Alternatives? Yes! Legalisation? No! The platform of the newly launched Drug Policy Futures calls for an end to a polarised drug debate at the United Nations.

For two weeks, from the 12th of March, countries, NGOs and scientists are gathered in Vienna, Austria to take stock of the current illicit drug situation and to define the way forward. You can follow the process in this web page.

Global markets for cocaine, opiates and cannabis are steady or in decline, while production and use of synthetic drugs is feared to be increasing in the developing world, says the 2009 edition of the UNODC World Drug report.

At a high-level meeting of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna last week a new Political Declaration and an Action Plan for international drug control were adopted. The documents call for intensified, as well as balanced and comprehensive action by governments world wide.

Some have perceived a contradiction between drug prevention and treatment on the one hand and efforts to reduce the negative health and social consequences of drug use on the other. However, in a new discussion paper, UNODC says that these are in fact complementary rather than contradictory.

The United Nations has started a process to assess the results of the international efforts to combat illicit drugs and to review the international conventions on narcotic drugs. The process will be completed with a special session of the UN General Assembly (UNGASS) in New York in 2009.

- Whereas a few years ago the world appeared to be heading for an epidemic of drug abuse, growing evidence suggests that the problem is being brought under control. This was the conclusion of the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa, when the 2007 edition of the World Drug Report was presented in Vienna.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNOCD) will use the 26th of June, the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, to launch a new anti-drugs campaign. Slogan: "Do drugs control your life? Your life. Your community. No place for drugs."

2006 was a mixed year for international drug control, with both good and bad news. This is the conclusion of UNODC – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime – in their Annual Report 2007, which covers activities in 2006.