Africa: Time for Change - Advancing New Drug Policies That Uphold Human Rights

22 June 2024
Amnesty International (London)
press release

To mark "World Drugs Day" on 26 June as activists worldwide are joining together under the #SupportDontPunish campaign, Amnesty International is launching this new policy paper to contribute to the advancement of drug policies that better uphold human rights.

Amnesty International is calling on States to adopt new models of drug control that put the protection of people's health and other human rights at the centre, including the decriminalization of the use, possession, cultivation and acquisition of drugs for personal use, and the effective regulation of drugs to provide legal and safe channels for those permitted to access them.

Such policies must be accompanied by an expansion of health and other social services to address drug-related problems as well as other measures to address the underlying socio-economic causes that increase the risks of using drugs and that lead people to engage in the illicit drug trade such as poverty, discrimination, unemployment, illness, denial of education or lack of housing.

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