Sweden, United States and other countries opposed to legalisation of drugs

During the high-level UN meeting in Vienna, the U.S. Administration and the Swedish Government convened a meeting with a group of countries working to uphold the three UN Conventions on narcotic drugs, and to further a health perspective. The meeting was chaired by Michael Botticelli, Director of ONDCP, and Maria Larsson, Swedish Minister for Children and the Elderly. Governments from the following countries participated at the meeting: Italy, Great Britain, France, Austria, New Zealand, and Canada. Michael Botticelli, who took up his post on March 7, told the group that the United States is against the legalization of drugs, but also against a unilateral police approach in the war against drugs. The United States is rather in favour of an enhanced cooperation, both at home and abroad, between health care and the legal system. This is to ensure that the judicial system through, for example, drug courts , assists users who are under official supervision to become free of their addiction.

Maria Larsson of Sweden expressed strong support for a balanced and restrictive drug policy in accordance with the three UN Conventions. She also called on governments to provide the public and local officials with detailed information about the serious health and cognitive damage that the use of marijuana and other drugs can cause .

Participants also listened to a short talk by the head of the U.S. National Institute of Drug Abuse, NIDA), Nora Volkow, about the research that guides U.S. national drug control strategy. Dr. Volkow, who led the scientific consultation meeting organized by the UNODC, spoke about the tremendous advances in neuroscience, which shows that addiction is a disease, like other diseases, that can be cured by evidence-based treatment and appropriate medication.

The group of the eight countries agreed to share information and to continue meeting in connection with future international meetings to discuss how to promote conventions, disseminating science-based information on drug use, and identify steps that combine medical and judicial expertise.
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