acts, an annual report was to be submitted to the Secretary General of the
League of Nations about the Convention's implementation on the territories
of the member-states. The report was to be compiled in accordance with the
model agreed upon by the Consultative Commission on the Turnover of Opium
and other medicines containing harmful substances.
The contracting parties also pledged to inform each other, through the
office of the League of Nations Secretary General, about all the important
cases of illegal drug trafficking. These reports had to highlight sources
or methods of illegal trafficking, the nature and the amount of drugs, the
time and place of their discovery, smuggling methods and sanctions and
measures in acted by the government.
The Geneva Convention of 1936:
The convention against illegal trade in drastic medicines signed on
26th June 1936 in Geneva became the next important document.
That Convention introduced a number of new essential amendments
corresponding with its title containing the word 'struggle', which opened a
prospect for a juridical cooperation in campaigns against drug abuse. The
range of crimes subject to prosecution was outlined and expanded
considerably. Contracting parties pledged to prosecute persons engaged in
the illegal manufacture, storage, shipment, exportation, sale or purchase
of drugs or who organized conspiracies with the aim of premeditated
participation in the illegal drug trade. The Convention also provided for
the extension of reciprocal legal assistance through the exchange of
necessary information to identify and arrest criminals and extradite them
to a foreign country.
World War II pushed the problems of international cooperation and
control of narcotic substances to the background. But right after the end
of the war this problem came to the foreground once again. In view of this,
some international acts were adopted that regulated relations in the area
of narcotics. The following documents seem to be of interest.
The Protocols of 1946 and of 1948:
The Protocol on Drugs signed in Lake Success (New York) on 11th
December, 1946 provided for the introduction of changes into the
agreements, conventions and protocols on drugs signed in the Hague on 23d
January 1912; in Geneva - on 11th February 1925, 19th February 1925 and
13th July 1931; in Bangkok - on 27th November 1931 and in Geneva - on 26th
June 1936. The Protocol on Drugs covered issues that arose in view of the
dissolution of the League of Nations and the transferring of some of its
drug control functions to the Organization of United Nations, the World
Health Organization or its Interim Committee, and of the transferring of
duties of the League of Nations Secretary General- to the UN Secretary
General. The Protocol was the first UN document that introduced necessary
re-naming although in reality changed nothing in the system of control and
cooperation that existed hitherto.
The Protocol signed in Paris on 19th November 1948 dealt with the
establishment of international control on medicines that were not put on
the list of the 1931 Convention which limited the production and regulated
the distribution of narcotics (changes to this Protocol were introduced by
the 1946 Lake Success Protocol).
The signatories of this Protocol pledged to inform the UN about any
substance that could possibly be abused and also to spread control onto
synthetic drugs that had appeared by the time of the signing, and had not
been previously listed in earlier international regulations.
Discussion of drug issues at the international level and the adoption
of decisions under international law brought national legislation closer
together, helped define priorities of the anti-narcotics movement, form an
understanding of the danger posed by narcotics and control the lists of
narcotics whose manufacture and use was subject to international control.
Yet, the existence of such simultaneously operating legal acts and
international bodies failed to ensure sufficient legal regulation and
control of all the issues connected with narcotics. This failure created
certain difficulties for exercising control over drug abuse. The existing
international acts also lagged behind the realities of life.
Many issues remained unresolved. For example, only some narcotic
preparations were controlled whereas the production of raw materials for
the making of synthetic drugs remained uncontrolled. The cultivation and
use of drug-bearing plants and other problems related to narcotics required
a legal regulation. In view of this, two important international acts were
worked out and approved within the United Nations framework. They were the
Uniform Convention on Drugs of 1961 amended later by the 1972 Protocol on
Drugs, and the United Nations Convention of 1988 which provided for action
against the illegal trafficking of narcotics and psychotropic substances.
One need not think however that the provisions of the earlier approved
acts were so out-dated that they required to be radically changed. The two
Conventions left intact therefore many time-tested provisions of the above-
cited documents. At present they form the main legal foundation for the
system helping exercise international cooperation and control over drugs.
The Uniform Convention of 1961:
The 1961 Uniform Convention regulates questions pertaining to the legal
use of drugs. Its adoption was a landmark in the development of relations
based on international law. The Convention is designed to promote decisive
actions against narcotics at the international level through the building
of a system of international cooperation and control over narcotics. In
fact, this one document is a substitute for all the previously accepted
international acts (with the exception of some points of the 1936
Convention). It diminished the number of international bodies in charge of
the control over narcotics, and established control over the production of
drug-bearing raw materials.
The participants in the Convention expressed the wish to sign a
universally accepted international convention to limit the use of narcotics
to medical and scientific purposes only and to maintain permanent
international cooperation in order to accomplish the principles and aims of
the Convention.
The parties to the Convention pledged to adopt not only necessary
legislative measures, as the case had been here-to fore, but also
administrative measures and to ensure fulfillment of the Convention's
decisions. They took upon themselves to limit the production, exportation,
importation, distribution, use, storage, and trade in narcotics and limit
their use and storage for medical purposes exclusively in order to diminish
sufferings and pain.
Instead of the previous four international agencies, which controlled
narcotics, the Convention authorized the formation of just two: the
Commission on Drugs under the UN Economic and Social Council and the newly
formed International Committee on Drug Control of the United Nations
Organization.
The Convention endowed these two bodies with broad authority.
The Commission on Drugs of the UN ECOSOC:
The Commission examines all issues that bear relation to the aims
proclaimed by the Uniform Convention. Every year it approves and amends the
List of substances, plants and preparations, the use, dissemination,
cultivation and storage of which is under international control. It
introduces corresponding changes and additions to the List and informs the
national governments. The Commission also informs the Committee of any
circumstances that may bear upon execution of its functions. Finally, it
issues recommendations concerning the implementation of the Convention's
aims and decisions, including the program of research and the exchange of
scientific and technical information.
For example, one of the recommendations calls for the need to provide
countries where the illegal cultivation of drug-bearing plants is practiced
with an access to modern reconnaissance technology which makes it possible
to discover and then destroy such fields. This recommendation also calls
for the need to promote the economies of these countries so that their
farmers could earn a living by working at legal agricultural and other
enterprises; to combine steps against the illegal production and spread of
narcotics with the efforts to build a more just international order, give
help to third world countries in boosting their economies, developing their
traditional export industries and agriculture, and train specialists; to
regard programs for preventing drug addiction and curing drug addicts as
top priorities.28
Member countries may also be asked to submit their own recommendations.
These may include annual reports about the Convention's implementation on
their respective territories, texts of laws and rules passed with the aim
of implementing the Convention's provisions; names and addresses of
government agencies authorized to give permits for the exportation or
certificates for the importation of narcotics; or any other reports about
cases of illegal trafficking.
The UN Committee on Drug Control:
In accordance with the requirements of the 1961 Uniform Convention
(with amendments) the Committee consists of 13 members elected for the term
of 5 years. 3 members with medical, pharmaceutical and pharmacological
experience from the list of persons submitted by the WHO and 10 members-
from the list of persons submitted by countries belonging to the UN.
Persons recommended as members of the Committee have to meet special
requirements such as competence, non-involvement, impartiality,
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