The INCB President Werner Sipp addressed the high-level opening segment of the 60th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, which is taking place in Vienna from 13 to 17 March 2017. In his statement, the INCB President called upon Governments to ensure that drug-related policies and programmes take into account the specific needs of women, referring to the thematic chapter of the Board's annual report for 2016.
President Sipp reiterated that the drug control conventions do not require the imprisonment of people who use drugs or who commit minor drug-related offences but that alternative measures such as education, treatment, rehabilitation and social reintegration remain underutilized. The INCB President also encouraged States to consider the abolition of the death penalty for drug-related offences, and condemned the extrajudicial targeting of people suspected of illicit drug-related activity.
