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Learn More : The UNGASS 2016 policy paper to decriminalize drugs and how Russia impacted the outcome

*Putin : previously a KGB agent

What was the United Nations UNGASS 2016 (United Nations General Assembly on the World Drug Problem) about, and how did Russia emerge as the “new global leader” on the “war on some drugs” thereafter?   After-all, central to Russia’s interventions was an insistence that the words “harm reduction” not be included in the [final UNGASS 2016 outcome] document.”  But what does Russia get out of slowing down efforts to end the war on drugs? How does Russia make its influence felt in ways that matter for the rest of us?  [In 2016] The Russians used their role at the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime and on the U.N. Security Council to block reform. One of the main goals for the General Assembly special session was to have language supporting harm reduction, decriminalization and an acknowledgment of the failure of the drug war included in the U.N. protocols. Russia succeeded in blocking these efforts.

[At the Start] It’s important to be clear this wasn’t really a ‘leak’ in the classic sense. The document was to be presented by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime at the International Harm Reduction Conference in Kuala Lumpur, and an embargoed copy had already gone to select media (the norm for such publication events). When it was then pulled at the last minute, the BBC, which had already filmed a news segment on it, decided to release it anyway …  [Fast-forward] : At UNGASS 2016 the U.N. was confiscating copies of the letter calling for the end of the drug war that were being handed out in front of the U.N.” UN Security was apparently ordered to confiscate the letter, and attendees were ordered to hand over their copies upon entering the building. According to a number of participants in the UN Special Session, they were told that the document was not allowed in the building. “As we were walking into the metal detectors right at the entrance, the security were confiscating it from people,” said Natalie Lyla Ginsberg, Policy and Advocacy Manager for Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). Ms. Ginsberg continued, “I went back to ask the security guard why, and he said he got orders from the UN to specifically take the newspapers. He said he was just following orders.” … [At the Conclusion] of UNGASS 2016 Russia had emerged as the “New Global Leader on the War on Drugs”.  Central to Russia’s interventions was an insistence that the words “harm reduction” not be included in the document. “Russian approaches to drug dependence are in contradiction to virtually all international scientific standards,” said Daniel Wolfe, director of the International Harm Reduction Development Program at the Open Society Foundations. “Russian narcologists — their version of drug dependence specialists — have practiced such therapies as hypnotizing patients and telling them that something in their body will explode if they use drugs, ‘flogging’ therapy, and putting patients into comas and administering electric shocks. There is no evidence base or reputable science on any of these approaches.”

Further Reading​ : 

1) Russia’s war on drugs is hurting American PeopleHERE

2) How Russia became the new global leader in the war on drugs​ HERE

3) United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) “leaked” policy document in October 2015 HERE

4)The truth behind the UNODC’s leaked decriminalisation paper​ HERE

5) UNGASS Shadow Document: The language that the Outcome Document overlookedHERE

6) A society free of drug abuse: a dangerous and distorting fantasy HERE

7) The drug warriors who derailed the UN drug summit have made a terrible miscalculation HERE

Original Articles:
The UNGASS 2016 policy paper to decriminalize drugs and how Russia impacted the outcome & ECfES Public Lending Library & Various Linked Sources
Artwork Fair Use: rtlnieuws

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