Item 5b: Challenges and future work of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the World Health Organization and the International Narcotics Control Board in the review of substances for possible scheduling recommendations.
Chair: I have the pleasure to chair the plenary today on behalf of Ambassador Hovhannisyan . It will take place without interpretation today. Due to the number of speakers remaining on the list, we will continue with statements on item 5, which initially was announced for Tuesday to be held with interpretation. The relevant agenda items will remain open.
Singapore: Reaffirm CND mandate as authority for scheduling drugs and precursors and INCB role in review substances and precursors. Recognizing effective drug control relies on timely scheduling. Urge CND to continue an evidence-based approach in scheduling drugs and emerging threats. (…) NPS remain persistent with harmful effects and severe health crises and risk of harm. Manufacturers alter molecular structure and pose challenges to law enforcement. Singapore schedules NPS under our misuse of drugs act. In 2025 we listed 7. In 2024 we started having a more proactive approach based on substance’s capacity of having psychoactive effect rather than chemical structure. Criminalized activities involved NPS and exemptions for legitimate use. We launched the 1st forensic laboratory. Also conduct research on new psychoactive substances. Committed to ensuring laws remain relevant and responsive to the drug landscsae. Continue to uphold principles of international drug control.
Japan: We appreciate CND’s efforts in scheduling new psychoactive substances. We have great concerns with the growing threat of fentanyl. Nitazenes who pose a great threat are designating them controlled substances. No specific incidents or health issues associated with medicine use have been identified in Japan. We continue working to share information and take measures regarding new psychoactive substances. It is essential that WHO and INCB conduct timely discussions on new psychoactive substances and precursors and for member states to have access to that information. To disrupt the market we need drug detection, assessment, regular control and preventive education. We remain committed to evidence-based information sharing and collaboration.
Ghana: Presents a range of interconnected challenges. Identification and detection of NPS – ongoing difficulty and increasing proliferation of precursor chemicals used in manufacturing of drugs. These test timeliness and effectiveness of treaties. There are gaps in scientific evidence and gaps in scheduling decisions. INCB relies on robust scientific evidence, however such data is limited across regions due to varying monitoring and reporting capacities that constrain our ability to review and recommend substances for control. Balanced guidance and treaty implementation that balances scientific evidence and diverse national policy situations. Must report consistent implementation including measures to ensure diversion. Synthetic drugs and non medical use of prescribers and non medical use of prescription presents legal and regulatory challenges. Need for evidence driven and adaptable responses. Need for strengthened collaboration for effective implementation at national level.
Republic of Korea: In collaboration with UNODC we have developed and proposed international guidelines on opioid and drug assessment. Adopted in December 2025 and describes standardized opioids dependence interpretation. All member states should use harmonized criteria and methodologies thereby ensuring credibility of regulatory practice in member states. We invite you to conduct an assessment of drug dependence and take advantage of these guidelines. Appreciate member states’ support in this initiative. The Korean Society on Drug Science was the first international academic society on illegal drug research last year to promote domestic and intl research on illegal drugs. First conference held in Seoul in March 2026 and will cover a range of topics including detection, treatment, and rehabilitation, as well as international aspects related to drug use. You can get more detailed information from colleagues and we look forward to your participation.
United States of America: Over the past 10 years the international community has addressed new psychoactive substances and diversion of precursor chemicals through international scheduling. But traffickers are adapting. Medetomidine and xylazine and other substances are appearing in the illicit drug supply. Some of these substances are depressants and are altering the effects of other drugs which adds complexity to the response. The international system of scheduling is inadequate due to its voluntary nature and lack of actionable recommendations, but the proposed resolution from Mexico will help us achieve progress.. We encourage the INCB to explore if these substances should be controlled. While they are not precursors to fentanyl, the co-occurrence with fentanyl in table form makes them very commonly used and potentially eligible for control. The increasingly complex drug landscape presents new challenges and we must find new solutions.
China: At present, the global spread of synthetic drugs continues to escalate and emerging additive substances not yet internationally controlled are constantly appearing. They are flowing in large quantities to young people and there is a rise in addiction and mental disorders, overdose and death. This poses challenges in public health, education and social development. Yesterday we hosted an event and experts participated and shared best practices: early warning education, intervention, comprehensive treatment, etc. This calls for greater attention to young people as vulnerable groups in constructing defense and protecting the next generation. We call for balanced drug strategy.
United Kingdom: Remain committed to a balanced and evidence-based process of scheduling substances while enabling access to medical and scientific purposes. We have an early warning system to improve responses to drug threats and share data with other countries. We improved our efforts to tackle drugs legal framework particularly synthetic opioids, with generic control on nitazenes, a proactive approach which will help us stay ahead of emerging variants. – We have also announced plans to control several other harmful substances.Our psychoactive drugs act provides law enforcement power to prosecute any psychoactive substance not already controlled but we recognize scheduling is still a challenge and rely on global community to share data and best practice, and look forward to hearing from international partners and find new ways to improve collaboration.
5c: International Narcotics Control Board
INCB: It is an honour to present INCB annual report and precursors report 2025, however I regret to inform you that due to the liquidity crisis the precursor report could not be printed and limited copies of the annual report are available. Electronic copies are available on the INCB website. Thematic chapter of the annual report is on international cooperation in drug control and role of INCB. Health and wellbeing of people worldwide continues to be protected by international cooperation through the main drug control conventions. The system of estimates and assessments for narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances is a success story as the level of diversion of licitly produced controlled substances is very low. INCB learning is helping governments to improve accuracy of estimates to improve availability for medical and scientific purposes which I will cover under item 5d. To address highly potent synthetics we encourage governments to use INCB tools, technology, and training including IONICs sheet, and SNOOP. Precursors report is updated on precursors situation and action taken to implement Articles 12 and 13 of the 1988 Convention, including use of non-scheduled chemicals and equipment used in drug manufacturing. In March 2025 use of the INCB online platform prevented diversion of 3 tonnes of fentanyl precursor which could have been used to manufacture up to 1.6 billion fatal doses of fentanyl. The report includes recommendations that governments identify all supply routes and prevent diversion from using all available tools. Governments should establish cooperation with various industries including through mapping national industry landscapes. I urge governments to implement recommendations in the report, which I can’t fully cover within allotted time. In promoting a balanced approach to international drug control the INCB reminds that while conventions provide flexibility in choice of measures, national systems must ensure that the use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances is limited exclusively to medical and scientific purposes. Implementation measures must take into consideration proportionality, rule of law, and human rights. We are committed to reinforcing efforts of countries to address emerging challenges and safeguard health and welfare. These efforts are dependent on your participation and support.
