Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drugs: Without "safer supply" and harm reduction, only another dead-end
An international initiative led by the United States has the ambitious goal of stopping the synthetic drug boom. But it brings technocratic solutions rather than a truly workable approach based on human rights, safety and death prevention. The biggest weakness remains the neglect of harm reduction and regulated alternatives to the illicit market.
International efforts to address the growing synthetic drug crisis undoubtedly deserve attention. The establishment of the Global Coalition to Address the Threat of Synthetic Drugs (2023), under the auspices of the US and with the participation of more than 160 countries, represents a significant diplomatic and organisational feat. We appreciate the emphasis on data analytics, international collaboration, and strengthening public health approaches to treatment and prevention. However, this framework also has serious blind spots, without addressing which measures risk remaining ineffective and sometimes counterproductive.
The most significant omission is the complete absence of the concept of regulated availability of safer alternatives - safer supply. Although the need to reduce demand and protect public health is frequently mentioned in the document, the only 'solution' remains treatment and prevention. The user reality - where people without access to treatment or in relapse face a deadly market - is ignored. Yet it is the safer supply that delivers concrete results in Canada and other countries in preventing deaths and reducing harm.
The document repeatedly declares the importance of public health and states that prevention and treatment should be part of the solution. Yet the approach to harm reduction is only mentioned in passing and without specific measures. Where it refers to 'comprehensive services' or 'addiction treatment', there is no clear identification of proven tools that save lives daily, for example, exchange programmes, drug testing, supervised treatment rooms, peer-to-peer support programmes or distributed naloxone networks.
It is striking that despite 160 countries and hundreds of experts involved, there has been no clear commitment to support the expansion of these services, despite dozens of examples of their success around the world. For example, application rooms in Canada, Switzerland or Portugal have been shown to reduce overdose rates, overload the emergency system and facilitate access to treatment. Similarly, systemic testing of substances allows users to make informed decisions and minimise the risks associated with contamination or unknown concentrations of active substances - absolutely crucial in an era of increasingly erratic synthetic substances.
The lack of emphasis on harm reduction reveals a fundamental internal contradiction in the strategy: on the one hand, it warns of the dangers of black market substances, but on the other hand, it offers no safe, legal or controlled way for users to avoid these risks. Without available and accepted harm reduction tools, users are trapped - either they try to abstain and fail, or they are left to the illicit market where every dose can be lethal. The Global Coalition's recommendations thus risk appearing technocratic and disconnected from the day-to-day realities of the most vulnerable groups at risk.
The document is also heavily framed in repressive terms - emphasising the dismantling of illegal networks, the control of precursors and the strengthening of legislation. This can lead to increasing user risks, shifting the market to even darker corners and transferring the problem between regions - a classic example of the 'balloon effect' known from earlier phases of the war on drugs.
If the Global Coalition is to have a lasting impact, it must commit to real innovative courage: recognising that simply expanding criminal policy and treatment is not enough. Without creating a regulated, safer alternative to the illicit market, and without systematically strengthening harm reduction, the world will continue to suffer the consequences, not the causes, of the synthetic drug crisis.
About IRAP
The Institute for Rational Addiction Policies (IRAP) is an independent organisation based in the Czech Republic, dedicated to promoting scientifically grounded addiction policies. Its mission is to support a rational, integrated approach to addiction, including regulation, substitution, and addressing security aspects of the grey market. These policies aim to minimise harm, with abstinence as one possible outcome, but not the only one.
