Context: Recently, Harm Reduction Consortium released the inaugural Global Drug Policy Index which ranks Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, the UK and Australia as the five leading countries on humane and health-driven drug policies.

• The five lowest-ranking countries are Brazil, Uganda, Indonesia, Kenya, and Mexico. India’s rank is 18 out of 30 countries.

India's Performance

• India’s rank is 18 out of 30 countries. It has an overall score of 46/100.

India's Scores on following key fronts

• Using extreme sentencing and responses, it has a score of 63/100.
• Health and harm reduction, 49/100.
• Proportionality of criminal justice response, 38/100.
• Availability and access of internationally controlled substances for the relief of pain and suffering, 33 /100.

About the Index

• It is a data-driven global analysis of drug policies and their implementation. 

It is composed of 75 indicators running across five broad dimensions of drug policy

• criminal justice, 
• extreme responses, 
• health and harm reduction, 
• access to internationally controlled medicines, and 
• development.

The Index provides an essential accountability and evaluation mechanism in the field of drug policy.

By: Shubham Tiwari