Ahead of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26, a coalition of civil society groups, West Africa Drug Policy Network and the International Drug Policy Consortium, is highlighting the need for drug use to be treated as a public health issue, rather than criminalising it.
The group believes that there must be a rational drug policy, centering on social justice and health which decriminalizes the use and possession of drugs for personal purposes.
It was a day to honour the memory of a former UN Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan, a champion of drug policy, who believed that drug policies should be human-centered.