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United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
Image:Trafficker bust.gif
Article 3 requires nations to criminalize money laundering and other drug-related white-collar crimes. Money laundering is the practice of engaging in financial Transactions in order to conceal the Identity, source and/or destination of Money, Within the field of Criminology, white-collar crime or 'incorporated governance' has been defined by Edwin Sutherland as "a crime committed by a person of respectability
Opened for signatureDecember 20, 1988[1] in Vienna
Entered into forceNovember 11, 1990[2]
Conditions for entry into force20 ratifications
Parties170[3]

The 1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is one of three major drug control treaties currently in force. A signature (from Latin signare, " Sign " is a handwritten (and sometimes stylized depiction of someone's name nickname or even a simple Events 69 - Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria. Coming into force (also called enforcement or enactment) is a term that refers to the process by which Legislation, or part of legislation and Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) A party is a Person or group of persons that compose a single Entity which can be identified as one for the purposes of the Law. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) It provides additional legal mechanisms for enforcing the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is an international Treaty to prohibit production and supply of specific (nominally Narcotic) Drugs and of drugs Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is a United Nations Treaty designed to control Psychoactive drugs such as Amphetamines Barbiturates The Convention entered into force on November 11, 1990. Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Year 1990 ( MCMXC) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar) As of January 1, 2005, there were 170 Parties to the Convention[4]. New Year See also New Year The Ancient Romans began their consular year on January 1st since 153 BC Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Contents

Background

The Convention represents an escalation in the War on Drugs. The War on Drugs is a prohibition campaign undertaken by the United States government with the assistance of participating countries intended to reduce the Illegal The Preamble notes that previous enforcement efforts have not stopped drug use, warning of "steadily increasing inroads into various social groups made by illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The term narcotic (ναρκωτικός is believed to have been coined by the Greek physician Galen to refer to agents that benumb or deaden causing loss A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a Chemical substance that acts primarily upon the Central nervous system where it alters Brain " It cautions that the drug trade and related activities "undermine the legitimate economies and threaten the stability, security and sovereignty of States. " The sense of urgency is underscored by the image of innocent boys and girls being exploited:

[C]hildren are used in many parts of the world as an illicit drug consumers market and for purposes of illicit production, distribution and trade in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, which entails a danger of incalculable gravity.

Drug manufacture and distribution

A cache of precursor chemicals near a South American cocaine processing lab.
A cache of precursor chemicals near a South American cocaine processing lab. South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a Cocaine ( benzoylmethyl ecgonine) is a Crystalline Tropane Alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the Coca plant

Much of the treaty is devoted to fighting organized crime by mandating cooperation in tracing and seizing drug-related assets. "Crime syndicate" redirects here For the DC Comics group of villains see Crime Syndicate. Article 5 of the Convention requires its parties to confiscate proceeds from drug offenses. It also requires parties to empower its courts or other competent authorities to order that bank, financial, or commercial records be made available or seized. The Convention further states that a party may not decline to act on this provision on the ground of bank secrecy.

Article 6 of the Convention provides a legal basis for extradition in drug-related cases among countries having no other extradition treaties. Extradition is the official process by which one nation or state requests and obtains from another nation or state the surrender of a suspected or convicted criminal In addition, the Convention requires the parties to provide mutual legal assistance to one another upon request, for purposes of searches, seizures, service of judicial documents, and so on.

In addition, Article 12 of the Convention establishes two categories of controlled illicit drug precursor substances, Table I and Table II. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs has power to decide whether to control a precursor substance, and which Table to place it in. Commission on Narcotic Drugs is the central drug policy-making body within the United Nations system The assessment of the International Narcotics Control Board is binding on the Commission, however, as to scientific matters. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB is the independent and quasi-judicial control organ for the implementation of the United Nations drug conventions A two-thirds vote is required to add a substance to a Table.

Article 12 protects the interests of pharmaceutical and chemical companies by requiring the Board to take into account the "extent, importance and diversity of the licit use of the substance, and the possibility and ease of using alternate substances both for licit purposes and for the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances. "

Control of amphetamine-type stimulant precursors has become a major UN priority[5].