European Union: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Norway, Republic of Moldova also align themselves with this statement, the full version available on the EU website. We reiterate support to INCB and note its important role in assisting governments in the three control conventions. We support the INCB annual report 2025 and its continued efforts to enhance accessibility and policy elements of findings and recommendations. Welcome continued focus on rapidly evolving synthetic drug markets and manufacture of synthetics which bring a major threat to health, security, and social cohesion. We place great importance on forward looking and evidence based elements and practicality of recommendations for Member States. Note concern of the financial situation of INCB which puts implementation of INCB recommendations and mandates at risk. The EU gave funding to INCB last year. Underline the importance of adequate, stable predictable resources to achieve its mandate. Underline the importance of INCB emphasis on human rights in line with the EU Drug Strategy. Welcome board engagement with Member States on implementation, including on protecting the right to health and in line with the drug control conventions, and prioritising access to care, human rights, proportionality, and the needs of women, children and vulnerable populations. Strong support for clear INCB opposition to the death penalty for drug offences. Sustained focus on improving accessibility to medicine for medical and scientific purposes, especially in humanitarian settings. We welcome the control of precursors and reiterate support of work for INCB in this regard. The strategic approach guided by Resolution 65/3 has given framework to confront challenges of precursors. Tackling Amphetamine Type Stimulant precursors was a unanimous success and received widespread support. This activity thwarted criminal efforts and they took two years to find alternative precursors. It is critical we continue this strategy and predict threats to be able to effectively schedule precursors. A forward looking approach is indispensable to tackle criminality and safeguard communities against harm.
Colombia: Regarding the annual report of the board, we find that the references to national dynamics are essential and acknowledge the global trends but it’s necessary to have caution when attributing the primary driver of global phenomena to a single country to avoid interpretations that can distort evidence-based policies. We submitted our observations concerning the board analysis of national situations that may lead to inaccuracies and need to preserve clarity. It’s essential that international reports accurately reflect official efforts.
Ghana (on behalf of Government of Ghana): The board helps countries implement international drug control treaties effectively. The areas the require your support are 1) monitoring and promotion of compliance of international drug control treaties 2) reporting and learning on global implementation, emerging issues and best practices, 3) overseeing control of chemicals and precursors and prevent diversion and misuse 4) support commission in ensuring treaty implementation
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of): Respecting multilanguage we will do it in Spanish…
Chair: If you wish to have your declaration translated you can do it tomorrow. Thank you.
United States of America: We commend INCB for the release of the report and particularly for the attention to fentanyl and other synthetic drugs crisis. We support the board in its funtions particularly supporting implementation of conventions, sharing best practices and combating drug related challenges. We call member states to help the board and submit info in a complete and timely manner. We are concerned that less than half the member states have submitted the estimates by deadline and 1/4 did not submit at all. Without this INCB cannot carry out its functions and this is mandatory. We are alarmed that 27 states did not submit any info on precursors for more than 10 years and 11 states in the last 5 years. We urge all parties to recommit to this. We are also concerned by the low number of countries that requested to receive pre export notifications for controlled chemicals. This is voluntary under our treaties but trade in chemicals creates blind stops in our ability to monitor drugs. President Trump has stated failure of governments to address the threat of narcotic drugs and fulfill commitment. Everyone should provide information to INCB.
China: The INCB has a key role in monitoring drugs, facilitating collaboration, overseeing implementation of the drug control conventions and ensuring availability of substances for medical and scientific purposes. We appreciate the efforts and achievements toward cooperation and support. We use the import and export notification system (…) China will keep supporting INCB work and uphold the international drug control conventions. In the most recent report some chemicals were originating from China but these cases were not verified and confirmed at all. Some reports of other countries are not impartial or acceptable. We hope the INCB maintains an impartial position
The Netherlands: We align with the statement of the European Union. The latest INCB report shows cooperation is urgently needed. Across all continents persistent challenges remain and we must tackle them effectively. We must strengthen cooperation and call for balanced approaches. The report states the trafficking of cocaine and other drugs are at unacceptable levels in the Netherlands. This is not being solved by focusing on supply alone, we must also reduce demand, break down criminal business models and improve public health. We have brought in new regulations on new psychoactive substances. We value cooperation with the INCB and note their report says the Netherlands has entered an experimental phase of cannabis supply. This is correct, now coffee shops in 10 municipalities can sell only from specific suppliers. We hope to ensure effects on crime, order, health, and safety are reported. We won’t jump to conclusions during the experiment, but draw conclusions at the end based on scientific monitoring and evaluation. We were also mentioned with regard to labs producing amphetamine type stimulants and we remain committed to dismantling these. We have also seen an increase in precursors of fentanyl trafficked through the Netherlands but we have not seen production of synthetic opioids. We wish to renew support for the INCB and assure you of our commitment to cooperation.
Russian Federation: Consistently support the INCB within its mandate under the three conventions. These efforts are relevant as an increasing number of countries are openly violating conventions. We expect the board to sustain principled position and such violations are unacceptable, particularly legalisation. We understand the INCB is under a liquidity crisis and the decision of CND in 2025 will sustain regular budget funding for regular activities and restore the traditional financing model to respect INCB independence. We look forward to cooperation with INCB and other countries to put substances and precursors under control, which we have submitted to the UN. The use of substances not scheduled under conventions poses a great threat. We are confident our proposal will combat synthetics and achieve public health and safety. Appreciate the INCB learning initiative which allows for learning and practical training to increase availability of substances for medical and scientific substances and ensure implementation of conventions. With our support, two training sessions were held with African countries and further proposals under consideration. We will enhance cooperation with the INCB while complying with legal requirements and continue to advocate for stronger mandate and financial sustainability of this body to preserve the drug control framework and address the world drug problem.
Pakistan: Commend the INCB for its role in data collection, analysis, and its insightful report which assists Member States in developing policies and aligning with challenges. Being a responsible member of the international community we are steadfast in combatting drug trafficking. This problem is driven by proliferation of synthetics and encrypted communications has worsened the challenge. To combat this we have enhanced surveillance. During the last 5 years we have conducted 500,000 counter narcotic activities. These achievements are testament to our resolve against drug trafficking. We assure that our control legislation is aligned with the international control regime. We support the availability of controlled substances for medical and scientific uses. We stand ready to strengthen cooperation to tackle the world drug problem and support the work of the INCB and the commission.
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): This agenda item is truly important to SPT work. INCB recommendations are very important for human rights, which are not a secondary element of international drug conventions but a prerequisite. The board does not limit to reminders but defines what it means to integrate human rights in drug policies. In UNGASS we anchored that principle. In the 20 years after we have observed the negative impact of drug policies on effectiveness of torture prevention and leading to compulsory drug treatment centers. We recommend that member states address these negative impacts of drug policies. We should ensure effective treatment of people who use drugs in harm reduction and call member states to consider alternatives to incarceration and punishment, this should be minimised and replaced by harm reduction based strategies and community care. We express concern about situations observed in so-called drug rehabilitation centers, often private without frameworks and practices that are a risk of ill treatment. We advise national preventive mechanisms to include drug policies in their monitoring mandate. Only by fully integrating human rights into drug policies can we build more effective, more just responses that are truly oriented towards the dignity of every person.
