Drug-related crime and sentencing policies from the perspective of the United Nations crime prevention and criminal justice programme.

Owing to the incompleteness of available data, there is no conclusive evidence on the effectiveness of sentencing policies in various countries. Insufficient data at both the regional and international levels also make it difficult to draw any firm conclusions on general trends in sentencing policies for offenders convicted of drug-related infractions. Regional, and particularly national, circumstances influence the pattern of penal measures against drug offences in any given country. Thus, drug legislation reflects the socio-cultural, religious and other values of a nation. There is a growing tendency to apply measures of treatment and social reintegration to drug-addicted persons who have committed minor offences rather than to impose prison sentences on them. Drug addiction is increasingly recognized as a disease, which should be cured in an appropriate treatment setting, but the data available indicate that the application of this measure to drug offenders is rather restricted. Another apparent tendency is the move to decriminalize the simple use of drugs and, at the same time, to provide more severe penalties for drug trafficking. In certain countries, however, there is a trend towards increased penalties for illicit drug use as well.