By Michael Gwarisa
The Global Commission on Drug Policy has called for an overhaul of drug policies affecting children and young people, warning that punitive approaches are criminalising vulnerable children, separating families and denying them access to essential healthcare.
In a new policy brief, Making Children and Young People Visible in Drug Policy: A Child Rights-Based Agenda for Reform, the Commission argues that children are frequently used to justify tougher drug policies while their rights, needs and lived experiences remain largely absent from policy decisions.
The Commission says governments should move away from punishment and adopt drug policies centred on public health, human rights and the best interests of children.
Former Colombian president and Commission member Juan Manuel Santos said the consequences of ineffective drug policies had often been worse than the harm they were intended to address.
“Drugs destroyed many lives, but the wrong policies to combat them destroyed many more.”
The Commission has identified four priority areas for reform: ending unnecessary deprivation of liberty of children resulting from punitive drug policies; improving access to essential controlled medicines; expanding child- and youth-friendly health services; and protecting children exploited in illicit drug economies by treating them as victims rather than offenders.
The Commission’s president, Helen Clark, said policies could not be considered protective when they exposed children to further harm.
“A policy cannot be considered protective if it penalises children, separates families, denies them healthcare and/or punishes those who have been exploited.”
The Commission said children recruited into illicit drug economies are often responding to poverty, violence and social exclusion, and that criminalising them can deepen their vulnerability.
It is calling on governments to instead target those who recruit and profit from the exploitation of children while providing affected children with protection, education and pathways out of illicit drug markets.
The brief also calls for greater access to controlled medicines for children and young people, as well as health services capable of preventing avoidable drug-related harms.
The Commission’s position is based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, international human rights law, public-health evidence and consultations with children, young people and experts across five continents.
The 26-member Commission includes 15 former heads of state or government and has previously called for drug policies that prioritise health and safety, improve access to essential medicines, end the criminalisation of people who use drugs, target organised crime and allow legal regulation of drug markets.
