Green Life

World Drug Report "Punishment should not target drug users, but the traffickers. Drug addiction is a health issue: people who take drugs need medical care and should not be punished as criminals. The addicts "heavy" should be the priority. They consume more drugs, cause more damage to themselves and society - and generate more profit to the drug mafias.

Alternative sentencing and medical care are more likely to participate in building societies safer and healthier than the incarceration of users. I appeal to Member States, to pursue the goal of universal access to treatment drugs, in order to respect their commitment to saving lives and reducing demand for drugs: follow then a consequent decrease of the supply and income-related criminal activity "(...)

"We can not solve the problem by addressing the neighborhoods abandoned our cities, and this through a renewal of infrastructure and investment in human capital. We must particularly help young people most vulnerable to drugs and crime - through education, employment and sport. Drug abuse and unemployment are not the result of the ghettos, the opposite . And this process that the prosperity of the mafia. "

It is estimated that between 11 and 21 million people inject drugs in the world and among these, between 0.8 and 6.6 million people are affected by HIV

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that between 172 and 250 million people have used illegal drugs at least once during the year 2007. If an important one, however this figure includes many casual consumers who may have tried drugs only once a year. It is therefore important to also estimate the number of people whose drug use is severe or problematic.

This group consumes the bulk of all drugs consumed each year they are almost certainly dependent on drugs and could benefit from treatment, in addition, measuring the impact of their consumption on health and on the public agenda is linked to their level of consumption. According to estimates made by the UNODC, it appears that in 2007, between 18 and 38 million people aged 15 to 64 years were problematic use of drugs.