Recommendations for United Nations Drug Legislation Reform

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Recommended: Essays on drug policy

United Nations legislation

The present global drug policy is based on three United Nations conventions: Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs [SCND] of 1961, Convention on Psychotropic Substances from 1971, and United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime [UNODC], 2013). These acts, together with their amendments, require parties to criminalize ‘cultivation, production, manufacture, extraction, preparation, possession, offering, offering for sale, distribution, purchase, sale, delivery’ of any substance scheduled under conventions (SCND, 1961). Besides promoting criminal law-approach, these acts also cover the topic of drug treatment, pointing at drug free method as the most effective one (SCND, 1961). The conventions have strongly influenced domestic drug laws of signatory countries, as visible in similar substance scheduling systems (Misuse of Drugs Act, 1971) or in the rationales of some domestic legislations.

Global drug situation

A few years ago, the then in-charge director of UNODC Antonio Costa argued that the present global drug policies were working, resulting in stabilization of global drug supply and demand (UNODC, 2007). Although we can observe a stabilization of the prevalence of drug use in high-income countries of North America or Western Europe, both hard data and expert opinions show that the number of drug users and overall drug consumption in other regions has soared. Between 2007 and 2011 the perceived drug use in Africa rose by 50%, in Asia opioids use prevalence rose by 100%, including 100% rise in general number of registered drug users in China, cannabis and cocaine use in South America rose by 100% (UN...

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...his paper. Rising drug use does not have to be followed by equal rise in drug problems. Thanks to sensible regulations, scientific research and international aid we have managed to decrease the number of car accident victims in many countries despite major rise in the number of cars on the road, we have managed to decrease the number of starving people in low income countries despite growing global population, finally we have managed to drastically reduce tobacco consumption in developed countries without putting smokers in prison. We believe we can achieve the same success with drugs, using much more humanitarian and cost-effective tools than we currently do.

We hope that our recommendations will be reviewed by UNODC and CND, and that they will contribute to the shift in global drug policy during United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Drugs in 2016.

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