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Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats

Launched in July 2023 by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats is a U.S.-led international effort to combat the threats posed by synthetic drugs, like fentanyl.  Globally, synthetic drug threats are on the rise.  Traffickers are expanding shipment routes, manufacturers are getting more creative in finding the ingredients and equipment to make synthetic drugs, criminal groups are taking advantage of weak spots in data collection and, all around the world, public health suffers due to synthetic drug use.

The Secretary’s Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drug Threats confronts these challenges. 151 countries and 14 international organizations are now participating in the Global Coalition, working to produce action and results in a short period of time, and speeding up the global response to the rise in synthetic drugs threats.

The Coalition convenes through working group and monthly sub-working group meetings, focusing on three main lines of effort:

  1. Preventing the illicit manufacture and trafficking of synthetic drugs
  2. Detecting emerging drug threats and use patterns
  3. Promoting public health interventions and services to prevent and reduce drug use, overdose, and other health related problems

With inputs from over 1500 participating experts, the meetings have identified good practices in each of these areas, captured as recommendations for national level and joint action.  During the next few months, countries will take concrete measures and make commitments to turn the recommendations into action:  whether new laws, policies, enforcement actions, or other initiatives.  Participants in the Coalition will come together in Vienna, Austria at a U.S.-hosted event and other coordination meetings on the margins of the 67th Session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, and again later in the year to review progress to date.

Official news published at https://www.state.gov/global-coalition-to-address-synthetic-drug-threats/

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