A viewpoint from civil society

The 2019 Ministerial Segment on drugs presented a key opportunity for the UN and its member states to take stock of the past decade of global drug policy, including on progress made against the targets set out in the 2009 Political Declaration and Plan of Action on drugs to ‘significantly and measurably reduce or eliminate’ the illicit drug market.

Faced with the lack of official evaluation of the past 10 years of global drug control, IDPC produced a Shadow Report, ‘Taking stock: A decade of drug policy’ in October 2018. Using data from the UN, academic and civil society research, the report documents the lack of progress made in eradicating the illicit drug trade, with both demand and supply having reach record-high levels in 2018. The report also analyses the severe consequences of global drug policies on health (with a record number of 585,000 deaths in 2017, as well as a global epidemic of pain in the Global South), human rights, peace and security, and development.

This presentation will review the key data presented in the Shadow Report. It will then look to the future, proposing a set of recommendations on how to ensure that the next decade of global drug policy draws lessons from the failings of the past ten years.