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March
14,
2010 |
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Drug Policy
Georgia |
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VIENNA, 8 March (UN
Information Service)
- In his address to the 53rd
session of the Commission on
Narcotic Drugs (CND), which
takes place this week in
Vienna, the Executive
Director of the United
Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime, Antonio Maria Costa,
warned that failure to
control drugs will unleash a
health disaster in the
developing world.
"The developing world lacks
the treatment facilities and
law enforcement to control
drugs," said the head of
UNODC. He identified a
number of warning signs:
increasing use of heroin in
East Africa, cocaine in West
Africa, and synthetic drugs
in the Middle East and South
East Asia.
Referring to health as "the
first principle of drug
control", Mr. Costa said
that drug addiction is a
treatable condition, but
warned that inequality
within and between states
marginalizes poor people who
lack access to treatment.
"While rich addicts go to
posh clinics, poor addicts
are being pushed into the
gutter or to jail," he said.
UNODC is working with the
World Health Organization to
achieve universal access to
drug treatment, and with
UNAIDS to prevent the spread
of HIV among injecting
addicts.
He also appealed for greater
respect for human rights.
"Around the world, millions
of people (including
children) caught taking
drugs are sent to jail, not
to treatment. In some
countries, drug |
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treatment amounts to cruel,
degrading punishment - the
equivalent of torture. People
are sentenced to death for
drug-related offences, or gunned
down by extra-judicial squads,"
said Mr. Costa. "As human
beings, as well as members of
the community of civilized
nations, we have a shared
responsibility to put an end to
this. People who use drugs, or
are behind bars, have not lost
their humanity or their human
rights."
In this, his eighth and final
Session of the CND, Mr. Costa
spoke with pride about how UNODC
"has assisted Member States to
make drug policy more responsive
to the needs of those most
seriously affected, along the
whole chain of the drug
industry: from poor farmers that
cultivate it, to desperate
addicts who consume it, as well
as those caught in the
cross-fire." He said: "In the
process, we have helped make the
debate less dogmatic, gathered
evidence to enrich policy, and
provided assistance to reduce
vulnerability. We have
persistently struggled to quash
the sterile debate between those
who dream of a world free of
drugs, and those who aspire to a
world of free drugs."
For more information on the CND
and the complete text of Mr.
Costa's speech, visit the UNODC
website at
www.unodc.org.
UNODC established in 1997 till now is the special bureau of
United Nations. UNODC relies on
voluntary contributions, mainly
from Governments, for 90 per
cent of its budget.
According to the official
website of parliament of Georgia
UNODC made a
decision about the opening of
regional office, which will
cover Georgia, Armenia and
Azerbaijan. |
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Legal Consultation Service |
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