At the “Drugs Community Forum” held in Bangkok on Tuesday (Sept 2), hosted by the Health & Opportunity Network and its partners, campaigners warned that ASEAN’s longstanding “drug-free” approach had failed to deliver sustainable results.
They argued that a health-centred, evidence-based strategy would better protect communities and address the realities of drug use in the region, reports the Bangkok Post.
“The 2016–2025 Asean Work Plan recognised prevention, treatment, law enforcement, research, and alternative development. But implementation has often ignored evidence and focused on punitive measures,” said Gloria Lai, regional director of the International Drug Policy Consortium. “Harm reduction remains severely limited in the region despite being proven effective and endorsed by the United Nations.”
The forum’s participants highlighted that only three ASEAN members - Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam - include harm reduction in their national policies.
They criticised the persistence of compulsory treatment centres, widespread human rights abuses linked to strict enforcement, and the over-criminalisation of vulnerable groups.
Instead, the coalition urged ASEAN to invest in rights-based prevention programmes that tackle root causes such as poverty and social exclusion, to expand access to harm reduction services, and to pursue the decriminalisation of narcotic drug use.
“We need to move away from fear-based campaigns and punitive laws,” Ms Lai said. “Policies must focus on health, human rights, and community wellbeing.”
Advocates also pressed ASEAN to broaden its concept of “alternative development” to address urban and synthetic drug issues, and to ensure that affected groups - including people who use illicit drugs and former prisoners - are given a voice in policy design.
Concerns were raised over Singapore’s upcoming chairmanship of the ASEAN Senior Officials on Drug Matters (ASOD) for 2025–2026. Activists fear Singapore will reinforce a “drug-free ASEAN” narrative, sidelining harm reduction principles.
“Under Singapore’s next chairmanship of ASOD, we are worried about how the region may be influenced,” she said. “We need to strengthen advocacy so that ASEAN listens to communities rather than doubling down on punitive policies.”
The recommendations will be tabled ahead of the 9th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Drug Matters in Manila later this month.
Advocates stressed the region’s new plan should measure success not by abstinence, but by safer, healthier outcomes for its people, said Ms Lai.