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E-magazine November 2008

51st session of the united nations commission on narcotic drugs in vienna

Vienna, March 10 - 14, 2008 - Dianova representatives participated in the 51st Session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND).

Prior to the UN session, Ms. Montse Rafel and Mrs. Elena Goti delivered a presentation about Dianova International during the meeting of the Vienna NGO Committee (VNGOC) at the UN Vienna headquarters on March, 13th.

The Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) is the central policy-making body of the United Nations for drug related matters. It enables Member States to analyze the global drug situation, makes proposals to improve drug enforcement and monitors the implementation of the international drug control conventions and the measures adopted in theses matters by the General Assembly.

Following are excerpts from the address by Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), on the theme, “The World Drug Problem is Contained but not Solved”:

“Addressing the 51st session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), the Executive Director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa, has called for the international drug control regime to be made ‘fit for purpose for the 21st century’.

Mr. Costa admitted that ‘drug control has an image problem, e.g. too much drug-related crime; too many people in prisons, and too few in health services; too few resources for prevention treatment and rehabilitation; too much eradication of drug crops, and not enough eradication of poverty’.

“To move beyond merely containing the problem, the UNODC Executive Director underlined the need for a multilateral approach, and a stronger focus on health.

‘Scientific evidence shows that drug addiction is an illness that can and must be treated. There are no ideological debates about curing cancer or diabetes; left and right are not divided on the need for treating tuberculosis or HIV. So why are there political contrapositions about drugs?’, he said.

“As a priority, Mr. Costa urged Member States to prevent and treat drug abuse. At the same time, he underlined the importance of reaching the world's 25 million hardcore drug addicts in order to reduce the harm that they cause to themselves and to society. He emphasized the need for more funding for development projects to give farmers an alternative to cannabis, coca, and opium:

‘The eradication of poverty must go hand-in-hand with the eradication of drug crops’".

Read complete article at:

http://www.unodc.org/india/unis_cnd_100308.html.

Comments by Dianova: We agree that the ideological debate about whether addiction is a disease or a social dysfunction is now outdated. Now that a research study has shown the dramatic cost savings to be achieved by treating substance abusers - in terms of reduction of jail and prison time, improvements in health and higher public safety - it is urgent for policy makers to reconsider their approach of addiction treatment and the subsequent funding of treatment centers.

Every dollar invested in treatment results in 7 dollars saved!

NTORS (The National Treatment Outcome Research Study), England