The current UN drug system needs deep changes. For more than 50 years a model of use and consumption of drugs was proposed that supply reduction would increase market prices and therefore discourage users. All of this within the framework of prohibition without taking users into account has meant that the costs have turned this idea into a paradox.
The aims have not been achieved in 50 years of application. There has been an increase in drug users, prisons have been filled with petty traffickers and consumers. A huge network of corruption, and judicial systems and the role of the police have been derailed. Many voices are calling for change. In different political fora we have seen agreements, like the Santiago Declaration, to address the real problems and identify actions which will better suit facing the challenge of the World Drug Problem.
The solutions will not be the same for every state. We should not believe that one country or that one policy is enough to beat the problem. The people of Latin America have suffered the most from prohibition. The financial action task force places southern countries on the list of countries which launder money, despite 90% of money being laundered in the north.
The raw materials grow in the south, but the precursors come from the north, as do the weapons.
We need to acknowledge the reality of violence and poverty as the scenario where illicit drug trafficking takes place. This makes it hard for the state to keep its citizens safe. This is why Ecuador decriminalises use and possession. Ecuador would like to see better alternative development. We should change our language and the way we see people and groups. The perspective of social integration means we need to reconstruct the public’s fear so we can understand the phenomena of drug use and consumption. We need to demilitarise the current approach and accept social and cultural uses within a framework that respects human rights. Ecuador exhorts the world to be focussed on human beings not the substances. The current conventions have to face changing realities to become more efficient.

Please click here to view the full statement: http://myconference.unov.org//Documents/Get/18eb7440-fe16-4bf4-9a13-0e49c46ba326