Sabet: “The biggest challenge we are all facing is turning our backs to the vision of a society where we prevent drug use before it starts and celebrate recovery.”
(VIENNA, AUSTRIA) – In a rousing speech to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) President Dr. Kevin Sabet warned international leaders gathered at the 67th Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs that prevention of drug use before it starts remains one of the biggest challenges society faces.
CND67 is taking place at a time when countries like the United States, Canada and Germany are all experimenting policies that would legalize and normalize marijuana, psychedelics, and other drugs, despite those drugs being placed under international control by the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs.
“We fully agree with and echo the concerns of the International Narcotics Control Board that it is unacceptable for member-states to sanction actions that violate both the spirit and the letter of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs,” Sabet said in opening his remarks.
He also noted, “We agree that we should embrace interventions that reduce harm, but harm reduction should remain a means to an end – a means to the end, recovery. It can not only be the end. Yes, we should meet people where they’re at, but we should not leave them there. There is no such thing as safe drug use. In the United States, Canada, and other countries we are beginning to feel the negative effects of these drug policies.”
“We are not calling to criminalize addiction. We understand that addiction is a complex bio-behavioral disorder and there are many different paths to recovery. But legalizing drugs under the guise of safe supply… is not the way out,” Sabet said.
At the Commission’s Session, SAM leadership is participating in multiple side events, including “Partnerships for the Effective Implementation of International Drug Commitments” and “Unintended Consequences of Hemp Legalization,” as well as “Lessons Learned from Cannabis Legalization” and “Lessons Learned from the Repeal of Oregon’s Failed Drug Decriminalization Experiment.”
Video of SAM President Kevin Sabet’s full remarks at CND67 can be found HERE.