united nations

U.N. special session begins on global drug policy

The first U.N. special session to address global drug policy in nearly 20 years is expected to feature a debate over whether countries should emphasize criminalization and punishment or health and human rights.

Hundreds of government officials, representatives of non-governmental organizations and individuals from civil society will attend when the General Assembly convenes Tuesday for a three-day special session at U.N. headquarters on the world drug problem.

Since the last special session on the topic in 1998, which ended with the lofty but unattainable goal of ridding the planet of illegal drugs by 2008, a growing . . .