Workshop - Cities: the future of humane, evidence-based and effective drug policies

Cities have been and will continue to be innovation hubs for social development policies, including dru​g​ policy reform such as decriminalization of personal use of drugs and small-scale cultivation by municipal police, citizen security initiatives and harm reduction programs. Harnessing the power of cities and local government in positive change, including reducing inequality, and supporting economic and educational opportunities will be crucial in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals. Since 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policy has been a key reference for drug policy on a local, national, regional and international level. 
This session aims to attract current city and local government officials so that they can better understand their capacity in addressing drug use, trafficking and production, as well as providing concrete lessons learned. The Global Commission will also be discussing its local cities initiative at this event, during which specific cities will be asked to commit to implementing effective decriminalization and harm reduction programs on the local level.