The War for Drugs Vs the Eindhoven Declaration: A Conversation on Rights of the Child

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Episode description:

The War for Drugs Vs the Eindhoven Declaration: A Conversation on Rights of the Child

In 2021, 86,000 American children were orphaned by overdose deaths. One in every 840 kids. And 75% of all child sexual exploitation cases involve funding the drug use of a parent.

In this episode, Shane sits down with Gary Christian, president of Drug Free Australia, vice president of One Voice One Message, and one of the founding authors of the Eindhoven Declaration. Gary brings over 40 years of research and frontline advocacy to the question of why prevention has been quietly abandoned and what it will take to put it back where it belongs.

The Eindhoven Declaration emerged from the Wake Up Drug Free conference in the Netherlands in March 2025. It reasserts Article 33 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: that governments should use all means possible to protect children from the use of harmful drugs and from being used in the drug trade. It sits alongside protections from slavery, trafficking, and sexual exploitation. 196 nations signed it. And yet, as Gary explains, well-funded actors have been working since 2008 to redefine that protection out of existence.

In this conversation we cover:

Article 33 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and why billionaire-funded lobbyists are trying to redefine it away
86,000 children orphaned in 2021 from overdose deaths alone
75% of child sexual exploitation cases funding the drug use of a parent
The seven recommendations of the Eindhoven Declaration
Why prevention is the best form of harm reduction

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Resources:

How Children are Damaged by Guardian Drug Use – Statistical Overview (PDF)
UN Convention of Rights of the Child Article 33: Protection Against Drug Use (Video)
The Eindhoven Declaration (PDF)
Safeguarding Children’s Rights: Analysing Article 33 of the UN Convention
Eindhoven Declaration: Protecting Children from Drugs
‘Medicinal’ Cannabis & Driving – Is it an Issue?
One Voice One Message
Drug Free Australia