Society for the Enhancement of Global Understanding: I speak to you as a retired police officer, special agent and executive director with over 36 years of experience. In 1996 California was the 1st state to legalize medical marijuana and in 2016 legalized recreational use. It also passed proposition 47 that lowers criminal penalties for petty crimes such as grand theft, fraud, and personal drug use. Data collection from law enforcement reveals significant increase in reoffending and sentencing and arrests. The stated intentions of reducing penalties for low level drug offenders and criminal justice reforms were to replace criminal justice responses with social services and to reduce incarcerations. But the results have been more reoffending and less participation in effective drug treatment programs. Drug and theft offenders are becoming more chronic offenders despite the targeted rehabilitation programs that accompany the softer criminal justice responses. The US have an epidemic of fentanyl and other drug related overdose deaths and Americans are realising that radical laws aimed to reduce criminal drug use leads to more open drug use and overdoses. In Oregon they repealed the decriminalization laws that led to increased overdoses, crime, and homelessness. I report that according to CDC data, overdose deaths across all demographics in The United States have decreased 26%. There is much more work to do but every country should give priority to the safety of citizens and educate youth about dangers of drug use and arming law enforcement with laws to hold individuals who increase demand for drugs accountable. Transnational criminal organizations are increasing their presence in many countries and everyone should protect their most vulnerable populations. We stand proudly with the CND, in their mission stopping those responsible for fueling drug addiction, violence, and death around the world.
Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales: We are speaking on behalf of a consortium of civil society organisations working in defense of human rights and democracy in Latin America. In 2025 INCB report was expressing concern over extrajudicial killing of individuals. We are facing the use of a counterterrorism framework to combat criminal organisations. We do not wish to relativize the gravity of organised criminal activities but it has resulted in serious human rights violations. Consequences of the failure of war on drugs are expanded by the concept of narcoterrorism and this has been taken to the extreme to enable this narrative. The problem is criminal governance, not narcoterrorism. The international community must prevent impunity. We urge CND to issue recommendations to limit use of military tools and refrain from using this narrative to address crime and instead focus on vulnerable communities.
Chair: I propose the report contains the recommendations from the INCB report for 2025. Any comments? Thank you. Comments or observations from INCB president? No. We continue with agenda item 5d.
5d: International cooperation to ensure the availability of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for medical and scientific purposes while preventing their diversion
UNODC: We should prevent the diversion and non medical use of controlled substances due to harm, but ensure adequate access for medical and scientific use. Some substances are essential for pain management in emergency and humanitarian settings, and use in surgery. We affirm the need to make these available for medical and scientific purposes. 2016 UNGASS affirmed this and called on us to remove barriers while preventing diversion and misuse. Disparities remain profound. 7% of the world population consumes 90% of morphine equivalent, while many suffer pain due to limited access. Limited funding is an issue. UNODC has supported member states to achieve balance through safeguards and preventing misuse through capacity building, monitoring and tools. We have helped DRC, Fiji, Timor Leste. However this is hampered by donor funding. Access for medical and scientific purposes is more critical than ever. As new substances emerge worldwide, labs engage in analysis and clinical diagnostics to ensure access and support justice systems to prevent overdose and respond to public health emergencies. We have supported member states by providing samples. Many countries are unable to benefit due to barriers to access. All member states can strengthen capacity to detect and respond, and provide scientific evidence. Ensuring access is a legal obligation and necessity. We call on all member states to assess systems, safeguards, and capacity to protect people from harm and ensure efforts don’t create barriers for medical or scientific access.
WHO: Everyone has the right to timely, affordable, and non-discriminatory access to medicines. States must prevent diversion and the non-medical use in line with conventions. Policies must strike a balance to prevent the diversion and safeguard communities. We released guidelines to support Member States and promoted controlled medicines policies that are scientifically sound and rights based. We call on governments to strengthen monitoring and ensure availability and affordability, use technologies to enhance tracking and reduce stock outs. Support sustainable procurement to ensure safe and cost effective medicines, and encourage states to evaluate benefits and risks of local production. Efficient import and export regulations are recommended to facilitate timely access. Frameworks must protect patient safety without creating barriers. Controlled medicines should be available and accessible and safeguards should not undermine access. Scheduling decisions should be grounded in scientific evidence and prioritise optimised outcomes. Regarding prescribing, distributing, and administering we promote non discriminatory guidelines to enable health professionals to work within full scope of their expertise. We call on opioids to be available everywhere they are needed, including in criminal justice settings. We urge governments to establish mechanisms to manage conflicts of interest. We highlight the role of education and knowledge. Comprehensive training should be embedded in curricula and education. Patients and the public in general must receive information on benefits and risks of medicines. New recommendations balance rights based approach and ensure medicines are available while implementing proportionate safeguards to prevent harm. Shared responsibility of Member States to align public health. Gaps remain particularly in low and middle income countries. Research rarely addresses access and safety, and is missing context specific data. We must strengthen international cooperation and improve data systems, and share knowledge across regions. Can protect public health and uphold human rights while ensuring access to medicine for all.
INCB: In 10 years since UNGASS the international community has gained awareness of the importance of ensuring availability of opioid analgesics and substances for pain management, treatment of mental health, and opioid agonist therapy. Political commitments and practical policies prove access can be scaled up even in low cost settings. We support Member States through learning programs and supplementary reports on availability, trends analysis and engagement with WHO, UNODC, and civil society. Global progress is yet to be reflected in data reported to the INCB. Morphine is one of the most affordable opioids but in 2024 82% of the world population consumed only 14% of the total amount of morphine used worldwide. 86% of global consumption is concentrated in Europe and North America. Barriers include regulation, cultural issues, lack of training, and affordability. Tracking consumption remains a challenge as only around half of countries provide consumption data. Analysis shows that while some progress has been achieved, regional disparities persist including for substances in the WHO list of essential medicine. Anti epileptic medicine is most manufactured by weight, manufacture of diazepam more than halved, ADHD medicine production increased, and benzodiazepines were the most consumed. More information is available in the INCB report. Ensuring availability is critically important during humanitarian emergencies where access to controlled medicines must be ensured. International travellers carrying controlled medicine for legitimate medical use must navigate complex regulations and controls. Entry of travellers legitimately holding controlled medicines must be allowed. Requires integrated approach addressing affordability. UNGASS outcomes document and boards availability report remain key documents for joint efforts and we look forward to continuing to support governments.
