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the future of drug policy 1The UN General Assembly convened in New York City last week to reaffirm the global commitment to the international drug conventions.

These conventions, created to prevent and reduce drug use worldwide, remain the cornerstone of global drug policy.


ECAD was present at the meetings among over 300 NGOs that came together at the UN in New York to support the policy of drug prevention with the message:
"Prevent. Don`t Promote".

"Prevent. Don't Promote." is a campaign sponsored by numerous organizations that support the UN international drug conventions and want to see a public health and safety based policy centered on the prevention of drug use and drug problems.

A new discussion paper on the Future of Drug Policy was issued and distributed at the event in collaboration with Drug Policy Futures. It is a concise version of the certain aspects of the report "Future of Drug Policy - Real Solutions Grounded in Global Evidence", published at the end of last year and available at http://drugpolicyfutures.org
The Future of Drug Policy Discussion Paper is available at ECAD Head Office.

"Despite the rhetoric about rifts in the global consensus on drug policy, the reality on the ground is the UN and member states are upholding principles in line with the drug conventions,"  remarked our Secretary General Erik Leijonmarck.
 "Moreover, this same misleading rhetoric obscures the real progress being made to scale up public health interventions in drug policy."

Though NGOs were supportive of the meeting and outcome, there remains room for improvement on international drug policy.