The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs has fundamentally changed – for good

Cracks in the consensus

For a decade or more, IDPC and others have been urging the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) – the United Nations’ main drug policy body – to move away from its practice of agreeing everything through the so-called “Vienna Consensus”. Now, after consensus failed and votes were called in both March 2024 and March 2025, the way that the CND works and who gets a vote has changed significantly.

Consensus on any agreement between all countries of the world is, of course, an admirable goal in any UN space. But at the CND it was allowing a small but vocal minority of countries to essentially block any progressive language that they did not like – such as on issues like human rights, harm reduction and the death penalty. According to our research, this practice at the CND was cemented in the mid-1980s – since then (and up until recently) every resolution tabled at the Commission was either negotiated until consensus was reached, or it was withdrawn from the table. Often, those negotiations would mean the language being significantly watered down, or ‘contentious’ elements removed entirely during the CND meetings. Over time, these negotiations were clearly getting tougher and tougher – and this could be seen in the reduced numbers of resolutions being tabled each year (before 2019, it was common to have between 9 and 12 resolutions: in 2022, 2023 and 2024, there were just four).

From diplomacy to democracy

At the 67th Session of CND in March 2024, however, this all changed. The USA (while still under President Biden’s Administration) tabled an important resolution on overdose prevention, which included the words “harm reduction” several times in acknowledgement of the important and life-saving role this approach plays. Consensus could not be reached, so on the final day a vote was called by the Russian Federation. It was unchartered territory for the CND, and many were unsure of what the process even was. In the end, of the 53 CND members, 38 voted in favour of the US resolution, and only two – Russia and China – voted against.

When the government and civil society delegations returned to Vienna in March 2025 for the 68th Session of the CND, the USA was once again the main focus of attention – but this time under the new Administration of President Trump and Elon Musk. Six resolutions were tabled for negotiation, including a bold new proposal from Colombia for an independent expert review of the UN drug control system. After days of, at times fraught, negotiations, none of the six resolutions achieved consensus – even on topics such as prevention and dismantling drug production labs which would usually be effortlessly agreed at CND. The USA was steadfastly refusing to accept mentions of gender, the Sustainable Development Goals and even the World Health Organisation. In the end, the USA called a vote on all six texts and was roundly defeated each time – their only allies now being Argentina and Russia.

It was a seismic shift for the CND, and sets a ‘new normal’ for all future sessions and resolutions. But the aftershocks continued into April as well.

Hardliners out

Technically, the CND is comprised of 53 ‘members’ out of the 193 UN Member States. In the past, when consensus reigned, this was a formality in many ways – any Member State was allowed to attend, to negotiate resolutions, and be a part of the consensus being reached or not. As a result, there was rarely any competition or disagreement on who would become CND members – at the end of a term, there would usually be the same number of candidates as the number of places available for each regional group.

But now that voting on resolutions has become a central part of the CND meetings, it is only those 53 CND members who are allowed to vote. (Voting has always taken place on the separate issue of scheduling substances, but even then, this was often a procedural formality). This has meant much more interest and competition from governments wanting to be amongst the 53 CND members – a further sign of how governments are rapidly adapting their approach to CND.

On April 4th 2025, at a management meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC – under which the CND is one of several “functioning commissions”), there were more applications than spaces for the Asia, Eastern Europe and “Western Europe and Other Governments (WEOG)” regional blocks. This meant that a secret ballot vote amongst the ECOSOC members was needed to choose the new CND members who would serve from 2026 to 2030.

The result was a significant one: the Russian Federation and the Islamic Republic of Iran are no longer members of the CND!

In the case of Russia, as far as we can ascertain, this is the first time since the CND was established in 1946 that they have not been a member in some form. Their place was effectively taken by Ukraine, the country they invaded in 2014 and 2022 – surely a political statement from those countries that condemn the war. Crucially, Russia and Iran are two of the principal conservative protagonists at CND – the same countries that the USA accused in 2024 of “utilising our consensus based decision-making process to hold the CND hostage, putting their domestic interests above the collective goals of this Commission”. Although their engagement and presence at CND is unlikely to diminish, their absence from any future voting (for the next few years at least) has huge implications for how the whole Commission operates and the decisions it makes.

The CND's new power map

(Starting on 1 January 2026)

Africa Group

11 seats, four of which were up for selection – but no vote was needed

• Burkina Faso (selected ‘by acclamation’ in April 2025)
• Burundi*
• Côte d’Ivoire (re-selected ‘by acclamation’ in April 2025)
• Ghana (re-selected ‘by acclamation’ in April 2025)
• Kenya*
• Mauritania (selected ‘by acclamation’ in April 2025)
• Morocco*
• Nigeria*
• South Africa*
• Tanzania*
• Zimbabwe*

Leaving the CND membership after 31st December 2025: Algeria and Tunisia (who did not reapply)

Asia Group

11 seats, four of which were up for selection - by vote

• China*
• India*
• Indonesia*
• Japan*
• Kazakhstan (selected with 46 votes in April 2025)
• Kyrgyzstan (selected with 41 votes in April 2025)
• Pakistan (selected with 50 votes in April 2025)
• Qatar*
• Singapore*
• Thailand*
• United Arab Emirates (selected with 43 votes in April 2025)

Leaving the CND membership after 31st December 2025: Iran (who reapplied but were unsuccessful with just 25 votes), alongside Bangladesh, Republic of Korea and Saudi Arabia (who did not reapply).

Eastern Europe

6 seats, three of which were up for selection - by vote

• Armenia*
• Hungary*
• Lithuania (re-selected with 37 votes in April 2025)
• Poland*
• Slovenia (re-selected with 47 votes in April 2025)
• Ukraine (selected with 36 votes in April 2025)

Leaving the CND membership after 31st December 2025: Russia (who reapplied but were unsuccessful with just 25 votes).

Latin America and the Caribbean

11 seats, four of which were up for selection – but no vote was needed

• Argentina*
• Bolivia (re-selected ‘by acclamation’ in April 2025)
• Chile*
• Colombia (re-selected ‘by acclamation’ in April 2025)
• Dominican Republic*
• Guatemala*
• Honduras (selected ‘by acclamation’ in April 2025)
• Mexico*
• Peru*
• Trinidad and Tobago (re-selected ‘by acclamation’ in April 2025)
• Uruguay*

Leaving the CND membership after 31st December 2025: Brazil (who did not reapply)

Western Europe and Others Group (WEOG)

14 seats, five of which were up for selection - by vote

• Australia (re-selected with 40 votes in April 2025)
• Austria*
• Belgium (re-selected with 48 votes in April 2025)
• Finland*
• France (re-selected after a second ballot, after initially receiving 39 votes in April 2025)
• Germany (selected with 48 votes in April 2025)
• Italy*
• Malta*
• Netherlands*
• Portugal*
• Spain*
• Switzerland (re-selected with 44 votes in April 2025)
• UK*
• USA*

Leaving the CND membership after 31st December 2025: Canada (who did not reapply)

*Current term runs until end of 2027. Selection / re-selection will therefore take place in Q2 2027.