Tuesday 28 July 2015

International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2015, June 26


International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, 26 June.
 

Lets Develop — Our Lives — Our Communities — Our Identities — Without Drugs

2015 Theme: Lets Develop — Our Lives — Our Communities — Our Identities — Without Drugs
 2015年主题:让发展 - 我们的生活 - 我们的社区 - 我们的身份 - 没有毒品
Thème 2015 - « Le développement de - nos vies, nos communautés, nos identités - sans drogues » 
 Tema de 2015: Desarrollo - Para nuestras vidas - Para nuestras comunidades - Para nuestras identidades - Sin drogas




In September, leaders from around the world will meet at the United Nations to adopt an ambitious new sustainable development agenda to eradicate extreme poverty and provide a life of dignity for all.  This ambition, while achievable, must address various obstacles, including the deadly harm to communities and individuals caused by drug trafficking and drug abuse.   

Our shared response to this challenge is founded on the international drug control conventions.  In full compliance with human rights standards and norms, the United Nations advocates a careful re-balancing of the international policy on controlled drugs.We must consider alternatives to criminalization and incarceration of people who use drugs and focus criminal justice efforts on those involved in supply.We should increase the focus on public health, prevention, treatment and care, as well as on economic, social and cultural strategies.    We must address the nexus between illicit drugs and violence, corruption and terrorism: A balanced approach recognizes the close connections between those who traffic in drugs and criminal networks involved in firearms smuggling, kidnapping, human trafficking and other crimes.This work must also include redoubling efforts to prevent the supply of the precursor chemicals that are the foundation of so many illicit drugs.   

Promoting international cooperation through the UN conventions on transnational organized crime and corruption is essential to addressing today’s security and development challenges.  No criminal should escape justice.  The balanced approach calls for unity of purpose within the international community, including the UN, civil society and, most importantly, the world’s nations.  No country can work in isolation.  Comprehensive and integrated efforts at the local, regional and global levels offer the best hope for dealing with the traffickers, while taking care to protect vulnerable groups and marginalized communities.    

Efforts against illicit drugs must be connected to our work to promote opportunities through equitable and sustainable development.  We must continually strive to make the weak and fragile stronger.  

The United Nations General Assembly special session on the world drug problem, to be held in April 2016, can advance this cause, with countries sharing knowledge and forging common solutions.   

On the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, let us raise awareness about the value of applying a balanced approach to these problems based on an understanding that sustainable development can and must catalyze change across all these fronts.      

Ban Ki-moon





Use of drugs  in 2013 (or latest year available)






Today is an important day for focusing on the threat of the production, trafficking and use of illicit drugs. Robust action is needed to strengthen criminal justice systems, break-up the criminal networks who deal in misery and suffering, and to nurture health and human rights-based responses.

People also endure unbelievable pain due to a lack of controlled medications for medical purposes. Measures must be taken to ensure that people across the globe can access pain relief where necessary. We must also do everything to promote greater understanding of drug use as a social and health condition that calls for, like HIV/AIDS and hepatitis, sustained prevention, treatment and care.
Science and  evidence-based practices must prevail in the delivery of prevention and treatment of drug use. These approaches are the foundation for all our efforts. With nearly 200,000 drug-related deaths and with 1.65 million infected with HIV in 2013, access to evidence based prevention and treatment can sometimes be the difference between life and death.

At present, only one in six people who use drugs globally has access to treatment. Women face numerous barriers to treatment-while one in three drug users globally are women, only one in five drug users in treatment are women.

Africa, particularly West and East Africa, also remains vulnerable to the trafficking and the consumption of illicit drugs. These trends are part of organized crime's attack on the security, health and development of an already-fragile region. The nexus of organized crime and terrorism-including the apparent role of drug trafficking-is a serious threat. Opium cultivation in Afghanistan remains a formidable challenge, as is the production of cocaine in Latin America.

UNODC's own work shows that the balanced approach of confronting drug supply and drug demand is fundamental. Alternative development for farmers who cultivate illicit crops also has a major role. Alternative development promotes environmental protection, supports communities affected by other forms of crime, including wildlife and forest crime, and empowers women.

Countries must also work hard to protect the promise of future generations. Young people should be encouraged to undertake new initiatives that can develop aspirations and opportunities, as well as dignity. 
The UN General Assembly Special Session on the world drug problem, to be held in April 2016, can assist in the exchanges of ideas and lessons learned, and will do much to help achieve the goals set out in the Political Declaration and Plan of Action by 2019.

On the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, and ahead of the UN Summit on Sustainable Development, it is important to remember that illicit drugs undermine the environment, security and development. Countering their impact using a balanced and human rights based approach is vital to protect and promote the health and welfare of humankind.

Yury Fedotov, UNODC


 FORUM : World Drug Day - June 26


The World Drug Report presents a comprehensive annual overview of the latest developments in the world's illicit drug markets by focusing on the production, trafficking and consumption of the main types of illicit drugs, along with the related health consequences of those drugs. Chapter 1 of the World Drug Report 2015 not only provides a global overview of the supply of and demand for opiates, cocaine, cannabis, amphetamine-type stimulants and new psychoactive substances, as well as their impact on health, but also provides a review of the scientific evidence on approaches to preventing drug use and addresses general principles for effective responses to treatment for drug use. Chapter 2 examines how alternative development, within the broader context of the development agenda, is aimed at breaking the vicious cycle of illicit crop cultivation by providing farmers with alternative livelihoods.



World Drug Report 2015 -UNODC.

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