A/HRC/31/45 West Africa Commission on Drugs, launched in 2012, had taken into account local demand. 16. He highlighted the macroeconomic impact of drug production on society and that the traditional approach had focused on alternatives to illegal production by farmers. He explained that it was also important to focus on the impact on individuals and noted that the majority of those who produced drugs were poor and did not become rich from that production. There was a need to identify other employment opportunities for such people. Those who used drugs were socially stigmatized, had low incomes and came from deprived families. Drug policies focusing on wide-reaching arrests and harsh sentences exacerbated the issue and drove offenders further to the margins of society. Drug enforcement efforts disproportionately affected the poor and in particular ethnic minorities and women. He noted that female drug users could face the loss of custody of their children and were sometimes forced to undergo abortions. Indigenous communities also suffered from misguided drug policies. He concluded that disregard for human rights had led to drug policies with unintended adverse consequences and that new evidenced-based policies were needed. 17. Mr. Saxena said that drug users and people with drug-use disorders experienced discrimination in gaining access to appropriate health-care services and suffered from a lack of adequate treatment. They faced significant stigma, prejudice and non-professional conduct in health-care settings and suffered from a general lack of information and training of health-care professionals in meeting their health-care needs. Drug-use disorders were health conditions associated with substantial mortality, morbidity and social problems and were both preventable and treatable. The right to health must be extended to all population groups, including the vulnerable and marginalized, and also to people deprived of their liberty. 18. Harm-reduction interventions, such as needle exchange programmes for injecting drug users or outreach services aimed at prevention, had proven to be effective in the prevention of drug-related blood-borne infections. People with drug dependence should not be punished for their drug-taking behaviour, which was a result of their disease, and as such should not be treated as criminals. Female drug users often did not receive appropriate care or support for their drug use disorder, in particular during pregnancy, because of stigma, lack of timely referrals and discriminatory attitudes of health professionals and society at large. He added that children must benefit from policies, programmes and services to prevent and reduce substance use and from measures to prevent their involvement in illicit production and trafficking. 19. Mr. Saxena recalled that it was sometimes said that the United Nations drug conventions were an obstacle to achieving the right to health. He observed that the ultimate goal of the drug conventions was to protect the health and welfare of humankind and there was nothing in those conventions that requested Member States to introduce policies that violated human rights. The conventions envisaged the use of measures to reduce the health and social harm due to drug use. In conclusion, he stressed that, just because a person was a drug user or had a drug-use disorder, he or she should not lose the right to appropriate timely and effective health care. 20. Mr. Lale-Demoz said there was a need to recognize that drug use and associated health conditions, such as HIV, hepatitis C and drug overdose, were public health issues that had to be addressed by qualified and trained personnel. Drug use required treatment, not punishment, which led to violations of the drug user’s right to health. Member States should use alternatives to imprisonment for drug-related offences of a non-violent nature. Imprisonment in such cases was ineffective, led to prison overcrowding and exacerbated the transmission of HIV and other diseases. Alternatives to imprisonment increased recovery and reduced recidivism. 5