Global Drug Policy Index

Summary

The Global Drug Policy Index provides a score and ranking for each country to show how much their drug policies and their implementation align with the UN principles of human rights, health and development. It offers an important accountability and evaluation mechanism in the field of drug policy.

Content

The Global Drug Policy Index measures how drug policies align with many of the key UN recommendations on how to design and implement drug policies in accordance with the United Nations principles of health, human rights, and development.

The Index is composed of 75 indicators that run across five dimensions:

• The absence of extreme sentencing and responses to drugs, such as the death penalty
• The proportionality of criminal justice responses to drugs
• Funding, availability, and coverage of harm reduction interventions
• Availability of international controlled substances for pain relief
• Development

The UK scores relatively low on 'Proportionality and Criminal Justice' and there is a need to reflect on this at a policy level.

Read testimonies of people who have been directly affected by drug policies in the 30 countries covered by the Global Drug Policy Index.