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Introduction
to drug control
Drug control refers to governmental laws and international regulations
pertaining to the manufacture, distribution, and use of drugs.
Drug policies are designed to affect the supply and/or the demand
for illegal drugs locally or nationally. Policies may include
education, treatment, laws, policing, and border surveillance.
The first principles of drug control
are to ensure that drugs are available only for medical and
scientific purposes, not for uses that compromise individual
and public health. There is a grey area between these two propositions.
The synthesis of a psychoactive substance may offer therapeutic
utility but also, very often, a potential for abuse. If the
potential is realized, it becomes necessary to put the substance
under control. Technological innovation in the grey area then
drives the abuse by finding ways of circumventing the control.
Breaking the law and circumventing the law are two quite different
propositions. The nature of the law will determine to some extent,
whether loopholes will be found for circumvention: it can anticipate
innovation, thereby closing the possible loopholes, or it can
be simply reactive, setting in place some mechanism for modifications
as and when the need arises.
This
section provides a brief overview of related international agreements
and frameworks:
1. United Nations
Drug Control Conventions (1961, 1971, 1988)
2. Global Assessment
Programme (1998)
3. ASEAN Plan of Action on Drug Abuse Control
(1996)
4. ACCORD Plan of Action (2000)
5. MOU on Drug Control (1993)
6. Subregional Action Plan (2000)
7. Tokyo Conference on ATS (2000)
8. Regional Government
Responses
United Nations
International drug control treaties provide the legal foundation
for action against drug related offences. Many countries still
lack adequate legal frameworks, which undermines both domestic
and international drug control efforts. In addition, global
developments in drug abuse and trafficking are dramatically
increasing the legislative needs of States.
1. Prior to 1961
various United Nations Conventions have restricted the sale
and use of different substances to medical purposes. These
conventions were amalgamated in the 1961
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. This in turn was
supplemented in 1972 by a Protocol stressing the need for
treatment and rehabilitation services. This Convention aims
to combat drug abuse by coordinated international action.
There are two forms of intervention and control that work
together. First, it seeks to limit the possession, use, trade,
distribution, import, export, manufacture and production of
drugs exclusively to medical and scientific purposes. Second,
it combats drug trafficking through international cooperation
to deter and discourage drug traffickers.
2.
In 1971 the Convention
on Psychotropic Substances established an international
control system for psychotropic substances. It responded to
the diversification and expansion of the spectrum of drugs
of abuse and introduced controls over a number of synthetic
drugs according to their abuse potential and their therapeutic
value. For the purposes of international drug control, the
term "drug abuse" refers to the illicit, i.e. non-medical,
use of any of the substances listed in the above conventions.
3. In 1988 the United
Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs
and Psychotropic Substances addressed drug trafficking
and included provisions against money laundering and the diversion
of chemicals used in the manufacture of illicit drugs (precursor
chemicals). It provides for international cooperation through,
for example, extradition of drug traffickers, controlled deliveries,
and transfer of proceedings.
These three major
international drug control treaties are mutually supportive
and complementary. In addition to including general provisions
on illicit trafficking and drug abuse, they seek to ensure the
availability of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances for
medical and scientific purposes and to prevent their diversion
into illicit channels. An important purpose of the first two
treaties is to codify internationally applicable control measures
in order to ensure the availability of narcotic drugs and psychotropic
substances for medical and scientific purposes, and to prevent
their diversion into illicit channels.
4.
At the 1998 UN General Assembly special session on the world
drug problem, member states recognized that reducing the demand
for drugs was an essential pillar in the stepped-up global
effort to fight drug abuse and trafficking. They committed
themselves to reduce significantly both the supply of and
demand for drugs by 2008, as expressed in the Political
Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction.
The 1998 UN Political Declaration
addresses the responsibility of nations where consumption is
a problem, and it is especially important for demand reduction
efforts because it gives demand reduction strategies an equal
weight with supply reduction strategies. In addition, it emphasizes
that demand reduction strategies should be built on knowledge
acquired from research, should have community-wide participation,
and should include training for policy makers. All of these
elements are promoted through the UNODC RC ATS project.
Global
Assessment Programme on Drug Abuse
The 1998 political declaration aims to eliminate
or significantly reduce the demand for illicit drugs by 2008.
Monitoring progress toward this goal requires reliable and systematic
data on drug consumption, which was unavailable at a global
level at that time. As a response to this need UNODC launched
the Global
Assessment Programme on Drug Abuse (GAP). The GAP documents
have now been translated into Chinese by the National Narcotics
Control Commission (NNCC), China. GAP
- Chinese Translation (1.07MB) PDF .
The problems the UNODC RC ATS project
is addressing are congruent with those identified under GAP.
Moreover, under the project's general provisions for special
consideration, emphasis is placed on integrating the principles,
methods, and core indicators of GAP.
