President Trump on Monday led a United Nation’s panel on combating the world drug crisis, saying a robust international effort could save millions of lives.
President Trump on Monday led a United Nation’s panel on combating the world drug crisis, saying a robust international effort could save millions of lives.“Today we commit to fighting the drug epidemic together,” Mr. Trump told the panel, part of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York this week.Mr. Trump often clashes with the U.N. but the fight against illegal drug trafficking was an area where he sees eye-to-eye with the international body.The Trump administration pulled out of the U.N.’s Human Rights Council and the UNESCO cultural program.“I’ve always said the United Nations has tremendous potential and that potential is being met. Slowly but surely it is being met,” the president said.The president noted that cocaine and opium production reached an all-time high and the number of drug-related deaths around the world increased 60 percent between 2000 and 2015.He called the death toll “absolutely terrible.”“As we know, illicit drugs are linked to organized crime, illegal financial flows, corruption and terrorism,” he said. “It is vital for public health and national security that we fight drug addiction and stop all forms of trafficking and smuggling that provide the financial lifeblood for vicious transnational cartels.”
