Youth RISE is attending the 65th Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) this week virtually. We will be updating daily about the side events attended, and the happenings at the Plenary and the Committee of the Whole (CoW). We are giving the youth perspective and reflection on CND through daily vlogs and through blogs.
Our Ghana International Working Group Member Daniel Nii Ankrah attended The Plenary on the Follow-up to the Implementation of International Commitments. This is his report from it:
“The discussion started with a statement from the working group on arbitrary detention. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention shared that people who use drugs are at risk of arbitrary detention. There is a need for all drug policies to serve a legitimate aim with imprisonment as the last resort. The working group found that there is widespread of confinement against the use of drug users, they recommended closure of such compulsory drug treatment facilities and demanded voluntary treatment instead of compulsion. The Working group added voluntary, evidence informed and right based treatment should be adopted. They welcomed the continued engagement with all relevant actors on this topic and highlighted a collaborative approach with all stakeholders in firming the recommendation from the study.
The EU Ambassador, Clement shared some perspectives from the EU- Strengthening partnerships with UNODC and UN system common position on drugs, international organizations and global evidence- based research. The EU reaffirmed the UNODC as the leading entity in the UN system on the issue of drugs and posited collaborations between the UN entities.
The discussions emphasized that the right to health is the most important principle in the drug policy debate, and that state parties implementation of the right to health and the issue of intersectionality are key to achieving progress. It shed light on the fact that issues of food, housing, health, non-discrimination and equality in view of landscape change by COVID-19 are essential to the debate. One thing that stood out from the discussions is that currently many drug users have been equated with criminals and that there is the need to adopt a multi-dimensional measure that factors in age, gender, poverty to adequately address the problem.
The representative from Thailand cited an example in Thailand, saying that methamphetamine has not subsided despite the pandemic, on progress, they shared that Thailand is the first Asian market to legalize medicinal cannabis and to enter the global market, adding that there is a move to liberalize and legalize.
The Working group called for decriminalization for drug use and prompt release of all convicted persons for using drugs. This is essential to Youth RISE as this aligns with the aim of keeping people who use drugs safe and to minimize the harm associated with drug use and to further reduce stigma, discrimination, and inhumane situations people who use drugs find themselves in.