European Union: Albania, Andorra, Georgia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Republic Of Moldova, San Marino, Serbia, The United Kingdom, and Ukraine, align themselves with these statements. The full version will be published on the website. We reaffirm strong commitment to ensuring access and availability of internationally controlled drugs for medical and scientific purposes while preventing diversion and non medical use. Underline that achieving balance requires a comprehensive evidence-based approach. The existing barriers include legislative and regulatory obstacles, lack of resources, weak health and supply systems, not enough training of healthcare professionals, limited data and monitoring capacity, lack of research for treatment, issues related to affordability, stigma and lack of awareness. There must be international cooperation and exchange of good practices. Collaboration among governments, international organisations, health authorities, academia, civil society, community led organisation and private sector is essential. The role of INCB in supporting implementation of conventions and international cooperation is essential. We recall the importance of effective implementation of resolution 67/2 and remain committed to translate commitments into concrete action . We stress the importance of ensuring access and availability of adequate effective treatment, care and support services for people in pain, mental health conditions and drug use disorders, including risk and harm reduction services, and of promoting integrated people centered and nonstigmatizing health responses. EU supports research and innovation and underline importance of inclusive research with gender perspective and age-appropriate approach.Concerned about global inequities in access to controlled medicines, particularly in low‑ and middle‑income countries and in emergency contexts. We stress the need to strengthen preparedness and resilience of health systems and supply chains.
Colombia: We consider a priority to achieve balance between controlling deviation and the ability of allowing legitimate use, essential to guarantee the right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. There are many barriers to this. We are updating regulations and implementing a national prescription application for different actors in the health system. We continue to promote a balanced approach based on science, public health, human rights, and institutional responsibility.
Singapore: We established a robust framework to ensure availability of controlled substances for medical and scientific purposes including misuse of drugs act and medicines act. We have regular reviews and updates to ensure balance between accessibility and control. Internationally controlled substances with no medical use are available to research but limited to access by individuals. We are committed to advance healthcare and maintain safety standards. (…) Digital signatures minimise risk of fraudulent licenses and authorizations. Overseas authorities will receive our licenses in a timely manner. Last year we updated guidelines for supply allowing delivery of prescribed meds with narcotic drugs to patient homes and minimise diversion. Mental health is a priority and we will expand psychiatric services and launch a new medical guide and starting this year general practitioners can manage mild to moderate causes of anxiety and depression. We emphasize medical use of controlled substances must be supported and a balanced approach to drug control is essential.
Ghana: We have worked to ensure availability for medical and scientific purposes while preventing diversion. We have taken steps to update policies. Passing narcotic control commission to update control policies. Rolling out guidelines to ensure availability. Collaborative cooperation through human centered interventions to build well equipped communities. Worked with international partners to combat drug trafficking and diversion. Hosting 2026 conference of intl society of substance use professionals which will strengthen addiction workforce among policy makers.
Belgium: Access to controlled medicines is not only treaty obligation but a matter of dignity and right to health. We wish to draw attention to conference room paper held on the margins of CND thematic debate last October. This consultation organised by Belgium, UNODC, African group, affirms need for policy coherence that translates into capacity building, stronger data systems and upholding safeguard against misuse. Turning this into practice requires investing in people and systems. We support the African Chapter of UNODC young doctors network. Young medical progressions are key to accelerate change from ground up. If we leave no one behind we must ask, who is furthest behind. Research in the lancet underscores overlooked reality – children in need of controlled medicines face disproportionate access and this means effective care is not possible. Reversing this must recognise children’s specific vulnerabilities and ensuring child appropriate formulations and improving child specific data and removing fears. This is not a question of starting from scratch. Evidence shows improvement is achievable when applied coherently. Under implementation and policy frameworks being adult centred not reflecting children’s requirements. Translating WHO guidelines into practice requires deliberate shift and placing children at the centre of policy design. A balanced system is one that prevents diversion that relieves suffering. Reform, capacity building, and building engagement are interconnected. We remain committed to work with UNODC, WHO, INCB, and regional partners to transfer policy into access.
South Africa: Access to medicine is a cornerstone of Universal Health Coverage. Ensuring controlled substances are available while preventing diversion is both a legal obligation under control treaties and a moral imperative to uphold dignity and health of our people. Africa continues to have the lowest consumption of controlled medicines worldwide. Stringent control measures may inadvertently hinder access for patients requiring palliative care and pain management. Must pursue a balanced approach, safeguarding against diversion while meeting medical needs. Affordability must be recognised as a critical dimension. Accessibility, availability and affordability work together to ensure holistic care. Robust legislative framework strengthens access for medical and scientific purposes. South African Health Products Regulation Authority is mandated to licence and schedule substances and update prescription rules to update access including for controlled medicines. Pharmacy act regulates operation and access to pharmacies and ensures equitable access to pharmaceuticals. The essential medicines list and treatment guidelines ensure access to quality medicines across the country. Ensure access, availability, affordability are treated as complimentary pillars. Emphasis on global cooperation and shared responsibility which can help combat persisting challenges of accessibility, availability, and affordability. Providing valuable direction for medical access and patient safety. We commend the UNODC and Belgium for leadership to accelerate implementation to improve access and availability for controlled substances on the African continent. Access must not be a privilege for a few but a right. Regional and international cooperation remain crucial.
Kenya: We appreciate the work of UNODC and INCB within their mandates to support member states to ensure access and availability to controlled substances. 2 very critical aspects have to be emphasized: 1) narcotic and psychotropic substances are highly addictive and prone to abuse 2) they have many medical uses particularly in relief of pain. We ensure adequate supply of controlled substances while preventing diversion through our competent agency. One major challenge is access and affordability and prices fluctuation in developed countries where narcotic pain meds are limited. We must address the pricing and affordability of meds and call for partnership in strengthening state’s capacities.
Russian Federation: Ensuring availability while preventing diversion is the main goal of our work and inaction leads to suffering of people who can’t be cured but can be helped. We had a tenfold increase in availability of pain relieving meds and the recipe for this was: to remove legal barriers to the reasonable minimum to prevent diversion, using a unified method to calculate needed opioid quantities, developing convenient formulations and doses that make pharmaceutical decisions of no interest. Management structures need constant feedback and we have a government hotline for patients to complain about prescription of opioids and operates 24/7. Problems are solved in 1 working day. Training healthcare professionals is a key task. Since 2025, our centre of palliative care has gained status from WHO and we started training doctors from other counties in pain relief. We need cooperation and there are still many barriers.
Indonesia: We maintain a robust legal and regulatory framework for scheduling of controlled substances and continuously update it based on scientific evidence and risk assessment and emerging trends. We engage at the multilateral level in international scheduling processes within the WHO expert committee on drug dependence. With international cooperation, information sharing, coordination between regulatory authorities, law enforcement agencies, forensic laboratories and flexible regulatory approaches ensure scheduling addresses evolving trends. We welcome expert commission recommendations from October and reaffirm coca leaf is controlled as well as MDMB-FUBINACA that already was before its scheduling. And stress concern regarding rapid spread of new psychoactive substances particularly high potency opioids of nitazene group. Recent global developments are a threat that affects the nation but we have no domestic cases of ??? (a specific synthetic opioid?). We appreciate INCB report which provides analysis of drug trends globally and will continue to work with UN entities to reinforce early warning systems.
