Fouth Committee

UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs

International Drug Control and Prevention

By
Fahd Ali

The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (UNCND) was founded in 1946 with the clear intent of serving as the primary decision-making body of the United Nations in regards to drug-related concerns (1). In 1991, the UNCND was awarded a mandate as the governing body of the United Nations International Drug Control Program (UNDCP), further cementing the prohibitionist path that has been reinforced with a series of UN resolutions and treaties since 1961 (2).

The UNCND continues to perform the functions assigned to it by Article 8 of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of March 30, 1961, the Convention amended by the protocol of March 1972; and Article 17 of the Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of December 1988. As a result of the 1961 and 1971 Conventions, the UNCND decides, based on recommendations by the World Health Organization, to place or remove narcotic and psychotropic drugs under the control of the international community.

Acting as an annual forum in which member states meet to discuss issues pertaining to the global effort to control illicit drugs, the UNCND analyzes the various drug situations around the globe and proposes plausible methods to combat the growing threat in an attempt to rid the world of drug abuse. Since the strength of the UNCND has always been its policy-making prowess, the commission’s relative inability to control and coordinate state programs has led many to label the commission ineffective. This label is rather undeserved as the UNCND has done much to disrupt the drug epidemic, but its heavy reliance on state governments for funding and legitimacy has made apparent the need for solutions that allow this mechanism to better utilize its resources.

International Drug Control and Prevention:

I. Introduction to the Topic

The UNCND is firmly grounded in three United Nations Conventions that call for the global prohibition of production, distribution and possession of a number of psychoactive substances. In the past four decades, despite great political and financial support for the UNCND, the scale and diversity of psychoactive substances have shown a dramatic increase. Recently, many member states have introduced policies that essentially acknowledge the reality of drug use and concentrate more heavily on the harms that accompany continued drug use such as infection of HIV and small crimes. These policies have yielded positive results in that they do not lead to an increase in drug consumption, but other member states fear that such policies undermine the very nature of a concentrated global effort and pose great problems to the stated UN goal of a world free of drugs. These member states hold that a focus on the disruption of the international drug market and heavy punishment for drug users are the best means to achieve a drug free international society. Despite the apparent differences in the implementation of policy, all member states have committed themselves to the 10-year action plans established in 1998 which call for a drug free world and will be reviewed by the body in 2008 (3).

As these two dynamics will continue to dominate the proceedings, the issue of national sovereignty and funding remains at the very forefront of any discussion concerning international drug control and prevention. It is argued that despite the fact that the drug trade is an international epidemic, drug problems within each nation have their own circumstances and must be treated as such. Similarly, increased funding seems to be one of the obvious means with which to improve international drug control. Finally, the need for plausible solutions must not be overlooked; indeed, the very goal of this committee is to markedly hinder the global sale and consumption of psychoactive substances and all resolutions must strive to serve this purpose.

II. Past Actions

In 1988, the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Drugs presented a discussion of drug trafficking and its links to organized crime. The General Assembly, in response to this report, adopted a political declaration that highlighted various short and long-term policies that were believed to be effective in the war on drugs (4). Unfortunately, the body’s prescribed policies have yet to be implemented.

Also, in 1988, the General Assembly adopted the Action Plan on International Cooperation on the Eradication of Illicit Drug Crops and Alternative Development which held that governments in illegal crop producing areas must design accurate monitoring devices and requested that the international community financially assist alternative development (5). In response to this, the UNCND established global illicit crop monitoring programs, which have been successful (3).

At the UNCND midterm meeting held in Vienna to review the ten-year anti-drug strategy adopted in 1998, the UN anti-drug agencies concluded that the global community is on the path to meeting the UN goal of drastically reducing all drug crops and eliminating drug use by the target year of 2008. Ultimately, the representatives of the 145 member states reaffirmed their commitment to the prohibitionist policy based on that of the United States and adopted resolutions to further repress drug use. In their joint statement, the delegates expressed, "grave concern about the policies and activities in favor of the legalization of illicit narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances that were not in accordance with the international drug control treaties and that might jeopardize the international drug control regime" (6).

III. Key Players

International drug control and prevention is indeed a global concern. In Africa, marijuana has proven to be the most widely abused drug and the use of opiates is on the rise. In fact, the use of opiates is becoming such a problem in Africa that large increases of heroin abuse have been reported in the eastern part of the continent, a region which had no prior history with the drug. The limited resources afforded to law enforcement agencies in the African continent have made crop monitoring and alternative development a nearly impossible endeavor (7).

The International Narcotics Control Board has isolated the abuse of metamphetamines as the largest growing drug in the world, particularly in Central America, Southeast Asia and throughout Europe. Even in the United States, with its comparatively strict law enforcement and funding, metamphetamine abuse continues to rise (8).

Most recently at the annual meeting of the UNCND in Vienna, world health ministers and top goverfnment officials reaffirmed their commitment to the 20^th Special Session of the General Assembly on drugs, held in 1998, in which 150 countries pledged to achieve markedly improved results to "reduce the illicit supply and demand for drugs by 2008" (9).

Future considerations of international drug control and prevention must be aimed at preventing the consumption, production and sale of illicit drugs, but it seems that this focus must be spearheaded by the nations who have the resources that can be applied to such a concentrated effort.

Questions:

1. What can be done to limit the sale of chemicals used in the production of illicit drugs?

2. What type of education programs or preventative measures can lead to greater international drug prevention?

3. What type of legal mechanisms can lead to greater international drug control?

4. What types of Primary Prevention techniques will be most useful in leading to a decrease in drug demand around the world? Is the proposed plan cost effective?

5. Through what methods can rehabilitation programs receive needed funding?

Sources:

1. 46th CNN session; E/CN.7/2004/2

2. 39th CNN session; E/CN.7/1996/5

3. http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/284/vienna2003.shtml

4. http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/legal/un1988nr.htm

5. "Measures to Enhance International Cooperation to Counter the World Drug Problem, paragraphs 10 and 23; http://www.un.org/ga/20special/coop.htm

6. http://www.stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/284/vienna2003.shtml

7. http://www.unodc.org/pdf/report_1999-03-01_1.pdf

8. http://www.unodc.org/unodc/bulletin/bulletin_1992-01-01_1_page007.html

9. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=6796&Cr=drug&Cr1=commission

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