{"id":18819,"date":"2025-03-09T18:14:54","date_gmt":"2025-03-09T17:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=18819"},"modified":"2025-05-20T19:12:30","modified_gmt":"2025-05-20T18:12:30","slug":"explainer-what-is-the-commission-on-narcotic-drugs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2025\/03\/explainer-what-is-the-commission-on-narcotic-drugs\/","title":{"rendered":"Explainer: What is the Commission on Narcotic Drugs?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"United<\/a><\/div>\n
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United Nations<\/a><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
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Office on Drugs and Crime<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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by Ioulia Kondratovitch – UNODC<\/div>\n
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Globally, the\u00a0number of people who used drugs rose to 292 million in 2022<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0a 20 per cent increase over 10 years.<\/strong>\u00a0 The UN Office on Drugs and Crime\u2019s (UNODC) 2024\u00a0<\/em>World Drug Report\u00a0shows that the emergence of new synthetic opioids and a record supply and demand of other drugs have compounded the impacts of the world drug problem, including overdoses, violence, instability, environmental harms and more.
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The Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), the United Nations\u2019 central drug policy-making body, is meeting this week to take stock of progress made in the implementation of international drug policy commitments.
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Below, learn more about the CND and why it matters.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The basics<\/h3>\n

The CND is where UN member states set policy on all issues related to drugs. 53 Member States from all regions of the world are elected to serve four-year terms.<\/p>\n

UNODC acts as Secretariat to the CND.<\/p>\n

Why does the CND matter?<\/h3>\n

Drug production, trafficking and consumption can cause violence, instability and even death.<\/p>\n

UNODC\u2019s 2024\u00a0World Drug Report<\/a>\u00a0found that\u00a064 million people worldwide suffered from drug use disorders in 2022, with only one in 11 in treatment.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Drug trafficking is empowering organized crime groups<\/strong>, who are also engaged in other crimes including human trafficking, online scams, fraud and illegal resource extraction.<\/p>\n

A new record high of cocaine production has coincided with a rise in violence in states along the supply chain, as well as an increase in health harms in countries of destination. Meanwhile, nitazenes \u2013 a group of synthetic opioids which can be even more potent than fentanyl \u2013 have recently emerged in several high-income countries, resulting\u00a0in an increase in overdose deaths.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How does it work?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

CND reviews and analyses the global drug situation and takes action through resolutions and decisions. At this year\u2019s CND, Member States will be discussing resolutions on preventing drug use among children; research on evidence-based interventions for the treatment and care of stimulant use disorders; alternative development; safety of officers in dismantling synthetic opioid laboratories; the impact of drugs on the environment; and strengthening the global drug control framework.<\/p>\n

The CND also decides, based on recommendations by the World Health Organization and the International Narcotics Control Board, on which substances will be placed under international control \u2013 or \u201cscheduled\u201d – under the three international drug control treaties.<\/p>\n

These conventions\u00a0help prevent the abuse of psychoactive substances, protecting individuals, communities and entire countries from drug use epidemics while reducing crime and violence<\/strong>. They also ensure that these substances are available for necessary medical and scientific purposes.<\/p>\n

International scheduling of substances, including precursor chemicals, helps law enforcement efforts to curb production and trafficking of dangerous drugs.<\/p>\n

Why are we talking about it now?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In recognition of these new and persistent challenges, the CND adopted the\u00a02019 Ministerial Declaration\u00a0to accelerate the implementation of the international drug policy commitments made since 2009.<\/p>\n

At last year\u2019s CND, Member States made new commitments under the \u201cPledge4Action\u201d on how they could expedite actions to tackle the world drug problem. This year, Member States will report on efforts to fulfill these pledges, as well as have an opportunity to make new ones.<\/p>\n

What else is the UN doing to address the world drug problem?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

UNODC collects, analyses and reports data on drug trends and developments. Find more in our 2024\u00a0World Drug Report,\u00a0Afghanistan Drug Insights\u00a0Series,\u00a0Colombia\u00a0and\u00a0Bolivia\u00a0coca surveys, and\u00a0Myanmar\u00a0opium survey.<\/p>\n

Additionally, by strengthening the ability of Member States to\u00a0detect\u00a0and\u00a0intercept\u00a0illicit drug flows at borders and equipping front-line officers with testing equipment,\u00a0UNODC bolsters countries\u2019 national security<\/strong>\u00a0by disrupting the operations and profits of organized drug trafficking groups. Making borders and key shipping routes less vulnerable to exploitation also fosters a safer environment for legitimate business and trade, contributing to a more stable and resilient global economy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

UNODC also works with Member States to\u00a0support the prevention of drug use; treatment and rehabilitation for people who use drugs; and access to controlled drugs for medical purposes.<\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.unodc.org\/unodc\/news\/2025\/March\/explainer_-what-is-the-commission-on-narcotic-drugs.html<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime by Ioulia Kondratovitch – UNODC Globally, the\u00a0number of people who used drugs rose to 292 million in 2022\u00a0\u2013\u00a0a 20 per cent increase over 10 years.\u00a0 The UN Office on Drugs and Crime\u2019s (UNODC) 2024\u00a0World Drug Report\u00a0shows that the emergence of new synthetic opioids and a record supply and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,16,17,18,20,128,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-australia","category-canada","category-europe-uk","category-new-zealand","category-others","category-uk","category-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18819\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}