Drugs and Crime

2019 ◽  
pp. 266-284
Author(s):  
Martin Jelsma ◽  
David Bewley-Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Organized Crime ◽  
Crime Control ◽  
Drug Control ◽  
Transnational Organized Crime ◽  
Psychotropic Substances ◽  
Issue Area ◽  
Drugs And Crime ◽  
Control Regime ◽  
Illicit Traffic ◽  
Narcotic Drugs

This chapter discusses the relatively little-known convention framework focusing on the traditionally connected issues of drugs and crime and the differing consequences of treaty flexibility within each domain. It begins with an overview of the evolution and expansion in scope of the international drug control regime and its structural focus on narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and illicit traffic in both. A range of growing tensions are discussed as views of the issue area among member states diverge and systemic dissonance across the UN becomes more obvious, particularly in relation to human rights. The chapter then moves on to examine the development of the transnational organized crime and corruption regime and assessment of the conventions upon which it is based. It concludes by looking to the future with a discussion of some of the available options to address tensions within the drug control regime, including what lessons might be learned from the governance structures of their sister crime control conventions.

scholarly journals Towards Global Governance: The Inadequacies of the UN Drug Control Regime

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 291-295
Author(s):  
Antonia Eliason ◽  
Robert Howse
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Drug Control ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform ◽  
Psychotropic Substances ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
Global War ◽  
Control Regime ◽  
Illicit Traffic

Human rights and the UN drug control regime have long had an uneasy relationship, which is evident today in the tensions that exist between criminal justice reform advocates, the institutions of the UN drug control regime, and economic interests that stand to benefit from decriminalization and legalization efforts. The UN drug control regime's relationship with human rights cannot be properly discussed without acknowledging its colonial and racist roots. From the earliest agreement on drug control in 1909, born out of the crisis of opium dependency caused by the forced opening of China to trade in opium by the British, to the 1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, which was a product of America's war on drugs, international efforts to regulate drugs have never been for the benefit of those who have suffered the most from both the supply of drugs and its criminalization. The war on drugs has been a global war from the beginning, arising out of colonial structures that centered white/European racial dominance. The inadequacies of the international drug regime and current efforts to reform it are rooted in this historical legacy. In light of this, we argue that efforts by international bodies to center human rights in the discussion on reforming the UN drug control regime are, so far, insufficient. Only through recognizing the power imbalances at play can we advance the possibility of a system that values individuals and responds to a changing landscape where corporate interests are coming to the table in the context of decriminalization and legalization.

Part II UN Core Conventions on Transnational Organised Crime, 6 The Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances 1988 and the Global War on Drugs

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vogler Richard ◽  
Fouladvand Shahrzad
Keyword(s):  
Drug Trafficking ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
Loss Of Life ◽  
Psychotropic Substances ◽  
Global War ◽  
Control Regime ◽  
Illicit Traffic ◽  
Narcotic Drugs

This chapter examines the origins of the global drug control regime that was established between 1961 and 1988, the cornerstone of which is the Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances 1988 (the Trafficking Convention). It attempts to explain how the humanistic and philanthropic enterprise represented by the Trafficking Convention and supported by overwhelming international sentiment has become distorted by state policy and organised crime to become the source of wars, offending, disease, and loss of life on an unprecedented scale. It suggests that the unremittingly penal and prohibitive approach to the problem of illicit drugs represented by the Trafficking Convention has served only to magnify the criminality associated with drug trafficking and it concludes by considering the ways in which states have sought to escape from the Convention’s restrictions as well as investigating contemporary moves for reform.

scholarly journals International Law Non-Compliance: Assessing Uruguay’s Decision to Legalize Cannabis under Jose Mujica Regime

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Novia Sinta Tesalonika ◽  
Natasya Kusumawardani
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Behavioural Change ◽  
National Interest ◽  
The Body ◽  
Drug Control ◽  
Psychotropic Substances ◽  
The Government ◽  
Drugs And Crime ◽  
Narcotic Drugs

Uruguay has ratified the international drug control conventions that consist of Single Convention on narcotic drugs 1961 as amended 1972 protocol, the convention on psychotropic substance 1971, and United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances 1988. Since then, the Uruguayan government has been a part of the ‘War on Drugs" campaign. In 2012, Jose Mujica proposed the policy of cannabis legalisation. The proposal was signed and passed into Uruguay law no 19172 that allow and regulate the plant, consumption and sale of cannabis on December 20th, 2013. This policy has violated international drug control conventions and received critics from the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the body of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Despite the critics from INCB, the government stood against the norm of the treaty. This article analyses the causative factors that trigger this behavioural change. The increasing number of drugs users caused many problems in Uruguay especially the increasing numbers of criminal acts. It created national problems and hampering the government's efforts to fight drug trafficking and ensuring the safety of society. By all mean, it became threats to their national interest. Thus, the government believed that compliance with the conventions could not help them to overcome these threats. Uruguay case has shown that state behaviour towards international law will change along its changing national interest.

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