ISSUP Chief Executive Addresses the 78th Regular Session of CICAD

ISSUP was honoured to participate in the 78th Regular Session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), where Joanna Travis Roberts, Chief Executive of the International Society of Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP), delivered remarks to representatives of Member States, civil society organisations, experts, and partners from across the Americas.

Speaking to the importance of collective and evidence-informed responses to substance use, Joanna highlighted that challenges related to drugs intersect with public health, social development, community safety, and human rights, requiring coordinated action across sectors. She emphasised that no single intervention or institution can address these complex issues alone.

In her address, Joanna outlined ISSUP’s unique role as a global professional network dedicated to strengthening the substance use prevention, treatment, recovery, and related workforces. Rather than implementing individual programmes, ISSUP focuses on ensuring that professionals across all sectors are well trained, supported, and equipped with the best available evidence to respond effectively wherever substance-related issues arise.

Drawing on ISSUP’s experience working across a global membership, including 14 National Chapters across the Americas, she underscored a consistent regional challenge: even the strongest policies and plans depend on the capacity, confidence, and institutional support of the workforce responsible for delivering them. From school-based prevention to treatment services, recovery systems, and responses to drug-related crime, people, and the systems that support them, remain at the centre of effective outcomes.

Joanna reaffirmed ISSUP’s commitment to capacity-building and knowledge exchange, including professional development, dissemination of evidence-based resources, and the creation of platforms that connect practitioners and policymakers across borders and disciplines. She also highlighted ISSUP’s long-standing collaboration with CICAD, noting with pride that the two organisations are renewing their Memorandum of Understanding, marking over 10 years of partnership.

This renewed collaboration will continue to support CICAD’s priorities, including cooperation, evaluation, and continuous improvement through mechanisms such as the Hemispheric Plan of Action and the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism, further integrating ISSUP’s National Chapters into these efforts.

Concluding her remarks, Joanna called for workforce development to be recognised as a core pillar of sustainable drug policy, noting that investing in people is one of the most effective ways to reduce crime, improve outcomes, and build resilient communities.

ISSUP looks forward to continuing its close collaboration with CICAD, Member States, and partners to support a balanced, humane, and evidence-based approach to substance use across the hemisphere.