Hungary: We are aligned with EU statement. Variety of new psychoactive substances is rapidly increasing therefore we need to prevent diversion. Laboratories that analyse NPS face obstacles due to licensing and legal regulations that are different between states. We suggest a pilot to establish a network with licensed customs and toxicological laboratories. Members could be exempted from certain administrative obligations related to acquisition of small quantities of reference materials and remain subject to the rest of control and monitoring. This could contribute to improved response of early warning systems. This idea is still initial but we will go back to this in the future.
China: We affirm our efforts to ensure availability of medical and scientific purposes. Enacted law and legislation to administer narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and categorize based on use. Substances prone to abuse are scheduled promptly. We have strengthened guidance of enterprise, manufacturing, and trading of controlled substances and closely monitoring online sales and clinical use to adjust production volumes minimising effects on access. Import and export authorization clearance to facilitate legitimate international trade and formulate plans to ensure access for clinical use. Continuously improve management of substances in medical institutions to promote digital management and conduct risk assessments to prevent diversion. We identify management loopholes promptly and implement corrective measures. A system for use in medical institutions has been introduced to standardize prescribing. Publicity and training strengthened to guide the public and educate about risk and enhance awareness and capacity to say no to drugs.
Thailand: Ensuring availability for medical and scientific use while preventing misuse. Driven by increasing treatment demand especially for medicines used in ADHD management. Implementing supply diversion disruption. Implementing measures such as promoting domestic manufacturing and enhancing security to improve access. Ensuring equitable and efficient nationwide distribution. We have expanded treatment options for ADHD to expand use of medicine. Preventing diversion through information sharing and agency cooperation. Implementing track and test system to monitor supply chain from source to user. We reaffirm our commitment to ensuring access for medical and scientific purposes while ensuring we prevent diversion. We remain committed to the public health and wellbeing of the people.
Nigeria: We align with the 2009 Political Declaration, and 2019 Ministerial Declaration, to tackle world drug problems. As we navigate this landscape we must ensure access to controlled medicines while preventing diversion and misuse. We have introduced a traceability system to monitor distribution channels and support compliance while ensuring access and preventing diversion. We remain a target for illicit trafficking of highly addictive substances, particularly precursors, these pose a significant public health threat and we support strengthened control measures and continued regional cooperation to reduce availability of substances across the region. This is aligned with Pillar 1 Supply Reduction of our National Drugs Strategy. At national level we recognise enforcement must be balanced with public health and prevention. We have implemented school based programs to educate young people on the risk of drugs and promote health lifestyles. Access to controlled medicines working groups has been established to improve cooperation. Supports balanced policies while safeguarding against diversion. We develop international partnerships with UNODC, INTERPOL, and other groups to strengthen intelligence sharing to disrupt trafficking networks. Advancing balanced and evidence based response to the world drug problem.
African Union: We reiterate the fundamental principle of ensuring adequate availability of narcotic drugs for medical and scientific purposes while preventing diversion. Across the African continent access to controlled medicines remains limited, particularly opioids. This is linked to structural challenges such as regulatory constraints, stigma, and limited technical capacity. We promote balanced and evidence-based approaches through implementation of the African Union Plan on Drug Control and Crime Prevention. This enhances pharmacovigilance and monitoring and supports capacity building. International cooperation is critical. We need to improve technical assistance, knowledge exchange, and supply chain monitoring. At the same time, we need robust safeguards to prevent diversion and illicit trafficking. This includes strengthening regulatory oversight, enhancing cross border cooperation, and improving intelligence sharing to address vulnerabilities, informatical supply. We reaffirm commitment to working closely with member states to advance balanced drug control policies that protect public health.
International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care: in 2026, 10 years after UNGASS, and only 4 years before 2030 agenda goals must be met, the majority of member states fail in protecting the health of mankind. Nearly 90% of world’s population still lack adequate access to internationally controlled meds. We developed tools to help member states meet this challenge. And we invite member states to review the packages to fulfill their commitments which include holistic palliative care. We respectfully ask: what steps are you taking to ensure safe availability of meds? Do your national meds list include essential controlled meds and are you procuring them in enough quantity? Do your medical, nursing, and pharmacy curricula include training on pain management and palliative care? Are you reviewing unduly restricting regulatory barriers to balance access and control? We understand the funding cuts, security challenges, and competing priorities are pushing these priorities down national agendas and we are standing by to assist. We want the 2025 WHO guideline on safe and balanced control medicines policies. High level guidance will not change realities. Unless member states adopt, implement, and resource them with coherent strategies. Health education, regulatory, and pharmaceutical systems must align, civil society must be meaningfully engaged but this will not close the 90% access gap, we need to partner with you. My question is simple: When we reconvene in 2030, will we celebrate the fact that the equity gap has been closed through our constructive partnerships? If so, we will then be able to say that we acted together to show our citizens that it can be done.
Edufun Foundation Trust: We are a grassroot community based organisation on prevention, youth awareness and family centered engagement. We focus on strengthening resilience and I speak as a pharmacist and president of civil society. My experience shows misuse of prescription meds and alcohol with medicinal syrup. Individuals struggling with addiction obtain this without prescription and this leads to serious health consequences that I have personally witnessed. Another serious issue is tramadol which is important for pain management but increasingly used as a narcotic substitute for intoxication as a copying mechanism for stress and physical discomfort leading to dependency and withdrawal. Also the misuse of meds such as alprazolam taken without medical supervision and methylphenidate that students misuse before exams to suppress sleep and study more. We need more collaboration between governments, healthcare, professionals, educators and community organisations. Medicine should remain tools for healing, not source of addiction. If we improve awareness we can protect communities and ensure responsible use of meds.
Students for Sensible Drug Policies: Good afternoon Chair, Excellencies, distinguished delegates. My name is Gina Giorgio and I am a representative of Students for Sensible Drug Policy in the United States working on evidence-informed drug policy and public health reform. It is a pleasure to address the 69th Session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs. Under agenda item 5(d), we offer several practical recommendations to strengthen implementation of the conventions’ dual mandate: ensuring availability for medical and scientific purposes while preventing diversion. We encourage Member States to establish clear, proportionate regulatory pathways that allow accredited medical and research institutions to conduct supervised clinical training programs involving internationally controlled substances, consistent with treaty obligations and national law. We recommend licensing frameworks that permit certified clinicians-in-training to participate in hands-on instruction within secure, hospital-based or research-based settings. Training conducted exclusively within compliant institutions strengthens diversion prevention by maintaining substances within tightly regulated supply chains. In several countries, structured training programs in psychedelic-assisted therapy already exist. Clinicians can be trained extensively in therapeutic protocols, ethics, and patient safety. However, because many psychedelic substances remain in Schedule I until rescheduled, many trainees are unable to receive supervised instruction that includes direct administration of the medicine itself within lawful clinical environments. This creates a practical gap between theoretical preparation and implementation readiness for psychedelic-assisted therapy. The need for such pathways is increasingly practical. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration is reviewing applications related to 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)- and psilocybin-assisted therapies for post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder, respectively. Yet because these substances remain in Schedule I under domestic law until rescheduled, many clinicians face significant barriers to training in supervised clinical environments. This creates workforce bottlenecks and regulatory strain precisely at the moment when preparedness is most important. We therefore recommend that Member States consider mechanisms that allow tightly controlled clinical training in parallel with regulatory review processes for psychedelic-assisted therapy. Preparing a qualified workforce is not liberalization. It is prudent public health planning consistent with the conventions’ commitment to ensure availability for legitimate medical and scientific purposes. Thank you.
