Drug policy and human rights in Europe: a baseline study
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Text
adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of
the Assembly, on 12 October 2020 (see Doc. 15086, report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human
Rights, rapporteur: Ms Hannah Bardell; and Doc. 15114, opinion of the Committee on Social Affairs, Health
and Sustainable Development, rapporteur: M. Joseph O’Reilly).See
also Recommendation 2177
(2020).
1. The Parliamentary Assembly welcomes
recent global commitments to address and counter societal problems
relating to psychoactive substances (hereafter referred to as “drugs”)
with full respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms,
and the increasing emphasis on a sustainable, comprehensive, balanced and
evidence-based approach. It reiterates its previous calls for a
European convention on promoting public health policy in drug control
(
Resolution 1576 (2007)).
2. The Assembly notes that strong evidence suggests that purely
repressive policies which ignore the realities of drug use and dependence
have been counterproductive and generated large-scale human rights abuses.
These include highly damaging spillover effects in terms of public
health and mortality rates, violence and corruption, discrimination,
stigmatisation and marginalisation, disproportionate sentencing
and prison overcrowding.
3. The principle of subsidiarity gives Council of Europe member
States a significant margin of appreciation for drug policy development,
within the bounds set by their obligations under international law,
including the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5). In
this respect, the Assembly welcomes the recent publication entitled
“International Guidelines on Human Rights and Drug Policy”, drafted
by United Nations bodies, several States and civil society organisations.
Member States should assess whether the intended and unintended
effects of drug-related measures are consistent with international
human rights standards and a public health approach and adapt these
measures accordingly.
4. The Assembly therefore calls upon member States to:
4.1 optimise human rights protection
in the implementation of drug control policies, in particular by:
4.1.1 encouraging a public health approach with non-stigmatising
attitudes and language, protecting people who use drugs from suffering
discrimination, exclusion or prejudice;
4.1.2 ensuring that monitoring, evaluation and State investment
in drug-related policies are transparent, sustainable, adequate
and duly take human rights into account;
4.1.3 considering shifting overall competence for the co-ordination
of drug policy from the Ministry of the Interior to the Ministry
of Health;
4.1.4 identifying relevant indicators of the effectiveness of
drug policies in meeting international human rights obligations
and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including
indicators that focus on the direct impact of drug policies on people;
4.1.5 using accurate, reliable and objective data collection
methods on the effects of national drug policies on health, crime
and equality, in close co-operation with regional and international networks
promoting efficient evidence- and rights-based tools and standards
in all areas of drug policy (including people who use drugs and
other affected groups, as well as civil society organisations and
experts in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
of drug laws and policies), while paying particular attention to
obtaining and disseminating gender- and age-disaggregated data on
children’s drug use and related harm and on the nature of children’s involvement
in the illicit drug trade;
4.2 ensure that drug-related prevention measures are evidence
based, proportionate and adapted to different social contexts, age
groups and levels of risk, in particular by:
4.2.1 prioritising
objective and accurate information and education on the risks of
drugs for the health and safety of people who use drugs (in particular
children and young people) and others;
4.2.2 taking all appropriate human-rights-compliant measures,
including legislative, administrative, social, educational and capacity-building
measures, to protect children from the illicit use of drugs, including
by guaranteeing the adequate availability and accessibility of prevention,
harm-reduction and treatment services tailored to their needs, and
to prevent the use of children in illicit drug production and trafficking;
4.2.3 encouraging safety through knowledge by providing information
on drug-related services, safer drug-taking practices and drug testing
to prevent the consumption of unreliable and potentially lethal
street drugs;
4.3 use risk and harm reduction as well as treatment and rehabilitation
services as a means to reduce adverse health and social effects
of drugs, reflecting a more human-rights-based approach, in particular by:
4.3.1 treating drug disorders and addictions as complex, chronic
and relapsing medical conditions and risks for social marginalisation;
4.3.2 reviewing laws, policies and practices that may have negative
effects on the voluntary and non-discriminatory access to good quality
risk and harm-reduction and health services for drug-dependent people;
4.3.3 paying particular attention to the health and social needs
of people from the most marginalised sectors of society who use
drugs, and to the specific needs of women, children and adolescents;
4.3.4 prioritising health care and social support in community
settings for the treatment and rehabilitation of people who are
dependent on drugs;
4.3.5 providing equivalence and continuity of care for people
who use drugs in prisons or other custodial settings, and safeguard
the health of drug-dependent prisoners;
4.3.6 ensuring that individuals have given informed consent
before entering treatment and rehabilitation programmes and discouraging
non-consensual court-ordered treatment for drug-dependent people;
4.3.7 ensuring that drug dependence treatment is free from torture,
inhuman or degrading treatment, forced labour or other human rights
abuses;
4.4 ensure that criminal justice responses to drug-related
crimes respect human rights, legal guarantees and due process safeguards
pertaining to criminal justice proceedings, in particular by:
4.4.1 ensuring that arbitrary arrest and detention, as well
as the use of excessive force and disproportionate sentencing against
people who use drugs are eliminated and allegations of such abuse
promptly investigated and acted upon, in accordance with international
standards;
4.4.2 exhausting all available alternatives before incarcerating
perpetrators of drug-related offences;
4.4.3 as regards children, adhering to the Council of Europe’s
Guidelines on child-friendly justice, targeting efforts primarily
at diversion from the criminal justice system and promotion of rehabilitation
over punishment;
4.4.4 training law-enforcement agencies in harm reduction and
increasing efforts to promote public health and human rights, including
by building a constructive engagement and partnership between law-enforcement
officials and health providers;
4.4.5 strengthening national, regional and international co-operation
and efforts to effectively fight drug trafficking organisations
and transnational organised criminal groups;
4.4.6 withholding support for international drug-enforcement
co-operation activities to the extent that they contribute to the
execution, unlawful arrest or detention of persons for drug-related
offences;
4.5 provide equal and effective protection for people who
use drugs from multiple forms of discrimination in drug policy design
and practice. Drug policies should be gender sensitive, address socio-economic
factors and respond to differentiated needs, risks and harm faced,
in particular, by certain members of society, including women; children
and youth; ethnic, migrant and LGBTI communities; sex workers; homeless
people; and members of other vulnerable groups.
5. Bearing in mind the forthcoming 50th anniversary of the Council
of Europe Co-operation Group to Combat Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
in Drugs (Pompidou Group) and the anticipated revision of its statute in
2021, the Assembly recognises the important role it plays as a drug
policy co-operation platform for member States. It calls on those
member States that are not members of the Pompidou Group to join
and on all member States to co-operate fully in its activities.
6. The Assembly calls on the Council of Europe Congress of Local
and Regional Authorities to consider supporting the development
of rights-based policies on drugs at a local and regional level
and ensure that every nation and region can implement policies appropriate
to them under these guiding principles.