A panel of technical experts representing
international bodies and regional networks met in Lisbon in
January 2000 to discuss the principles, structures, and indicators
necessary for effective drug information systems. At this meeting,
participants considered the technical aspects of collecting
reliable, accurate, and strategically valuable information on
drug abuse and identified the structures necessary to support
the collection and analysis of data at the national, regional,
and global levels. Particular consideration was given to the
development of a set of core epidemiological demand indicators
against which United Nations Member States could report on their
respective situations. The following list of core indicators
represents the consensus expressed by the technical experts
at the meeting:
1. Drug consumption among the
general population
(estimates of prevalence and incidence)
2. Drug consumption among the
youth population
(estimates of prevalence and incidence)
3. High-risk drug abuse
(estimates of number of drug injectors and proportion engaging
in high-risk behaviours, estimates of the number of daily
users)
4. Service utilization for drug
problems
(number of individuals seeking help for a drug problem)
5. Drug-related morbidity
(HIV, HBV and HCV prevalence among illicit drug consumers)
6. Drug-related mortality
(deaths directly attributable to drug consumption)
ASEAN
Plan of Action on Drug Abuse Control
The project falls within the intent of the demand
reduction element of the ASEAN Plan of Action on Drug Abuse
Control.
The Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Plan of Action on Drug
Abuse Control has been operating since 1996 and has since had
15 projects related to illicit drug abuse. ASEAN's current members
are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
The ASEAN Declaration states that
the aims and purposes of the Association are: (i) to accelerate
the economic growth, social progress, and cultural development
in the region through joint endeavours in the spirit of equality
and partnership in order to strengthen the foundation for a
prosperous and peaceful community of Southeast Asian nations,
and (ii) to promote regional peace and stability through abiding
respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship
among countries in the region and adherence to the principles
of the United Nations Charter.
ACCORD
Plan of Action
The project supports the objectives
and goals of the ACCORD Plan of Action covering the ASEAN countries
and China.
The ACCORD
Plan of Action enables a cooperative network to respond
to the dangers of new drugs, and to measure their changes. The
ACCORD Plan of Action was unanimously endorsed by 378 participants
from 36 countries and 16 organizations at the International
Congress "In pursuit of drug free ASEAN 2015: sharing the
vision, leading the change" in Bangkok, Thailand, October
2000. The implementation of the Plan of Action will be coordinated
by UNODC and the ASEAN Secretariat".
The ACCORD partners include all
of the UNODC RC ATS project members (Cambodia, China, Lao PDR,
Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam), as well as Brunei
Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.
Memorandum
of Understanding on Drug Control
The project also is consistent
with the intent of the Memorandum of understanding on drug control.
In 1993 the Governments of the
Mekong Subregion determined that concerted international efforts
were required to address the problems of illicit drug production,
trafficking, and abuse. As a result, the Governments of the
Lao People’s Democratic Republic, the Union of Myanmar,
the Kingdom of Thailand, the People’s Republic of China,
and UNODC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). In 1995
Cambodia and Vietnam joined the MOU.
The Memorandum of Understanding
is a non-binding agreement which allows governments and agencies,
such as customs or police, to work together. Ideally this form
of cooperation deepens and broadens in scope over time. UNODC
has brokered MOUs in many regions of the world, resulting in
cooperation in intelligence gathering, harmonized legal and
institutional frameworks, joint enforcement operations, and
demand reduction efforts. The MOU
of Southeast Asia was the first of its kind.
Subregional
Action Plan
One of the major outcomes
of the MOU of Southeast Asia meetings was the approval of a Subregional
Action Plan (SAP) comprising collaborative drug control
projects in the areas of demand reduction, supply reduction,
and law enforcement. It was determined that all six governments
(Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam) and
the UNODC would be involved in monitoring project progress,
and steering the development of the programme through annual
meetings. In 2000, the updated SAP included provision for a
regional project to take action against ATS abuse.
Within the framework of the Action
Plan, UNODC acts as a catalyst and coordinator of drug control
activities, concentrating on broad-based and long term programmes,
assisting subregional and national project formulation and execution
and strengthening the planning and collaboration with other
national and international institutions.
Currently, there are fourteen projects
under implementation, including the UNODC RC ATS project. It
is envisaged that new projects corresponding with the overall
objectives and the needs of the signatory countries will be
identified and included in the Plan.
Tokyo
Conference on ATS
The project design is congruent
with the resolution and practical measures for national and
regional actions outlined by the Tokyo Conference on ATS 2000. Tokyo
Conference Report (106 KB) PDF
Regional
Government Responses
Assessing both drug demand and drug supply issues are critical
to responding to the increase abuse of amphetamine-type stimulants.
The demand issues primarily concern a lack of factual information
about the risks of ATS use in social environments which accept
or promote drug use as part of a fashionable image. Initial
use by youth is partly driven by this image and by encouragement
through peer pressure. Occupational users give the risks a lower
priority in favour of immediate economic gain, and recreational
users either fail to recognize the dependence producing properties
of the ATS group or naively believe that they are simply not
vulnerable.
Preventive measures
can respond to some of these issues by providing factual information
about ATS risks while also dispelling the myths about invulnerability.
The nature of the information and form of presentation will depend
upon the characteristics of the target population, including their
pre-existing knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. Settings for
prevention often include formal and non-formal education facilities
and work sites.
Accessible treatment
and rehabilitation services are needed for those who have developed
chronic dependence upon ATS. Since the effectiveness of these
interventions is largely dependent upon the motivation of the
abuser, a complete assessment and treatment plan is often desirable.
Relapse prevention activities and community support networks are
often needed to overcome drug craving.
The supply issues
centre upon the availability of cheap precursor chemicals with
simple structures, illicitly diverted and converted to ATS through
simple techniques. Gaps and differences in the provision of national
legislation and regulations of neighbouring countries provide
additional scope for clandestine manufacturing.
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