International drug policy
Background
The international drug control system is based on three international conventions. These are the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances and the 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
Known as the UN Drug Conventions, these international instruments were established by the international community with the primary objective of preventing and combating the non-scientific and non-medical production, supply and consumption of narcotic and psychotropic drugs. The Conventions provide the legal structure for an international system of drug control measures that each state party to the Conventions endorses.
A number of agencies and actors are involved in the functioning and oversight of the UN Drug Conventions. They include the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
In 1998, the United Nations General Assembly held a Special Session (UNGASS) focusing on drugs. At the special session, UN member states adopted a Political Declaration asserting their strong commitment to drug control as a priority at both national and international levels. The General Assembly also adopted a Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Demand Reduction and a Resolution on Measures to Emphasize International Co-operation to Counter the World Drug Problem as well as two actions plans – one on the suppression of trade and use of amphetamine type stimulants and one on crop eradication and alternative development.
The 1998 Political Declaration set 2008 as the target date for “eliminating or reducing significantly the illicit cultivation of the coca bush, the cannabis plant and the opium poppy” as well as “eliminating or significantly reducing the illicit manufacture, marketing and trafficking of psychotropic substances, including synthetic drugs, and the diversion of precursors” and for “achieving significant and measurable results in the field of drug demand reduction.”
The 2008 Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) was designated as the point to review progress made in international drug control in the 10 years since the Political Declaration of 1998. At the 2008 CND, a year long ‘period of global reflection’ was launched. This will culminate in 2009 when a CND Ministerial Segment will discuss the future direction of international drug policy.
To obtain NGOs inputs to the review progress, the Vienna NGO Committee launched the Beyond 2008 project, inviting NGOs from across the world to contribute their views on progress to-date, future priorities and needs through a questionnaire and a number of regional consultations.
The consultations focused on discussion around three key objectives:
to highlight tangible NGO achievements in the field of drug control;
to review best practices related to collaborative mechanisms between and among NGOs, governments and UN agencies; and
to adopt a series of high order principles as a guide for future deliberations on drug policy matters.
The findings from the consultation process will feed into the 4th International NGO Forum, to be held in Vienna in July 2008, where NGOs recommendations on the direction and priorities of the future international drug policy will be consolidated in order to inform the discussions and outcomes of the 2009 CND.
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