Director-General/Executive Director
Mr. Chair,
Bureau Members,
Distinguished Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am pleased to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
At the outset, I would like to congratulate Ambassador Shambhu Kumaran of India for assuming the position of Chair.
And I would like to wish him and all of you a successful session.
Excellencies,
This session, with over 2,000 participants and 179 side-events is convening in a time of change.
The global drugs landscape has been evolving rapidly over the past years, and it continues to evolve.
Today, the illicit drug market is becoming more unpredictable, driven by the impact of synthetic drugs.
Synthetic drug manufacturing labs are being uncovered in new countries and regions.
More than 1,300 psychoactive substances have been reported to UNODC to date.
Amphetamine-type stimulants and pharmaceutical opioids are registering record seizures.
Synthetic opioids of the nitazine class are on the rise, with 26 different substances reported to UNODC so far.
In some regions, tragic trends continue, like the concentration of Captagon in the Middle East, or fentanyl in North America. In other regions, new trends are emerging for both synthetic and plant-based drugs.
Tramadol trafficking, for example, is growing very rapidly in Eastern Europe, and to some extent in Asia, even if it remains concentrated mainly in West Africa.
And the cocaine market is breaking new ground, as production, trafficking and use of cocaine hit new highs.
For the fifth year in a row, cocaine seizures in Central and Western Europe exceeded those reported from North America, while cocaine use in Europe is also climbing rapidly.
Cocaine is also expanding even faster in non-traditional markets such as Africa and Asia.
As drug markets change, the patterns of use and harm are also evolving.
The range of drugs available to most people today is more diverse, potent, and harmful than ever before.
The use of different drugs at the same time – known as polydrug use – is becoming more common and complex.
And treatment remains out of reach for most of those who need it, especially women and vulnerable groups.
Globally, nearly a quarter of all people who use drugs suffer from drug use disorders.
Yet only 1 in 11 among them have access to any form of treatment.
Women suffer from a larger treatment gap and greater stigma, while young people remain vulnerable to new substances and consumption methods.
People who inject drugs also remain heavily affected by the HIV and hepatitis C epidemics globally.
Meanwhile, too many people around the world do not have safe access to the controlled medicines they need.
And the damage goes well beyond health.
More than ever, the drug market is undermining peace, security, and development in different corners of the globe.
Trafficking routes run through warzones and rule of law vacuums, from Haiti to the Levant to the Golden Triangle, fuelling instability.
Violence linked to drug trafficking has also ramped up in recent years, in countries rich and poor, across different continents.
And drug trafficking continues to converge with other forms of organized crime, as criminal groups diversify their activities and look to launder their profits.
Excellencies,
As the drugs landscape evolves, the global context surrounding it is also looking dramatically different.
Today, the world is profoundly connected in its infrastructure.
But it is also profoundly fragmented in its politics.
Many countries are turning inwards, investing less in global cooperation both politically and financially.
And these trends have serious implications for the world drug problem, where production, manufacturing, and trafficking in one place can have direct and devastating consequences in other places.
When drugs and precursors flow across borders, only organized crime wins.
And so, this is an important moment for the CND, to maintain and ramp up collective action.
It is through the CND that dangerous substances and their precursors have been placed, and continue to be placed, under international control.
It is through the CND that Member States learn from each other, to strengthen their national frameworks and measures, guided by science.
And it is through the work of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime that countries around the globe receive the support they need to implement international drug control decisions, and to cooperate with one another.
Mr. Chair,
During these challenging times, UNODC has remained committed to our critical work to keep people safe and healthy.
We are supporting more than 180 border control units in 87 countries to intercept drug flows, and in 2024 we facilitated seizures of over 300 tonnes of cocaine, 240 tonnes of synthetic drugs, and 100 tonnes of precursors.
And we are facilitating backtracking investigations, bringing together law enforcement agencies and prosecutors from source, transit and destination countries.
Through UNODC’s forensic early warning system, we continue to identify and flag emerging drug threats.
And we provide scientific and forensic support to countries to enable them to implement CND scheduling decisions. In 2024, we supported more than 320 forensic drug testing and toxicology labs in 95 countries.
Under our Synthetic Drugs Strategy, UNODC also produced tools for the investigation and dismantling of clandestine drug labs, and we supported safe disposal of more than 1000 tons of drugs and chemicals.
And throughout 2024, our Office continued monitoring illicit cultivation in the main source countries, and producing analysis of different drug threats.
Meanwhile, UNODC is supporting evidence-based treatment in line with the UNODC/WHO International Standards for the Treatment of Drug Use Disorders.
We are helping vulnerable farming families find alternative livelihoods away from drug cultivation, and last year we assisted thousands of farming households to access local and global markets.
And we continue to champion prevention: in 2024 our family and school-based programs reached over 150,000 beneficiaries in more than 20 countries.
Excellencies,
I am proud to say that our office is providing essential support on drug challenges and having an impact across regions.
But I must also be frank: It is no secret that UNODC is facing a severe funding problem.
With significant changes and rollbacks in the commitments of donors, and the possibility of more cutbacks on the way, much of UNODC’s work that I have described is now facing reductions.
And the UN regular budget crisis is only deepening, making matters worse.
Our ability to support border security and provide comprehensive assistance on synthetic drugs has been impacted.
Our ability to monitor illicit drug cultivation and trafficking trends is at great risk.
Our ability to promote evidence-based treatment and prevention faces an uncertain future.
And our ability to support this Commission and its subsidiary bodies is curtailed.
With the world drug problem, we face a health and security challenge of global proportions. And we face a multi-billion-dollar criminal industry.
We cannot deliver “more with less” when the illicit drug market has more and more at its disposal every day – more digital tools to exploit, more instability to prey on, more sophisticated methods to utilize.
And we cannot have the impact that you need, if we do not have the resources that are required.
I urge our Member States to invest in the security and health of their communities, and in global security and prosperity, by investing in the important work you have mandated UNODC to do.
Ladies and gentlemen,
In this time of uncertainty, this Commission and our Member States have the power to chart the path forward on drug policy, based on shared goals and needs.
I hope that this session of the Commission, with its record-level participation, can be a platform for lively, timely, and necessary debates.
And I hope that this week can ultimately be a rallying point for maintaining a balanced, effective, and united approach to drug policy.
Thank you.
