World Drug Report
The World Drug Report is a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime annual publication that analyzes market trends, compiling detailed statistics on drug markets. Using data, it helps draw conclusions about drugs as an issue needing intervention by government agencies around the world. UNAIDs stated on its website "The use of illicit drugs needs to be understood as a social and health condition requiring sustained prevention, treatment, and care. This is one of the major conclusions emerging from the 2015 World Drug Report, published on 26 June by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime." History The World Drug Report is published annually by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The first report was published in 1997, the same year the agency was established. The agency was tasked with the responsibility of crime prevention, criminal justice and criminal law reform. The World Drug Report is utilized as an annual overview of the major developments of global drug markets and as a tool to publish evidence-based drug prevention plans. There have been 19 World Drug Reports published since the original report was made public. Leader of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime On July 9, 2010, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed Yury Fedotov of the Russian Federation as executive director for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Leadership. Mr. Fedotov is also Under-Secretary General for the United Nations as a whole. Mr. Fedotov has been active in the UN since 1972, when he was a member of the USSR delegation to the United Nations Disarmament Committee in Geneva. Since then, he has championed international issues around global human and drug trafficking. In that vein, he strongly advocates for supporting counter drug trafficking by building upon regional initiatives by providing technical assistance. Mr. Fedotov also promotes the idea that successful drug policies that stem from the World Drug Report have the ability to develop entire economies. On June 26, 2015, he gave remarks to announce the release of the 2015 World Drug Report. In those remarks, he said, "The report also shows that successful projects can foster a sustainable licit economy, including the transfer of skills and access to land, credit and infrastructure, as well as marketing support and access to markets." He uses his position as executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to encourage UN members to support these programs and initiatives through funding under the premise that this funding will grow their domestic economies. Research methodology The World Drug Report relies mainly on data submitted by member states through the Annual Reports Questionnaire, which is revised and monitored by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. These Member States are all required to submit national drug control related information to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime annually, although historically the United Nations does not receive a response from 100% of the surveyed Member States. The World Drug Report will be based on the submitted information from