Item 5e: Other matters arising from the international drug control treaties
UNODC: Drug markets continue to be increasingly complex due rapid emergence of NPS and precursors. Criminal groups continue to adapt. This evolving landscape underlines the need for early detection of threats. Significant progress has been achieved, early warning systems are proving timely allowing faster responses across all regions. CND has strengthened control by scheduling new substances and precursor chemicals. These highlight the value of science based decision making. Vital member states have capacity to implement them. Vital UNODC supports responses on the ground. Testing labs receive assistance from UNODC and we have published new guidance to help countries evaluate emerging substances more effectively. Over the past year clandestine lab panels and guidelines have been developed. Financial institutions against drugs have prevented money laundering. More than 200 tonnes of drugs and chemicals were safely disposed of.Tailored training meets needs of member states. Science enables us to respond to challenges and guide efforts to tackle synthetics. UNODC synthetic drug strategy provides a framework grounded in science. The UN toolkit on synthetics remains committed to mounting informed responses and we invite member states to continue to use these tools.
USA: We firmly support control conventions and the role of CND to provide guidance to member states. We believe the panel being convened in response to resolution 68/6 must respect the mandated role of CND and role of the conventions. We have nominated worlds foremost effort Virginia Patton Prugh who has demonstrated expertise on control conventions and many of you are deeply familiar with her integrity and commitments. Her election to the panel will ensure recommendations are practical and useful to the CND.
Holy See: The promotion of initiatives at establishing just and humane criminal justice systems is of utmost importance and urgency. The Holy See urges the international community to reject the death penalty and other cruel and inhuman punishment including victims of substance abuse. The death penalty has long been considered a reasonable approach but there is now increasing awareness that dignity has not been lost by people committing very serious crimes. New understanding of the significance of state sanctions. Must ensure due protection of systems and provide guilty the possibility of redemption. Fundamental dignity should be coupled with the duty of the state to protect especially those vulnerable to addiction. The fight is against those who make immense business out of drugs and addiction. States have a duty to dismantle criminal groups, but it is easier to fight victims. Too often, war is waged against the poor, filling prisons with those who are the final link in the chain of death. Must be adequate policy for recovery for addiction and investment in development, education, and employment.
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights: I am honoured to address the Commission on this item of matters arising from the international drug control treaties. The mandate I hold as Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples requires me to examine how global policy frameworks, including drug control regimes, affect the rights, lives and cultural integrity of Indigenous Peoples. Today, I wish to highlight the urgent human rights implications of the continued classification of the coca leaf under Schedule I of the 1961 Single Convention, an issue that remains highly relevant as the CND considers matters linked to treaty implementation. First, the coca leaf is not merely a plant, it is a cornerstone of the cultural, spiritual and medicinal traditions of millions of Indigenous Peoples in the Andean–Amazonian region. Its current international status has resulted in criminalization of traditional practices, stigmatization, and the erosion of cultural rights. Delisting the coca leaf is essential to uphold the rights to culture, religion and traditional medicines, as affirmed in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Second, the right to health of Indigenous Peoples requires States to ensure access to traditional medicines and health practices. UN human rights mechanisms have recognized that medicinal plants vital to Indigenous Peoples’ health must be protected, and not restricted through punitive drug control measures. Allowing the coca leaf in its natural form supports the full enjoyment of this right and prevents negative impacts on Indigenous lands and livelihoods. Third, the current scheduling framework has generated disproportionate harm without due consideration of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. The WHO review, and the deliberations of this Commission, offer a long overdue opportunity to correct a historical injustice. Integrating a human rights‑based approach, including the meaningful participation of Indigenous Peoples, is essential for fair and evidence‑based decision‑making. Excellencies, As you take forward your work under this agenda item, I respectfully encourage the Commission to ensure that drug control measures do not override human rights obligations. A decision to delist the coca leaf; grounded in science, culture, and human rights; would represent a significant step toward aligning the international drug control system with the dignity and rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Organization of American States: I wish to highlight that our American drug abuse control commission has been for 40 years improving drug policies, public health and security in the Americas. The global drug problem has evolved since it was created and we observe criminal organisations resorting to violence. Changing use patterns strain the health and justice system and force states to respond in increasingly demanding environments. This was accelerated by expansion of synthetic drugs that outpace capacity of member states to adapt. They have cheap production, high potency and ease of distribution and this impacts people’s health and fractures communities. Particularly vulnerable populations such as young people that are recruited for criminal organisations but challenges go beyond drugs and we face a converging criminal economy. The networks use cryptocurrencies and finance themselves with illegal mining relying on heavy weaponry and these are not isolated crimes. We can’t keep relying on past solutions. We need effective drug security policy focused on dismantling networks attacking financial, logistical and operational structures of organized crime and improving cooperation among states. Drugs are often the starting point but criminal convergence is the strategic threat our societies face. No state is safe and only an equally integrated response can be effective. This is the challenge before this commission today, requiring vision, cooperation, and sustaining action. We reaffirm our agreement to innovate alongside member states and parents to confront criminal convergence and remain ready to guard our holistic vision and approach on drug abuse control in the Americas for 40 years more.
Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs (VNGOC): I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs, the New York NGO Committee on Drugs, the African Civil Society Platform on Drugs, the American Coalition on Drug Policy, and the Civil Society Forum on Drugs in the EU. On Monday, our civil society platforms, along with other partners, convened a side event dedicated to the newly established multidisciplinary expert panel under CND resolution 68/6. The discussion brought together civil society representatives from different regions and perspectives, including youth organisations, global and regional networks, and representatives of people with lived and living experience. The message was clear: civil society stands ready to contribute constructively to the panel, as was explicitly decided by CND resolution 68/6. We were also honoured by the participation and contribution of Slovenia, represented by Her Excellency Ambassador Melita Župevc, Permanent Representative of Slovenia in Vienna. Civil society organisations bring unique value to the work of the panel. They provide direct community connections, real-time knowledge from the ground, and practical experience in prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, access to essential medicines, development, policy implementation, and human rights. They also serve as an important institutional memory, having contributed to previous processes such as 2016 UNGASS on the World Drug Problem and the 2019 Ministerial Segment. However, meaningful engagement will not happen automatically. It must be actively designed and implemented. Therefore, we respectfully call for the panel to conduct structured, transparent, and inclusive consultation mechanisms with civil society, including: open global calls for written submissions; inclusive consultation hearings, both virtual and regional, and accessible across time zones and languages; engagement with youth organisations and affected communities, including people with lived and living experience, as well as Indigenous Peoples; ensuring civil society organisations without ECOSOC status can contribute to these opportunities; and, meaningful consideration of civil society inputs in the panel’s recommendations, and transparent reporting on how this is done. Civil society is not simply an observer. It is a partner in implementation, innovation, and accountability. Our platforms stand ready to work with the panel to ensure that this important process benefits from the full diversity of knowledge and experience available from civil society across the globe.
