The Vienna Declaration is a document calling for the United Nations to support drug policy reform, including drug decriminalization and a science-based approach to drug policy.
History
One of its supporters was 2008 Nobel Laureate and International AIDS Society (IAS) Governing Council member Prof. Francoise Barré-Sinoussi, co-discoverer of HIV. It was the official declaration of the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) which was held in Vienna, Austria, from July 18 to 23, 2010. The declaration was drafted by a team of international experts and initiated by several of the world’s leading HIV and drug policy scientific bodies: the International AIDS Society, the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy (ICSDP), and the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS. The Lancet published the text of the Vienna Declaration, together with a series of articles and comments on HIV in people who use drugs.
In August 2010 the city of Toronto, Canada, became the first city in the world to formally endorse The Vienna Declaration, following a 33-7 vote of the city council.