North American Dialogue on Drug Policy

This press release is from the U.S. Department of State. To see the original release, click here.

For Immediate Release

October 28, 2016

On October 27, officials of the governments of Canada, Mexico, and the United States met for the inaugural meeting of the North American Dialogue on Drug Policy.  At the North American Leaders Summit in June of this year, the Presidents of Mexico and the United States and the Prime Minister of Canada agreed to convene the North American Dialogue on Drug Policy on an annual basis to exchange information on drug trends, increase trilateral coordination on drug policy, and develop actions that our governments can take to protect our citizens from harmful drugs and drug trafficking. 

The meeting focused on the shared illicit drug problem, from production and trade to consumption and misuse.  Specifically, participants discussed the various domestic challenges, including the opioid crisis, and how each country is responding to them.  This discussion resulted in the identification of best practices, methods to gather data from multi-sectoral perspectives, and helped identify possible trilateral lines of cooperation to address North American drug challenges.

At their next meeting in 2017, the three governments will review progress made on these areas of discussion.

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