International Drug Policy Consortium: I am making this statement on behalf of the International Drug Policy Consortium, a global network of 200 civil society and community organisations working to advance drug policies grounded in human rights and social justice. IDPC has produced a new flagship report, The UNGASS Decade in Review: Gaps, Achievements and Paths for Reform, and it draws sobering conclusions. Despite important new commitments to promote health, human rights and development in the last decade, the global drug control system continues to generate profound and preventable harm. Drug policies globally continue to drive criminalisation and mass incarceration, with people living in poverty, women, LGBTQI+ people, racialised communities and young people being disproportionately affected. Extrajudicial killings in the name of combatting the drug trade are escalating and continue to be committed with impunity. Between 2016 and 2021, the UN reported 2.6 million drug use-related deaths. These deaths are preventable through policies that support, don’t punish, people who use drugs. Funding for life-saving harm reduction services remains insufficient and is shrinking. Access to controlled medicines for pain relief also remains deeply unequal. In cultivation areas, Indigenous Peoples and farming communities continue to face violence, forced eradication and economic marginalisation. Excellencies, The UN drug control system is facing profound crises and requires urgent reform. A decade on from UNGASS, incremental change will not suffice. We therefore welcome the multidisciplinary panel of independent experts. It has a historic opportunity to recommend ambitious reforms guided by the following core principles: First, that drug policy be fully aligned with international human rights law. Drug control cannot be used to justify violations of the right to life, health, or freedom from discrimination. Second, a decisive rebalancing towards public health, including removing criminal penalties for drug use and related activities, and scaling up harm reduction and voluntary, evidence-based treatment. Third, embed drug policies within development- and gender-responsive approaches, particularly for communities affected by illicit crop cultivation and by punitive enforcement. Fourth, prioritising accountability, ensuring that serious violations of international law committed in the name of drug control are systematically monitored and addressed. Impunity is no longer an option. The panel’s review must be inclusive. Civil society and affected communities — including people who use drugs, Indigenous Peoples, farmers, formerly incarcerated people and youth — must be meaningfully involved throughout. Their lived experience and expertise are indispensable to building a credible, effective and just system. Meaningful involvement requires consultations, a call for written inputs, and a commitment by the panel to reflect these inputs into its recommendations. We will soon publish a series of more detailed recommendations on this important issue. The next decade must not repeat the failures of the past. IDPC stands ready to engage constructively to support transformative change. The lives of millions are at stake.
Harm Reduction International: In 2019, member states reaffirmed their commitment to promoting human rights and dignity in drug policies. Seven years on, that promise remains largely unfulfilled. Punitive responses to drugs continue to dominate, rights protections are being eroded, and international cooperation is under strain. Harm reduction has been endorsed by the entire UN system – including this forum – as an essential component of health- and rights-based drug policies. Yet, implementation remains elusive. By the end of 2025, Harm Reduction International documented a modest global expansion, with 112 countries in diverse contexts endorsing these approaches. Yet, deep regional disparities persist, and in many places, availability, accessibility and quality fall far short. Stigma, discrimination and criminalisation act as almost insurmountable barriers to access, particularly for women, racial and ethnic minorities, and other marginalised groups. The situation is even more dire in prisons. People who use drugs are overrepresented due to criminalisation, but services are almost entirely absent. Where they do exist, they are underfunded, difficult to access, and unevenly distributed. At the same time, the global funding landscape is rapidly deteriorating. Harm reduction funding is now critically fragile. The double hit of US cuts and the Global Fund replenishment shortfall, combined with minimal domestic financing, has pushed harm reduction programmes to breaking point. It has also stripped away the critical enablers that would protect harm reduction through a process of integration into primary health care – human rights and gender work, community-led interventions and advocacy. In this context, the push for rapid integration is not a pathway to sustainability – it is an equity risk. Without careful planning and concrete investments, integration becomes a euphemism for erasure. Instead of investing in life-saving harm reduction measures, governments continue spending hundreds of millions of dollars on ineffective and harmful punitive drug policies. Equally alarming, the death penalty remains a core feature of punitive drug policies. HRI reports over 1200 drug-related executions in 2025 – the highest number in 20 years; with drug offences accounting for nearly half of all executions globally. Against these developments, the silence of CND and UNODC sends a dangerous message: that human rights can be set aside, when politically inconvenient. These challenges point to deep structural shortcomings in the global drug control system. We therefore welcome the establishment of the Independent expert panel and urge it to: 1) Examine the use of the death penalty. 2) Assess health and social outcomes for people who use drugs; and 3) Interrogate patterns of international cooperation and financing. We emphasise the importance of meaningful participation of civil society, people who use drugs and affected communities in the implementation of the Panel’s mandate. More just and effective drug policies are within reach, but only if we place people who use drugs at the centre, divest from extreme and ineffective policies, and invest in harm reduction and other social justice interventions. Today’s funding landscape threatens to un-do hard-fought human rights and health gains and push essential services past breaking point. We have the tools and evidence to prevent this rollback – what we need is political will. Thank you,
Community Alliances for Drug Free Youth: Marijuana legalisation negatively impacting policy globally. Significant negative consequences for employers and many employers no longer test for Marijuana. This has ultimately made the workforce less safe. This has been created without specific scientific support. Politics and money take precedent over science. Adverse harmful effects of marijuana are totally disregarded. Science and regulation protect individual, commercialised policies protect industry. In 2011, marijuana industry spent $35,000 while in 2024 it spent $3 million. In 2025 the marijuana industry spent over $100 million to change a single state constitution to allow recreational marijuana, though this was defeated by vote. The US experience reveals pronounced lobbying and raises concerns over creation of public policy for market over public good. Job creation and tax revenue have not materialised, complicating the narrative that liberalisation is in public interest. State level reforms with a commercialised approach has not delivered public health outcomes. Global policy should not blindly implement a liberalisation model that lacks safeguards. Must pursue policies rooted in independent science, transparent governance, and review.
