Improving global drug policy: UNGASS 2016 and beyond

As the world prepares for the 2016 United Nations Special Session of the General Assembly on the World Drug Problem, the global counternarcotics regime faces profound challenges. An increasing number of countries now find the regime’s emphasis on punitive approaches to illicit drugs to be problematic and are asking for reform. However, critical players such as Russia and China remain committed to the preservation of the existing approaches. In addition, the United States, creator of the regime in the 1950s, has grown less interested in playing the role of the world’s toughest drug enforcer.

As the international community debates how to move forward, Brookings has developed a series of policy briefs to evaluate the effectiveness and costs of international counternarcotics policies. The series, entitled “Improving Global Drug Policy: Comparative Perspectives and UNGASS 2016,” is unique in its global scope, and analyzes the threats and harms resulting from drug use, the drug trade, and, at times, anti-drug policies themselves. The briefs examine the impacts on national security, violent crime, political corruption, economic development, public health, and human rights.

On Thursday, April 30, the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence and the Latin America Initiative at Brookings hosted a panel discussion with project authors on the prospects for global drug policy.

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