UNGASS 2016 in Comparative Perspective: Improving the Prospects for Success
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Vanda Felbab-Brown
Abstract
As the international community prepares for the 2016 United Nations Special Session of the General Assembly on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS 2016), 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. At the global level, much has changed since 1998 that undermines the previous global consensus on punitive counternarcotics strategies: illicit markets and networks have shifted; the harms and costs of drugs are unevenly distributed; and states no longer agree on what drug policies work. This moment of global disagreement, which is reflected at UNGASS 2016, provides an important opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness and problematic side-effects of existing counternarcotics policies and to emphasize evidence-based strategies. This article argues that UNGASS 2016 should inject realism into the global discussion of drug policy objectives, instead of once again setting an unattainable goal of a drug-free world. The overall goal should be to strengthen states as they cope with the costs, harms, and threats posed by drug use and drug trade, and to do so in ways that increase, not erode, their legitimacy through policies that advance human rights and strengthen the bonds between the state and their citizens.
Acknowledgments
We would like to recognize the extraordinary efforts of our research assistants, Emily Miller and Bradley Porter, without whom this project would not have been completed successfully. From its inception as an idea for a grant proposal to its conclusion in marathon copy-editing sessions, the Brookings Improving Global Drug Policy Project stayed on track because of their research support, hard work, and attention to detail. We would also like to highlight the valuable contributions our program interns at Brookings, Leanza Bethel and Anna Prusa, who spent countless hours on the final edits and production of the papers for this project during their time at Brookings. Any remaining errors are those of the authors alone.
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© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- One Good Decision: The Policy Argument for Extended Release Naltrexone in the Criminal Justice Setting
- The Current State of Counternarcotics Policy and Drug Reform Debates in Myanmar
- Securitizing Narcotics: The Politics and Prospects of Russian Counterdrug Policies
- UNGASS 2016: Prospects for Treaty Reform and UN System-Wide Coherence on Drug Policy
- UNGASS 2016 in Comparative Perspective: Improving the Prospects for Success
Articles in the same Issue
- One Good Decision: The Policy Argument for Extended Release Naltrexone in the Criminal Justice Setting
- The Current State of Counternarcotics Policy and Drug Reform Debates in Myanmar
- Securitizing Narcotics: The Politics and Prospects of Russian Counterdrug Policies
- UNGASS 2016: Prospects for Treaty Reform and UN System-Wide Coherence on Drug Policy
- UNGASS 2016 in Comparative Perspective: Improving the Prospects for Success
