A/HRC/30/65 IV. Prohibition of discrimination 50. Different forms of discrimination may result once an individual has a criminal record resulting from a conviction for a drug-related offence. These may include obstacles to obtaining employment, adverse effects on the custody of children or visitation rights, losing government benefits such as access to public housing, food assistance or student financial aid, or difficulties concerning travel abroad.61 This has been a factor in the decision by some States to decriminalize the personal use and possession of drugs.62 As former Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on 19 May 2015 at a side event on the theme “Strengthening a public health approach when addressing the world drug problem”: “A criminal record for a young person for a minor drug offence can be a far greater threat to their well-being than occasional drug use”. A. Ethnic minorities 51. It has been reported that members of ethnic minorities, in particular those who are poor and live in marginalized communities, may be particularly subject to discrimination in the context of drug enforcement efforts. In the United States of America, for example, African Americans make up 13 per cent of the population, yet account for 33.7 per cent of drug-related arrests and 37 per cent of people sent to state prisons on drug charges. African Americans are 3.7 times more likely to be arrested for possessing or using marijuana than whites are, despite comparable usage rates. Similar disparities have been observed in countries such as Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. 63 One law enforcement official observed that it was harder to intercept the sale and purchase of drugs in offices or affluent neighbourhoods than it was in poor and marginalized neighbourhoods, where such activity was often conducted in the street or other public areas and where police controls were more frequent.64 B. Women 52. Globally, women are imprisoned for drug-related offences more than for any other crime. In several Latin American countries, 60-80 per cent of women in prison are incarcerated for drug-related offences.65 In some States, women convicted of drug-related offences constitute the fastest growing part of the prison population. One in four women in prison in Europe and Central Asia is incarcerated for drug-related offences, with levels as high as 70 per cent in some countries. The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has expressed concern at the number of women imprisoned for drug-related offences, observing that this may be indicative of women’s poverty (see CEDAW/C/UK/3 and 4). Women are typically involved in selling small quantities of drugs and are used as “mules” to carry small amounts of drugs from one country to another. Many of them are 61 62 63 64 65 Count the Costs, “The war on drugs: promoting stigma and discrimination”, pp. 3-5. Rosmarin and Eastwood, A Quiet Revolution. Submissions of the Global Commission on Drug Policy, p. 6; and Harm Reduction International and Penal Reform International, p. 4. Count the Costs, “The war on drugs: promoting stigma and discrimination”, pp. 7-8. Corina Giacomello, “Women, drug offenses and penitentiary systems in Latin America” (International Drug Policy Consortium, 2013). 13