Expert Seminar Report, International Law and Drug Policy Reform (2014)

Date: 01 July 2015

This report is the summary of the Expert Seminar “International Law and Drug Policy Reform” held in Washington, D.C. on 17-18 October 2014. The Seminar was organized by The Global Drug Policy Observatory (GDPO), International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy (ICHRDP), Transnational Institute (TNI) and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).

Members of academia, experts from the United Nations, and representatives from different governmental agencies met to discuss international drug policies and to prepare for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs on 19-21 April 2016.

The Seminar was segmented into four distinct sessions of discussion followed by a final open session. The sessions are as follows:

Introduction—International law and drug policy reform: An overview of contemporary challenges
Session 1—The nature of State obligations under the UN drug conventions--In this session, the importance of assessing State obligation regarding public health and human rights is discussed.
Session 2—Intersections with other treaty regimes--In this session, the rights of Indigenous peoples are discussed.
Session 3—The meaning and consequences of breach
Session 4— Reform options within the drug treaties
Final Session—How to unfreeze a Jurassic system?

Citation: 'Expert Seminar Report', International Law and Drug Policy Reform (2014), GDPO/ICHRDP/TNI/WOLA