This is a critical year for development as countries hammer out a new, post-2015 development agenda. At the 13th Crime Congress, taking place in the Qatari capital of Doha - from 12 to 19 April 2015 - policymakers and experts from around the world have joined forces with the UN, inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations to chart a new course for crime prevention and rule of law in support of sustainable development.

Implementing the decisions of popular votes held in the United States in Colorado and Washington to allow for the recreational use of cannabis would be a violation of international laws, the United Nations body tasked with monitoring the production and consumption of narcotics worldwide said today.

Despite significant eradication efforts, high opium prices led to an increase in poppy cultivation in Afghanistan this year, a joint report released today by the Government and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has found.

Corruption is a major impediment in combating illicit drug trafficking, the independent United Nations body tasked with monitoring the production and consumption of narcotics worldwide said today in its annual report, while also warning that the production of synthetic stimulants is growing.