This statement was given during the Plenary Session of the 66th meeting of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, in Vienna, 13-17 March.

Written by: Rebeca Calzada and Ruby Lawlor

According to research published by The Lancet A survey done to 10,000 children and young people (16 – 25 yo) in 2021 in Australia, Brazil, Finland, India, Nigeria, Philippines, Portugal, the UK and the US have responded (more than 50%) they feel anxious, angry, powerless, guilty and worried about climate change. 75% of them reported they think the future is frightening and 83% think that people have failed to take care of the planet. Also, these young respondents rated governmental responses to climate change negatively and reported greater feelings of betrayal than reassurance. 

There’s no surprise that these young respondents reported such feelings as climate change is one of the greatest challenges for humanity, particularly for us, young people. For this reason, we must act now! 

On this matter, the UNODC in its 2022 World Drug Report, identified the negative effects of illegal drugs on the environment. Some of the main conclusions of this report are:

  • Illicit crop cultivation and drug manufacturing’s impact on the environment is more significant at the local level.
  • Illicit production of drugs has a direct impact on the locations where it occurs, such as affecting the flora and fauna of forest reserves and dumping or discharging of drug-related waste in forests, rivers or into sewage systems. 
  • The carbon footprint of illicit production of drugs (eg. cocaine manufacturing’s foodprint is 2600 greater than for sugar cane) is another main issue, as the use of fertilizers and pesticides and its impact on the soil, water, and living organisms. 
  • The methods used in the illicit production and waste of drugs.
  • Illicit crop cultivation can affect deforestation directly and indirectly (eg. in Colombia, the illegal cultivation of coca trees is associated with 43 to 58 per cent of all deforestation in those regions). 
  • The lack of research on the link between illicit drugs and the environment.

The drug prohibition approach over the last 60 years has led to organized crime being in control of the production and trade of several drugs. This is one of the main reasons for the negative effects of illegal drugs on the environment, as drug production has no quality control, regulation of location for production, or the use of environmentally friendly substances or methods.

Also, the civil society organization from the UK, Transform, has well documented the harmful consequences of drug prohibition on public health but also to the environment. Some of these are the chemical eradication that threats biodiversity (These chemicals designed to kill flora indiscriminately threaten biodiversity) in really important areas such as the Amazonian forest, the displacement of drug producers has fulled deforestation putting at risk species of flora and fauna, pouring toxic chemical waste into waterways or onto the ground, among others. 

Prohibition has not reduced the production and use of drugs, nor the environmental harms caused by unregulated drug production, these have reallocated such harms into more ecologically sensitive areas such as the Amazon forests.

Evidence has shown that the harms and damages of such illegality and the lack of drug regulation not only affect those who use drugs and their communities, it affects also the environment. It contributes to the contamination of lands, and water and the destruction of the home of many flora and fauna, and to our home, our planet. 

Our planet is under threat due to climate change, and prohibition has been counterproductive in its attempts to stem environmental harm. The war on drugs exacerbates and spreads these harms. It is clear that these harms occur less in a legal framework of the production of different drugs.

Prohibition is a policy choice, and evidence has demonstrated the negative consequences and said choice and the poor impact it has in the prevention of consumption and healthy behaviours.

Youth RISE, as a civil society organization that stands for the health of young people, demands and asks for drug policies that actually take action in the care and protection of the lands, the water, and the biodiversity of our magnificent home. We must protect children, adolescents, adults, and everyone, but also the flora and fauna of our planet.