation of Our Joint Commitments to Address and Counter the World Drug Problem, adopted at the ministerial segment of the sixty-second session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, in 2019. The report also provides information on action taken by the Commission and its subsidiary bodies and support provided by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in close cooperation with other United Nations entities and relevant stakeholders, to assist States in addressing and countering the world drug problem, including the challenges posed by recent international developments, in particular the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Submission to CERD: The right to health and the criminalisation of ancestral plants

Moving beyond prohibition and towards a human rights-based approach to drugs: IDPC submission to OHCHR

CND Intersessional meeting - Thematic session on the implementation of all international drug policy commitments following up to the 2019 Ministerial Declaration (December 2023)

CND Intersessional meeting - Thematic session on the implementation of all international drug policy commitments following up to the 2019 Ministerial Declaration (October 2023)

Current perspectives on drug policy - Short course

2009-2019: Capturing a decade of international drug policy advocacy

International cooperation against the world drug problem - Report of the Secretary-General