At its 67th session in March 2024 the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) adopted by consensus the “High-level declaration by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs on the 2024 midterm review, following up to the Ministerial Declaration of 2019“.
Following the format used for the thematic discussions held within the CND since 2016, Member States developed a multi-year workplan and will hold, every autumn, inter-active meetings aiming to address the challenges identified in the “stock taking”- part of the 2019 Ministerial Declaration.
The second of these thematic intersessional took place 30 September to 2 October 2025 in Vienna, Austria. The VNGOC selected eighteen civil society speakers through an open call, that had the opportunity to contribute to the sessions during the panel discussions and through interventions from the floor. This year’s topics focused on strengthening public health responses, health challenges related to drug uses and access to controlled medicines. In addition Member States proposed several topics that were discussed during the last session on “other substantiative matters” including alternative development, multi-drug toxicity deaths, preparedness to address emerging drug threats, promotion of cannabis through online platforms, CND core mandates and the WHO critical review of Coca Leaf.
The recordings of the meetings are available on UN Web TV as well as on the CNDblog.
The following topics were covered this year:
30 September morning: Prevention as a core element of the public health response to drug use
NGO speakers:
- Panelist: Planet Youth, Margret Lilja Gudmundsdottir,
- World Federation Against Drugs, Cressida de Witte (Statement)
- Recovered Users Network, Dr. David Patton (Statement)
30 September afternoon: Drug treatment and health services falling short of meeting needs; increase in deaths related to drug use
NGO speakers:
- Harm Reduction International, Catherine Cook
- Rebirth Charity Society, Ramin Seyed Radfar
- The J Healthcare Initiative, Atika Juristia (Statement)
1 October morning: High rates of transmission of HIV, hepatitis C virus and other blood-borne diseases associated with drug use
NGO speakers:
- International Network of People who Use Drugs (INPUD), Aditia Taslim Lim
- Youth RISE, Rebeca Marques Rocha (Statement)
- Associação Ares do Pinhal, Claudia Pereira
1 October afternoon: Adverse health consequences of and risks associated with new psychoactive substances
NGO speakers:
- Harm Reduction Australia, Dr. Penny Hill
- The Jordan Anti Drugs Society, Dr. Mousa Daoud (Statement)
- Corporación Acción Técnica Social – ATS, Mauro Adrián Díaz Moreno (Statement)
2 October morning: Lack of availability of internationally controlled substances for medical and scientific purposes
NGO speakers:
- International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care, Ebtesam Ahmed
- International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations, Anna Liakopoulou (Statement)
- Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Joseph Hennessey (Statement)
2 October afternoon: Other substantiative matters (to allow discussion of persistent, new, or emerging issues of particular concern); should be topics not covered in the workplan 2024-2028
NGO speakers:
