The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), the central UN policy-making body on drug-related matters, holds its 61st session in Vienna from 12–18 March 2018. The CND meets every year to discuss the global state of drug control and to adopt resolutions to guide the way forward. An EMCDDA delegation will be attending the event to: provide technical support to the European Commission and EU Member States; participate in a series of side events; and make EMCDDA products available at a publications stand (M-building, first floor).
Tuesday 13 March
Side event: Drugs and the darknet
1.10–2.00 p.m., conference room M5
Organised by the Government of Bulgaria and the Delegation of the European Union.
Darknet markets provide a largely anonymous platform for trading in a range of illicit goods and services. It is estimated that around two thirds of the offers on darknet markets are drug-related. Drug sales on these markets, although modest when compared to the overall retail drug market, are significant and appear to be expanding. The EMCDDA and Europol published the joint report 'Drugs and the darknet: perspectives for enforcement, research and policy darknet' in November 2017.
Wednesday 14 March
Special event: Treatment and care of people with drug use disorders in contact with the criminal justice system: supporting alternatives to conviction or punishment
1.10–2.40 p.m., conference room MBR-A
Organised by the Government of Bulgaria, the African Union Commission, the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission of the Organization of American States, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Justice and Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Sections, the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs, the World Health Organization and the EMCDDA.
Based on the options provided by the international drug control legal framework, our EMCDDA Paper 'Alternatives to punishment for drug-using offenders' considers the rehabilitative measures of treating, educating or reintegrating drug users as alternatives or additions to conviction or punishment that are established in the laws of many countries in Europe today.
Side event: The future of drug prevention — how to personalise your strategy to be more effective
2.20–3.10 p.m., conference room M7
Organised by the Government of the Netherlands and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation Section, and the EMCDDA.
Drug prevention approaches range from those that target society as a whole to interventions focusing on at-risk individuals. The main challenges are in matching these different strategies to target groups and contexts and ensuring that they are evidence-based and have sufficient population coverage. The EMCDDA Prevention topics page provides an overview of the resources available.
Friday 16 March
Side event: Management of opioid overdose in the street by non-medical staff2.20–3.10 p.m., conference room M6
Organised by the Government of Italy and the Red Cross and Red Crescent Partnership on Substance Abuse.
In 2015, over 8 000 drug-induced deaths were reported in Europe. Opioids, mainly heroin or its metabolites, are present in most overdose cases. With appropriate intervention many opioid overdose deaths may be preventable. Naloxone is a life-saving overdose reversal drug that rapidly counteracts the effects of opioids. Read more in the EMCDDA Insights on take-home naloxone.
