Ethical and Legal Aspects of Interventions in Addiction Treatment

The United Nations (UN) conventions present the international legal framework; they urge member states to provide treatment and rehabilitation but prohibit consumption and possession of scheduled drugs. This creates problems for providing treatment and harm reduction programs to patients who are not or not yet ready to stop illicit drug use. Other international documents, notably from the World Health Organization and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, are strongly in favor of agonist substitution treatment and harm reduction measures. Within this framework, national legislation has much room for diverse preferences; the International Narcotic Control Board regularly comments the national practices, as well as the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction for the EU member states. An international trend gradually prefers therapeutic measures over criminal sanctions for drug users.