21 June 1991

15th plenary meeting

Implementation of the International Drug Abuse Assessment System

The Economic and Social Council,

Bearing in mind that the parties to the international drug control treaties have an obligation to furnish to the Secretary-General an annual report on the workings of the treaties within their territories,

Recognizing that an assessment of the nature and extent of drug abuse constitutes the basis of drug demand reduction policies and programmes at the local, national and international levels,

Recalling Commission on Narcotic Drugs resolution 3 (S-X) of 19 February 1988 on the establishment of an international drug abuse assessment system,

Recalling also that the General Assembly, in paragraph 13 of the Global Programme of Action annexed to its resolution S-17/2 of 23 February 1990, requested States to establish databases consistent with the international drug abuse assessment system being developed by the Division of Narcotic Drugs of the Secretariat,

Having considered the report of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs on its thirty-fourth session,

1. Urges all States to give high priority to the collection of quality drug abuse data for use, inter alia, in annual reports to the Secretary-General;

2. Takes note with appreciation of the work carried out by the Division of Narcotic Drugs of the Secretariat, with the expert assistance of and in cooperation with the International Narcotics Control Board, the United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control, the World Health Organization and other international and regional organizations, on the development of the International Drug Abuse Assessment System;

3. Expresses its gratitude to Governments that have contributed to the development and field testing of the International Drug Abuse Assessment System;

4. Endorses Commission on Narcotic Drugs decision 1 (XXXIV) of 9 May 1991, in which the Commission decided to use, beginning with the annual reports questionnaire for the calendar year 1991, the revised version of part B of the annual reports questionnaire, incorporating the changes recommended by the Expert Group Meeting on the Establishment of an International Drug Abuse Assessment System, held at Vienna from 29 to 31 October 1990;

5. Requests the Secretary-General to extend the revision to other parts of the annual reports questionnaire and, using modern presentation techniques, to make such changes in format as may be appropriate to achieve optimum acceptability and to facilitate its use;

6. Further requests the Secretary-General to allocate adequate resources from within the existing regular budget appropriations, as of the biennium 1992-1993, to implement the International Drug Abuse Assessment System and to ensure its continued viability;

7. Invites the specialized agencies of the United Nations system, as well as other relevant intergovernmental and regional organizations, to contribute to the provision of data to the International Drug Abuse Assessment System and to collaborate with the United Nations International Drug Control Programme in its implementation;

8. Encourages all Governments to support, and to participate actively in, the implementation of the International Drug Abuse Assessment System.