2016 UNGASS

The international community is moving forward UNGASS 2016. This week at the UN Headquarters in New York, there is a meeting with 193 states participating. Target? Change the legal approach and policy on drugs, giving priority to public health and human rights.

Why is this summit so important? Participants are debating whether to quit the fight against drugs, which has caused a lot of violence and conflict in many areas around the world. The second meeting of the UNGASS, held in 2008, ended with a general agreement and the signing of the Plan of Action to End Trafficking in Persons and Drug Use Worldwide. After 10 years, the governments of Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia are settling on a new path, convinced that it is more than clear that the harsh policies and criminalization of drug use have led to direct negative consequences for their populations.

Corruption, violence and insecurity are a complex triad to govern territories that have been thwarted by conflict in the illicit drug trade.

More than 60,000 people were killed in Mexico, and more than 26,000 disappeared between 2006 and 2012 due to the war on drugs, according to Human Rights Watch. A human cost that civil society can no longer ignore and a global response supported by international cooperation is needed for this.

The decriminalization and regulation of drugs appears to be the safest and most urgent path as many countries begin their own path. See the case of Uruguay, Chile and the United States, where legal access to medical marijuana is already permitted.

During his speech at UNGASS, Enrique Peña Nieto, President of Mexico, made it clear what the new drug policy should adopt: human rights, prevention and public health to focus on people's well-being."

We hope that the experience of countries marked by conflict will raise awareness at the UN and promote safer ways of consuming, accessing and producing.