2026 Statement of Young Doctors Network at the Margin of 69th Session of Commission on Narcotic Drugs

At the 69th Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the UNODC Young Doctors Network presented a statement to delegates aimed at advocating for balanced drug policies that do not unnecessarily limit clinical decision-making and work to protect patients from preventable health-related suffering caused by overly restrictive regulations, thus improving access to controlled substances for medical purposes while preventing diversion and non-medical use.

Speaking on behalf of the network, Dr. Anette Binder (University Hospital Tübingen, Germany) urged Member States to adopt evidence-based approaches, highlighting the crucial role of young doctors in ensuring controlled substances for medical purposes (hereinafter “controlled medicines”) are prescribed rationally. The network stressed that policies must both protect people from the harms of substance use disorders and guarantee access to essential medicines, putting patient care and public health at the core of the international drug control.

Young Doctors Network statement 2026

Ensuring access to pharmaceuticals containing controlled substances, while preventing diversion and non-medical use, remains an unresolved global challenge. Millions worldwide lack adequate access to treatment for serious health-related suffering. Meanwhile, negative consequences from non-medical use persist and are growing in many settings.

To overcome these challenges, it is necessary to engage medical doctors, along with other health professionals and patients, as essential stakeholders for strengthening evidence-informed drug policies. Doctors offer valuable perspectives on relevant policy challenges, as they must navigate the implications of controlled substance regulations in clinical practice and are keenly aware of the patient-level impacts of unbalanced policies.

Engaging doctors in drug policy development and reform requires platforms for collaboration and information sharing The UNODC Young Doctors Network is such a platform and calls on Member States and relevant stakeholders for action in the following areas:

Build health workforce capacity by implementing standard training curricula and professional development programs to enhance clinical competence in areas of relevance to controlled substances.
Generate evidence by supporting information systems, context-specific research, and data sharing for assessing the impacts of controlled medicines access, non-medical use, and diversion, and for identifying effective system- and community-level interventions.
Involve communities, including civil society and individuals with lived experiences, in efforts to develop and implement evidence-based and recovery-oriented drug prevention, harm reduction, anti-stigma interventions, and treatment and recovery support for substance use disorders.
Enable optimal clinical practice by ensuring that regulatory systems are risk-proportionate, aligned with standard treatment guidelines, and supported by pharmaceutical monitoring strategies that enhance traceability and accountability while minimizing unnecessary practice barriers.
Review controlled medicines policies to ensure alignment with technical guidance from UNODC and WHO, and in balanced consideration of the need to ensure medical access for patients and the need to prevent diversion and non-medical use.

The Young Doctors Network remains committed to contributing technical expertise and multidisciplinary perspectives to support Member States in achieving balanced, health-centred drug policies and to ensure that population health is foregrounded within deliberations and decision-making related to controlled medicines.

United Nations

Office on Drugs and Crime

Access to Controlled Substances for Medical and Scientific Purposes, While Preventing Diversion and Non-medical Use

2026 Statement of Young Doctors Network at the Margin of 69th Session of Commission on Narcotic Drugs