Counter-narcotics officer, Colombia. Fernando Vergara/AP/Press Association Images. All rights reserved.The United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs was held this year at the request of three Latin American countries − Colombia, Mexico and Guatemala − who demanded an urgent response from the United Nations system to the region’s crisis of violence. Today, Mexico and Central America face levels of violence and death akin to war, largely due to the dynamics generated by the trafficking of illicit substances towards the large markets in the north. With the support of other countries in the region, they perceive the international drug control system as part of the problem, and asked the international community to assess the system's functioning and think of more effective alternative schemes.
Hardly any of this actually took place at the UN special session.
