New Global Coalition Launched to Address Synthetic Drug Threats
Illicitly-manufactured synthetic drugs such as fentanyl, tramadol, methamphetamine, captagon, MDMA, and ketamine threaten the health, security and wellbeing of people around the world.
Synthetic Drug Threats cut across both public health and criminal justice; within a country no single agency can provide the solution: law enforcement, regulatory, commercial, and public health entities must work together both within their borders and around the world.
Because no one country can tackle this issue alone, the United States is calling upon the global community to come together to collectively combat this shared challenge. On July 7, 2023, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted a virtual Ministerial-level meeting to launch a Global Coalition to address Synthetic Drug Threats. The Ministerial provided the foundation for a combined effort to prevent the production and trafficking of illicit synthetic drugs, identify emerging drug trends and use patterns, and response to their public health impacts. The aim is to drive international action on synthetic drug threats.
Following the establishment of the Global Coalition, the United States will initiate consultations with participating countries to establish priority actions and measures to confront synthetic drugs. Partners will collaborate in working groups to offer new solutions, drive national action, and advance combatting synthetic drugs as a policy priority.
The Global Coalition will reconvene at the political level on the margins of high-level events, such as the 78th UN General Assembly and the March 2024 UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND). These meetings will present further opportunities to share the Global Coalition’s work with a broader audience and support the advancement of international drug policy. The Global Coalition will complement, not duplicate or supplant the important work of existing key multilateral and regional fora.
Global Coalition members will continue advancing policy solutions on the synthetic drugs threat, endorse key outcome documents, and undertake further action – laying the groundwork for continued technical work through existing channels. For example, the international community will develop a network to share information and respond to new drug threats as they emerge, rather than trying to stop them after they have become entrenched in a community.
The United States welcomes any country concerned by the public health and security threat posed by illicitly manufactured synthetic drugs and motivated to deepen global cooperation to join the coalition.
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