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UN expert calls for end to the ‘war on drugs’
Press release
GENEVA (24 June 2024) – A UN independent expert today called for an end to the ‘war on drugs’, asking States to move towards harm reduction in drug policies.
In her fourth report to the Human Rights Council, Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health, focused on drug use, harm reduction and the right to health. The report explores how harm reduction relates to both drug use and drug use disorders, as well as to drug laws and policies, aiming to analyse and address the related outcomes that adversely impact the enjoyment of the right to health.
“The enforcement of drug laws and policies compounds other forms of discrimination and disproportionately affects certain individuals, such as persons in situations of homelessness or poverty, persons with mental health issues, sex workers, women, children, LGBTIQA+ persons, Black persons, Indigenous Peoples, migrants, persons who are incarcerated or detained, persons with disabilities, persons living with HIV, tuberculosis or hepatitis, and persons living in rural areas,” Mofokeng told the Council. “International drug control conventions have negatively affected the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of certain drugs used as medicines.”
The report indicates that the concept of harm reduction has been primarily developed in the context of drug use and refers to policies, programmes and practices that are aimed at minimising negative health, social and legal impacts associated with drug use, drug policies and drug laws. It also stresses that States have an obligation to implement evidence-based interventions to minimise the adverse health and risks and harms associated with drug use.
In her report, the Special Rapporteur seeks to provide recommendations on how, at the domestic level, States should be centred on dignity, public health and human rights, as well as ground interventions in the best available evidence, free from conflicts of interest.
Mofokeng highlights that ending criminalisation, stigmatisation and discrimination which represent structural barriers to accessing services will improve access to information, goods, services and facilities.
“Global advocacy and high-level statements of intent must be put into action to uphold the right to dignity,” she said, adding that “civil society participation is key”.
“All stakeholders must respect people who use drugs, people with drug use disorders and people whose health and well-being is affected by drug laws and policies,” the Special Rapporteur said.
She also noted the importance of moving towards substantive equality by paying particular attention to the disproportionate impact of drug laws, policies and policing.
Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health
Interactive Dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health - 56th session of the Human Rights Council
Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health
Mr President, drugs have been part of human history for 1000s of years, whether for medical healing, religious and cultural ceremonies, or as commodities for pleasure, it is crucial to distinguish drug use and drug use disorders. Drug use is not a medical condition. The majority of people who use drugs do not have dependency and do not require treatment. Drug use disorders, including drug dependency, are a medical condition, thus requiring appropriate support and treatment from a right to health perspective. Together, the social, political, commercial and legal determinants of health can create and reinforce health disparities.
With that in mind, I focus on how the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of care is affected by punitive approaches. I explored in this report how drug control compounds and disproportionately affects certain rights and individuals. We must examine the underlying power structures that perpetuate these systems of disadvantage, that have outlived colonialism, but continue to shape the underlying dynamics of both drug use and how states respond to it. The intersection of criminal law, health and human rights is multifaceted. The failure to adopt a human rights based approach to addressing drug use has had a negative impact, especially on those in situations of homelessness, poverty, people with mental health conditions, sex workers, women, children, LGBTQA+ persons, Black people, Indigenous Peoples, migrants, persons who are incarcerated or detained, persons with disabilities, those living with HIV and people living in rural areas.
Regulatory frameworks need to be cohesively developed by states in a way that is dependent on scientific evidence and considered power asymmetries, and without undue influence from corporations.
Criminalization is but a single and extreme option within a regulatory spectrum. Regulatory frameworks need to be cohesively developed by states in a way that is dependent on scientific evidence and considered power asymmetries, and without undue influence from corporations.
Mr President, women who use drugs are also subject to higher rates of violence, thus integration of harm reduction services with those for gender based violence, sexual and reproductive health is required. About one in 10 new HIV infections result from drug use by injection. Yet over 92 countries have criminal laws relating to HIV. I urge all states to adhere to human rights principles when negotiating the resolution on human rights in the context of HIV and AIDS.
For both conflict and non conflict emergency situations, access to controlled medicines is a key element to the right to health, including anaesthesia during medical procedures and for the management of various health conditions. In this context of harm reduction, my upcoming report to the General Assembly in October 2024, will delve deeper into the themes of sustainable peace and security and sustainable development. All people rely on essential, controlled medicines for pain management, for opioid dependence treatment, for palliative care and other health conditions at some point in their life. Given the discriminatory perceptions of pain and who deserves pain relief, this leads to a failure to ensure access to essential medicines for pain relief and drug use disorders, and threatens the realisation of the right to health and the freedom from cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.
Although not in this present report, I will also pay attention to the current developments and advice on these trends of using the courts in spheres of medicine other than those related to drug use. For example, those seeking to restrict medicines for the management of medical abortions, causing harm to the practice of medicine by unfairly restricting essential medicines, contrary to WHO evidence based guidelines and essential drug lists.
Mr President and distinguished delegates, harm reduction includes a wide range of policies and programmes and practice that are aimed at minimising negative health, social and legal impacts associated with drug use and drug laws and policies. They work best when they are tailored to the intersecting needs of individuals and communities aimed to serve them. Some practical harm reduction measures that numerous states have already begun implementing include needle and syringe programmes, opioid agonist therapy, drug consumption rooms and supervised injection facilities, drug checking, overdose prevention and reversal, housing, employment and education and sustainable funding for programmes. And I will take an opportunity later during this dialogue to explain in more detail these concepts.
The end on the war on drugs, as this is a war on people, is necessary. I urge all states to be centred on dignity, public health and human rights.
Harm reduction measures also focus on the removal of criminal penalties for drug offences, including for, but not limited to, use or possession; and is a way of reducing the negative impacts of punitive drug policies on the right to health in particular. I support the full decriminalisation of drug use, and evidence from jurisdictions that have taken a decriminalisation approach demonstrate that adopting less punitive policies does not result in an increase in drug use or drug related harms or other crimes. The end on the war on drugs, as this is a war on people, is necessary. I urge all states to be centred on dignity, public health and human rights. Harm reduction is an approach which will improve trust and dialogue, creativity and innovation in this urgent moment of a paradigm shift that is needed.