Drug possession

The International Narcotics Control Board interprets the 1988 Convention as requiring Parties to criminalize simple drug possession.
The International Narcotics Control Board interprets the 1988 Convention as requiring Parties to criminalize simple drug possession. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB is the independent and quasi-judicial control organ for the implementation of the United Nations drug conventions

Article 3 of the Convention may require nations to ban possession of drugs for personal use:

Subject to its constitutional principles and the basic concepts of its legal system, each Party shall adopt such measures as may be necessary to establish as a criminal offence under its domestic law, when committed intentionally, the possession, purchase or cultivation of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances for personal consumption contrary to the provisions of the 1961 Convention, the 1961 Convention as amended or the 1971 Convention.

Previous drug control treaties had targeted drug manufacturers and traffickers, rather than users. The Mechanics and Dynamics of the UN System for International Drug Control by David R. Bewley-Taylor, PhD and Professor Cindy Fazey, PhD, explains that "[t]he 1988 Convention was an attempt to reach a political balance between consumer and producer countries. Consequently, it was not only the duty of producing countries (e. g. the developing countries of Asia and South America) to suppress illicit supply, but also the duty of consumer countries (e. g. the industrialized countries of Europe and North America) to suppress the demand for drugs. "

However, it is unclear whether this provision actually does mandate prohibition of drug possession for personal use, due to the caveat that such possession need only be prohibited if it is "contrary to the provisions of the 1961 Convention, the 1961 Convention as amended or the 1971 Convention. " The American National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse found that the provisions of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs against possession apply only to possession related to illicit trafficking, while the Canadian Le Dain Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs found otherwise[6]. The National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse was created by Public Law 91-513 to study marijuana abuse in the United States Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is an international Treaty to prohibit production and supply of specific (nominally Narcotic) Drugs and of drugs The Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs, often referred to as the Le Dain Commission after its chair Dean Gerald Le Dain, was a Canadian government

Constitutional issues

Several of the Convention's provisions are prefaced with the words, "Subject to its constitutional principles and the basic concepts of its legal system, each Party shall . . . " According to Fazey, "This has been used by the USA not to implement part of article 3 of the 1988 Convention, which prevents inciting others to use narcotic or psychotropic drugs, on the basis that this would be in contravention of their constitutional amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech"[7]. Similarly, if a national prohibition on drug possession violated a nation's constitution, those provisions would not be binding on that country.

Proposed repeal

In 2003, a European Parliament committee recommended repealing the 1988 Convention, finding that[8]:

[D]espite massive deployment of police and other resources to implement the UN Conventions, production and consumption of, and trafficking in, prohibited substances have increased exponentially over the past 30 years, representing what can only be described as a failure, which the police and judicial authorities also recognise as such . Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. The European Parliament ( Europarl or EP) is the only directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union (EU Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) . . [T]he policy of prohibiting drugs, based on the UN Conventions of 1961, 1971 and 1988, is the true cause of the increasing damage that the production of, trafficking in, and sale and use of illegal substances are inflicting on whole sectors of society, on the economy and on public institutions, eroding the health, freedom and life of individuals.

The road to repeal would be difficult. Individual nations could withdraw from the treaty under the provisions of Article 30. However, as former UN drug official Cindy Fazey notes, the Convention has no termination clause, and therefore would remain in effect even if only one signatory remained[9]. Cindy Fazey is a criminologist and former Chief of Demand Reduction for the United Nations Drug Control Programme. The Transnational Radical Party report noted that denunciation is the only route to changing the control regime established by the treaty[10]:

As regards the 1988 Convention, written with the main objective of strengthening all aspects of prohibition (also at the level of consumption, establishing the reversal of the burden of proof for persons suspected of carrying forbidden substances), it was deemed not amendable, therefore, the only possible way to go about it would be its denunciation by a substantial number of contracting Parties. The Transnational Radical Party (former Radical Party, not to be confused with the Italian Radicals liberal party founded in 2001 is a political

References

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