Our country treats the contents of the political declaration very seriously. But we continue to feel that drugs is a pathological phenomenon that targets all aspects of society. The coordination of security, health and other efforts is necessary to formulate solutions. We should deal with this in a multilateral setting. We should adopt an integrated, balanced and comprehensive approach.
The political declaration aims to target both demand and supply. We have seized more than 800 cases in 2013. We have made seizures of heroin, cocaine, tablets, hashish, marijuana and legal highs.

Drug use is a health problem. We have developed prevention, early intervention, education, treatment. We have taken steps to tackle supply. We should deal with drug addicts from a health perspective, not a penal one. We also use methadone maintenance treatment, with a rehabilitation centre under the auspices of UNODC. This is funded by South Korea. We have also placed an institutional crime prevention framework to tackle criminal justice issues – transnational crime, money laundering, corruption, etc.

We have involved different institutions and civil society in our national programme, which reflects the regional programme of UNODC. But the challenges of the scourge of drugs continues. Some issues are beyond our control – in particular for territories under Israeli control.

Unilateral measures will not be fruitful. Common responsibility is necessary through national, regional and international frameworks. Our vision is a Palestine free of drugs, through partnership strategy involving CSOs, academia, prevention programmes. This targets many different spheres (schools, clubs, etc.). The international community should support us for this. We thank WHO, UNODC, INTERPOL, etc. for their support. We want to build stronger institutions and bodies.

Please click here to view the full statement: http://myconference.unov.org//Documents/Get/7681b086-d15e-4f76-8786-1d336f6c186a