Countdown to UNGASS: Drugs Policy in Latin America
Latin American Experiences and Approaches
The UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on Drugs is next set to be held between 19-21 April 2016 in New York, brought forward from its original date of 2019 due, in large part, by calls from the presidents of Mexico, Guatemala and Colombia. This Canning House event anticipates this session and follows quickly after the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) whose 58th session is taking place in March this year.
Due to what many perceive as a stagnation of 'the war on drugs' the conversation has begun to shift to alternative options in dealing with the problem - with countries such as Mexico and Colombia being more vocal than most in their endeavour to find a solution to the problem that has plagued their countries and region more than any other in the world. Indeed, UK Deputy PM Nick Clegg recently stated, “President Santos and I have agreed to lead the charge and work to build an international coalition to take our case to the UN and start to properly address the suffering caused by drugs.” Moreover, in February 2014, Uruguay became the world’s first country to pass legislation to make it legal to grow, sell and consume cannabis. Canning House held an event looking at the implications of this in early 2014.
This event will set the scene on the discourse of drug policy in Latin America, drawing examples of experiences and approaches from important and vocal actors in the region, in order to raise awareness in continue the dialogue in the UK about an extremely important issue in Latin America. This event hopes to trigger a number of follow-up events which will look at related issues in finer detail.
Our speakers include:
- Aram Barra, Programme Officer at Mexico Unido Contra la Delincuencia
- Danny Kushlick, Head of External Affairs at Transform Drug Policy
More speakers plus format of event TBA.