Treatment and care for people with drug use disorders in contact with the criminal justice system: alternatives to conviction or punishment

Overview

The publication was invited by resolution 58/5 of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs entitled “Supporting the collaboration of public health and justice authorities in pursuing alternative measures to conviction or punishment for appropriate drug related offences of a minor nature”. In response to this, UNODC and WHO launched the initiative “Treatment and Care of People with Drug Use Disorders in Contact with the Criminal Justice System: Alternatives to Conviction or Punishment” at the 59th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in 2016.

As part of this initiative, UNODC and WHO developed the publication on treatment of drug use disorders as alternatives to conviction or punishment. The publication is intended to serve as an introductory reference, outlining the options available to States that are in line with the international drug control conventions and other relevant international instruments. The focus of the publication is on practical information for policy makers and justice, health and other practitioners to identify the scope of the problem in their community, resources that can be used to address it, gaps that need to be filled and practical approaches for moving forward.