Vienna, 14 November 2024 – “The drug landscape is evolving and growing more complex,” stated Ghada Waly, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in opening remarks at the 2024 thematic discussions of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), delivered on her behalf by John Brandolino, Director for Treaty Affairs at UNODC.
“New and deadlier combinations of synthetic drugs are proliferating and destroying livelihoods. Criminals are finding new ways of evading regulations to divert precursor chemicals and concoct new substances, while gaps in oversight are enabling the misuse of pharmaceuticals for non-medical purposes,” she continued. “At the same time, drug trafficking is increasingly overlapping with other forms of organized crime, from human trafficking and child exploitation to money laundering and crimes that affect the environment. As these trends intensify, they pose increasing risks to public health, safety and security.”
The CND, the United Nations’ central drug policy-making body, held its thematic discussions from 12-14 November this week. These discussions provided a platform for close to 600 participants from Member States, international organizations, academics and civil society to exchange good practices, identify challenges and share lessons learned in the implementation of international drug policy commitments.
Noting the cross-cutting nature of the challenges faced by Member States in addressing and countering the world drug problem, the Executive Director highlighted the need to enhance international collaboration harness technological innovation, continue collecting and analysing data and invest in capacity-building and resource mobilization. She also stressed the importance of embracing a paradigm shift focused on prevention, especially among youths.
Also speaking at the opening segment, the President of the International Narcotics Control Board urged delegates to “keep the safeguarding of health and well-being at the forefront” of their discussions.
Thematic areas
The thematic discussions in 2024 focused on several pressing issues: the expanding range of drugs and diversifying markets; synthetic opioids and non-medical use of prescription drugs; challenges in illicit cultivation and production of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances; illicit trafficking in substances and precursors, as well as domestic diversion of precursor chemicals; and legal, scientific and regulatory challenges in scheduling substances.
The Member States who had made a pledge under the Pledge4Action initiative, launched at the CND Midterm Review earlier this year, were also provided with an opportunity to provide updates on the status of their pledges towards addressing and countering the world drug problem.
In addition, Member States also raised other substantive topics for discussion, namely: challenges to the identification of new illicit drugs; harm reduction measures; social determinants, disproportionate impacts and barriers to service access in drug policy; the current status of the critical review of coca leaf; the relevance of scientific evidence in the work of UN bodies and agencies in the implementation of the Global Drug Policy; and challenges to the integrity of the international drug control system.
At its 62nd session in March 2019, the Commission adopted by consensus the Ministerial Declaration entitled “Strengthening Our Actions at the National, Regional and International Levels to Accelerate the Implementation of our Joint Commitments to Address and Counter the World Drug Problem.”
Following up on this declaration, the Commission held the Midterm Review in March 2024, during which it adopted the High-level declaration by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs on the 2024 midterm review, following up to the Ministerial Declaration of 2019. This declaration continues the dialogue initiated in 2019 and outlines the path toward the final review of progress made in the implementation of all international drug policy commitments in 2029. To maintain momentum and focus, the Commission plans to hold annual thematic discussions from now until 2028 based on the High-level Declaration and the subsequently adopted workplan. The Chair’s summary and a procedural report of the thematic discussions will be published on the website of the CND thematic discussions once available.
