United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

Liaison and Partnership Office (LPO) in Brazil

UNODC and Brazilian authorities launch World Drug Report 2013 at PAHO/WHO in Brasília

Brasília, 10 July 2013 - The Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's (UNODC) Liaison and Partnership Office in Brazil, Rafael Franzini, presented the World Drug Report 2013 during an event held at the headquarters of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) in Brasilia, in late June.

According to Franzini, the report launch comes at a particularly important moment to discuss drug related issues, because in 2014 the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna will conduct a high-level review of the Political Declaration and Plan of Action. In addition, in 2016 the United Nations General Assembly will hold a Special Session on the drug issue.

"Among the key challenges highlighted by the report are the implementation of effective control systems, the relationship between violence and illicit drugs trafficking, the emergence of new psychoactive substances, the health impacts of the association between drug use and HIV, and the implementation of national laws that do not result in human rights violations", said Franzini. Felix Rigoli, Health Systems Manager and Representative in exercise of PAHO/WHO, noted that currently there is a debate to change the drug law in Brazil, related to a draft bill law that is in the Senate and prioritizes (voluntary and involuntary) internment in health interventions for drug users.

In a recent technical note, PAHO/Brazil considers inadequate and ineffective the adoption of involuntary or compulsory internment as a central strategy for the treatment of drug addiction. Franzini noted that "an approach to the drug problem aligned with human rights international standards necessarily requires the issue to be treated from an evidence-based health perspective."

Regarding Brazil, the report shows a significant increase in cocaine use and the emergence of new psychoactive substances (such as mephedrone and ketamine), as well as a decrease in the number of people who inject drugs. The Secretary of National Drug Policy of the Ministry of Justice, Vitore Maximiano, explained that the increase in cocaine use was registered by the Secretariat and is due mainly to the consumption of crack. "Because of this, it is worth highlighting the actions of the government program to beat crack, which will invest US$ 4 billion in prevention, care and combat to drug trafficking", he said.

The General Coordinator of Drug Repression of the Department of the Federal Police, Cesar Luiz Busto, highlighted the importance of international cooperation in which agreements with Paraguay, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia have enabled progress in investigations and intelligence actions. "We can mention joint actions that have allowed the eradication of more than a thousand hectares of marijuana plantations in Paraguay and the arrest of major traffickers in Bolivia", said Busto.

José Agenor Alvares da Silva, Director of Monitoring and Sanitary Control of the National Agency for Sanitary Surveillance (Anvisa), and Roberto Tykanori, Coordinator of the Technical Area on Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs of the Ministry of Health, also participated in the launch.

*With information from the Ministry of Justice

Related information:

Full World Drug Report 2013 ( English)

World Drug Report 2013 website ( English)

Executive Summary ( English, Spanish, Portuguese)

References to Brazil ( Portuguese)

References to Argentina ( English)

References to Paraguay ( English)

References to Uruguay ( English)

Message of the UN's Secretary General Ban Ki-moon ( English, Spanish, Portuguese)

Statement of the Executive Director UNODC Yury Fedotov ( English, Spanish, Portuguese)

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