According to Mr. Ivanov, 200,000 drug users are charged with administrative and criminal charges each year, and redirecting these individuals into treatment will help the overall situation with drug use in the country.
Indonesia' recent executions of drug offenders was based on data according to which drugs kill at least 40 people a day. Researchers have questioned the reliability of these figures.
The UN Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice has just adopted the revised rules, which are more in line with international norms for the protection of human rights.
Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan highlighted the need to regulate drugs in order to better protect health at the 68th edition of the World Health Assembly.
Recent mass executions by Indonesia have thrown the international spotlight on the death penalty for drug offences, and ignited debates between abolitionist and retentionist States on the legality and efficacy of this sanction.
The theory behind the handout programme is that giving meth pipes to drug users may steer some away from needles, which are far riskier than smoking, especially if the user is sharing with another person infected with HIV or hepatitis C.
The growing interest in ancient plant materials and preparations like ayahuasca has become part of the growing debate around psychoactive substances, leading to an upsurge in repression and legal prosecution of its use and distribution.
Steve Rolles, senior policy analyst for Transform highlights the role of youth in the build up to the UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs 2016.
In order to feed into the report being prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for the UNGASS, NGOs from all over the world have submitted their contributions on how drug control affects human rights.