June 26, 2023 by Sarah Sinclair, Cannabis Health
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UN experts say personal drug use should be decriminalised as a ‘matter of urgency’, amid calls for leaders to move away stigmatising policies in favour of harm-reduction, prevention and public health.
In a statement issued on Friday 23 June, a group of UN representatives and Human Rights experts have called for an end to the ‘global war on drugs’.
To mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking 2023, the body is pushing for transformative change in how countries across the world approach drug policy, focusing on health and other human rights, as opposed to criminalisation.
The experts, which include a number of representatives of the Human Rights Council, highlight how current policies disproportionately affect marginalised groups and ethnic minorities, particularly those of African heritage, Indigenous Peoples, women and those who identify as LGBTIQ+.
