The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was established to assist the UN in addressing a response to the interrelated issues of illicit trafficking in and use of drugs, crime prevention and criminal justice, international terrorism, and political corruption. It also functions as the secretariat to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB).
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Illegal drug market is booming, says UN watchdog
Report says production of heroin and cocaine is increasing as campaigners call for better measures to tackle cartels
The Guardian (UK)
Thursday, June 22, 2017The world’s illicit drug economy is “thriving” owing to large increases in the production of heroin and cocaine and a wider spectrum of synthetic substances on the market, the UN’s drugs watchdog said. Global seizures of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) – which include methamphetamine, amphetamine and MDMA – reached a five-year high of 191 tonnes in 2015, according to a report from the UN office on drugs and crime based on the latest figures available. The report says: “Overall, drug trafficking seems to have increased slightly in 2015 and some drug markets, particularly the cocaine and synthetic drugs markets, appear to be thriving.”
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Is the global cocaine trade in decline?
One thing is constant -- the ability of organized crime networks to adapt to new realities and hunt down new opportunities
InSight Crime
Friday, June 24, 2016The latest United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) 2016 World Drug Report presents a long-term analysis of cocaine production, seizures and consumption that comes to a startling conclusion: the cocaine trade appears to be in decline. The report poses a question with major implications for Latin American organized crime: is the global cocaine market shrinking? Both supply and demand of cocaine are likely to always be in some state of flux as the trade responds to an array of influences that range from public policy to mafia wars.
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The truth behind the UNODC's leaked decriminalisation paper
The UNODC claims that the briefing is not a final or formal document, and does not amount to a statement of its policy position
Steve Rolles (Transform)
Tuesday, October 20, 2015The UN Office on Drugs and Crime has responded to the 'leak' of its paper calling for the decriminalisation of drug possession for personal use. The document was to be presented by the UNODC at the International Harm Reduction Conference in Kuala Lumpur, and an embargoed copy had already gone to select media (the norm for such publication events). When it was then pulled at the last minute, the BBC, which had already filmed a news segment on it, decided to release it anyway. Richard Branson was filmed for the segment, and was sufficiently annoyed when the UNODC backtracked, that he broke the story himself on his blog.
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UN attempt to decriminalise drugs foiled
The UNODC paper also suggests low-level dealing should not be criminal offence
BBC News (UK)
Monday, October 19, 2015A paper from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has been withdrawn after pressure from at least one country. The document, which was leaked, recommends to consider "decriminalising drug and possession for personal consumption", arguing "arrest and incarceration are disproportionate measures". The UNODC has been under pressure for some time to make a clear statement regarding decriminalisation. UN agencies including the World Health Organisation and UNAIDS have been explicit in their opposition to drug users facing criminal sanctions on health and human rights grounds. The UNODC says the document is under review.
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UN poised to call for decriminalisation of drugs, says Richard Branson
Businessman says he is breaking embargo as he fears political pressure will lead to withdrawal of statement at last minute
The Guardian (UK)
Monday, October 19, 2015The United Nations is on the verge of issuing a call for all governments to decriminalise the possession and use of all drugs, according to businessman and global drugs campaigner Richard Branson. In a statement on the Virgin website, Branson has claimed that the call is included in an as-yet unreleased, embargoed statement by the UN office on drugs and crime (UNODC) and marks a “refreshing shift” from a body that has “shaped much of global drug policy for decades”. (Transform: Leaked document shows UN agency in charge of drug war wants world to decriminalise all drugs)
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UNODC’s shifting position on drug policy: Progress and challenges
IDPC Advocacy Note
February 2014In March 2014, country delegations will gather at the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) to review progress and challenges in international drug control since the agreement of a Political Declaration on drugs in 2009. Given that the Political Declaration aims to “eliminate or reduce significantly” the use, supply and demand of controlled drugs by 2019, this meeting represents an important opportunity for honest evaluation and an acknowledgement that these targets are not being achieved. With a United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs just two years away, this is an important time for international drug control policy.
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Download the Advocacy Note (PDF)
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UNODC Executive Director releases "contributions" ahead of CND High-Level Segment on drugs
IDPC blog
Monday, January 20, 2014Ahead of the High-Level Segment on the world drug problem to take place on 13th and 14th January 2014, the UNODC Executive Director, Yuri Fedotov, has released his "contributions" to the debate. This 19-page document is, in parts, refreshingly honest about the “unequal” progress that has been made since 2009 (with reductions in supply or demand for some drugs in some places being offset by increases elsewhere), the setbacks and new challenges, and the fact that “the overall magnitude of drug demand has not substantially changed at the global level”.
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IDPC Response to the UNODC World Drug Report 2013
International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC)
October 2013As is now to be expected, the World Drug Report 2013 represents an impressive and wide-ranging set of data, analysis and policy prescription, and provides an overview of recent trends and the current situation in terms of production, trafficking, and consumption, including the consequences of illicit drug use on health. This year it also devotes considerable space to the phenomenon of New Psychoactive Substances (NPS).
READ MORE...Download the report (PDF) -
IDPC response to the UNODC World Drug Report 2012
International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC)
October 2012This IDPC response to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)’s flagship publication, the World Drug Report, provides an overview of the data and topics presented in the Report and where appropriate, within the broader context of the current state of the UN drug control framework, offer a critical analysis of both.
Download the response (PDF) -
The Alternative World Drug Report
Counting the Costs of the War on Drugs
Transform
June 2012The Alternative World Drug Report, launched to coincide with publication of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s 2012 World Drug Report, exposes the failure of governments and the UN to assess the extraordinary costs of pursuing a global war on drugs, and calls for UN member states to meaningfully count these costs and explore all the alternatives.
READ MORE...Download the report (PDF - outside link)
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