Corporación Centro de Estudios de Derecho, Justicia y Sociedad: I am making this statement on behalf of Elementar Mujeres Libres, Allanca Coca para la Paz, Dejusticia. We wish to address 3 issues: 1) independent expert panel: we wish to welcome the adoption of a resolution led by Colombia last year and acknowledge progress made in establishing the panel. Its value lies not in its merged system but in how it functions. From the Global South, we must be clear. We demand that the panels work with the spirit of independence with which it was created. Experts in human rights with knowledge of the implication of drug policy for peasants and indigenous communities and those who have experienced deprivation of liberty among other populations affected by prohibition must have a genuine voice in its deliberations, not merely symbolic representation. The existing mechanisms to ensure civil society in these deliberations are important but insufficient. It is urgent to guarantee effective conditions for participation in terms of language, accessibility, and transparency of information.Only this way can a truly legitimate review process be promoted. 2) panel’s mandate and treaties. The panel has the obligation to address tension between drug conventions and other international obligations: declaration on rights of indigenous peoples, international covenant on economic, social and cultural rights and standards of universal human rights system. The case for coca leaf illustrates this: WHO review process dismissed community and indigenous knowledge, invoking absence of evidence that control regime makes impossible to build, a vicious cycle that must be named as a structural failure of the system and not a risk to be managed to maintain the status quo. 3) political will. Member states that supported this resolution, especially from GS, must support the panel with political protection against external pressure. Colombia sacrificed more that any other country in a war that was imposed. Also Mexico, Bolivia and other GS countries must be at the center of the panel’s work.
Chair: It is 1pm now, I propose we finish with our 3 remaining speakers
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM Inc): The three main drug control conventions are the cornerstone of drug policy, not failed drug legalisation and harm reduction approaches. Its growing opposition to cannabis commercialization. Massachusetts will vote to repeal legalization, along with Arizona and Montana. Public opinion is being reversed against the harmfulness of cannabis, the New York Times now publicly declares America has a cannabis problem. These are major steps towards evidence-based public health and public safety models structured around prevention treatment and recovery and does not stop with cannabis. Decriminalisation of all drugs allows for free and full legalisation was rejected in the progressive State of Oregon, British Columbia in Canada because of its failures. We urge member states to remember this path is most cost effective and humane. The time is now for this body to reject legalization of drugs which you have an obligation under the conventions. Finally, we stress that the legalised drug industry is leveraged by investment treaties to challenge any well intentioned proposals. Call for compassion, but this responds to both carrots and sticks and this is what we are dealing with in North America with the overdose crisis. We call on all member states to cooperate.
Instituto Ria: Addressing agenda item 5e I’m asking myself: instead of reaffirming commitment to financial support and enforcement of treaties, should we also be inquiring what claims and values are they based on, and what is their relation to the state of the world and our knowledge as it evolves over time? As a global community, we state our commitments to certain noble ideals via declarations of the UN and others, simultaneously conducting an activity yhat harms them, prevents their thriving or their existence. We are waging a worldwide war, enshrined in the conventions of the UN, a self‑proclaimed peace‑building international institution. Some call it a world drug problem to be addressed and countered, some call it a war on drugs.It is indeed a fight that is going on, globally for several decades. Maybe not with explosives, but pervasive and harmful consequences. Have we not noticed the contradictions, or are we choosing it? Sasha Shulgin asked in TiHKAL, “who benefits from the prohibition?” This we should be asking. It is my second year at CND, and it has been a shock. I can’t comprehend how many of us come here for decades and maintain sanity amongst the hypocrisy and irrationality of scheduling and scheduling, the proclaimed commitments immediately contradicted by their consequences, the repetition of vague phrases, without meaning anything concrete. For nearly seventy years we come here, meet, applaud ourselves for work which is obviously failing, yet we affirm our commitments to keep doing the same thing over and over and keep asking for more money to keep doing the same. Life‑learning paths can also belong to use of psychoactive drugs. They must be and will be available for these reasons and for many others. What are we afraid of? Why this war against drugs? Words of Ann Shulgin keep resonating in my mind: I believe there is an intense, unconscious fear of the hidden depth of the human psyche and an unacknowledged certainty that their shadow, dark side, is indeed the final, terrible, rock‑bottom truth about the nature of mankind. Until there is a growth of understanding that the shadow side and realization that it is possible for the dark aspect to undergo transformation, this fear and hostility towards anything that opens up human unconscious will continue.
Latinoamerica Reformer (LAR): I come from Chile and I represent an NGO working with people who use Cannabis for medical purposes. In our country, drug regulations have been moving forward since 2015, allowing medical uses of Cannabis and its derivatives, as written in Drug Law Number 20,000. Recently, there has also been a debate over the medical use of psilocybin. Although, in our country, thousands of people are still processed for minor offenses against drug law, mostly for Cannabis and cocaine base, equally, a lot of people are free from charges by using medical prescriptions that allow them to grow cannabis plants at home or in dispensaries, such as civil associations. We have been working since 2011, initially with children with epilepsy, adults with cancer, and people with other diseases. The work of civil society with people who use drugs made it possible for the government to regulate and provide guidance on how cannabis and its derivatives could be used by medical doctors, through Presidential Decree No. 84 of 2015 which established the regulatory framework for medical cannabis in Chile. We are simply a group of medical doctors, journalists, and psychologists. But, over this time working, we have reached the conviction that drug laws must be revisited because they cause significant harm: send people to jail unnecessarily, raise barriers to accessing painkiller medications, facilitate the operation of black markets, encourage corruption among public servants such as the Police or Gendarmerie, and undermine public health — which is, after all, the ultimate objective of the 1961, 1971, and 1988 Drug Conventions. So we salute the initiative E/CN.7/2025/L.6 that “Decides to establish under its auspices, and with the aim of strengthening its work, a multidisciplinary panel of 20 independent experts, acting in their personal capacity, to prepare a clear, specific and actionable set of recommendations aimed at enhancing the implementation of the obligations of the” Drug Conventions. We place our hopes in the work of this Panel, which represents the different regions of the world and will carry out its review together with national regulatory authorities and relevant stakeholders, including civil society, the scientific community, academia, youth groups, the private sector, affected communities, and other relevant actors interested in Drug Policy affairs. Civil society will support the outcome of the expert panel if it effectively updates and strengthens the international drug regulatory system—while respecting human rights and enhancing public health for the people of our countries. We call upon the governments represented in the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to reflect on the impact that a new regulatory approach could have on public health and the well-being of our citizens. For us, this must translate into a firm commitment from States Parties to ensure the effective functioning of the panel and to provide it with the necessary administrative support. This is essential to develop the best possible update proposals, addressing issues that in some cases have been pending for decades. Key areas for review include the criteria for scheduling controlled substances, the recognition of their medicinal uses, a balanced assessment of their risks, the emergence of new psychoactive substances, and, above all, the application of the principle of analogy in scheduling decisions. We dream of an international regulatory framework that allows for the controlled use of scheduled substances for medicinal purposes; a framework where fewer people are incarcerated for minor drug law offenses; where States can generate greater tax revenue by regulating legal activities and applying appropriate corrective taxes—far more effectively than the black market ever could; and where public health is protected by ensuring access to a regulated market of substances that guarantees quality, opportunity, and cultural relevance in the laws we have given ourselves as humanity and civilization, for today and for the future.
Chair: We will start again at 3pm, with 3 interventions from the Youth Forum, Young Doctors, and informal scientific network, and then we will go to item 4 until we finish it.