international legal acts regulating measures to combat narcotics along with
producing recommendations aimed at improving these types of measures and
their application.
Expanding the Sphere of International Legal Regulation:
Expanding the sphere of international legal regulation means that each
successive forum and each new international legal act against narcotics has
focused on such areas of drug abuse, which have not been previously subject
of international regulation.
In particular, the 1912 Hague Convention was the first to define types
of narcotics - raw opium, smoke opium, medicinal opium, morphine and some
others, which were placed under international control. Later this list was
expanded. Under the Convention of 19th February 1925, some additional raw
materials such as coca leaves, raw cocaine and Indian hemp (cannabis) were
included. Also any other drug capable of causing harmful affects, according
to the finding of a competent body, could be added to the list. Under the
Protocol of 19th November 1948 the list was further extended by synthetic
drugs that had come into being by that time and had not been regulated by
any of the previously adopted international legal acts. The 1961 Uniform
Convention contained a much longer list of narcotics allowing for further
subsequent changes and additions.
The 1912 Hague Convention obliged the participating countries to pass
national legislation controlling the production, distribution, importation
and exportation of raw opium as well as measures scaling down production,
domestic trade and consumption of smoke opium, banning its import and
export. The Agreement of 11th February 1925 envisaged setting up a
government monopoly for opium production and monopoly associations for
opium trade. The Geneva Convention of 19th February 1925 introduced new
measures, such as exercising control over the activities of persons who
held permits to manufacture, import, export, sell, distribute and apply
narcotics, as well as control over the premises where these persons
practiced their trade. The Convention also limited the number of ports,
cities and other populated centers through which the import and export of
drugs was allowed, and urged the adoption of domestic legislation
qualifying violation of these provisions of the Convention as criminal
offence. The Convention of 13th July 1931 formulated the following
additional measures: extradition of criminals for committing drug-related
crimes; setting up domestic government agencies to implement the
Convention's decisions and regulations, supervision over the trade in drug-
bearing medicines, listed in the Convention, and a clamp-down on illegal
drug trafficking. The Bangkok agreement of 27th November 1931 contained
such amendments as limiting retail opium trade to government agencies only.
For persons under 21 years of age visiting opium dens, was a criminal
offence. The Convention of 26th June 1936 was the first to introduce the
word "struggle" and provided for a much wider range of criminal drug-
related offenses. Under the Protocol of 19th November 1948, the signatories
had to inform the UN about any substance that had the potential of being
abused in the future.
The 1961 Uniform Convention (with amendments) broadened international
legal norms, over new aspects of drug abuse. For example, it established a
special procedure for cultivating narcotic-bearing plants and manufacturing
narcotic substances, it established uniform rules for storing drugs. These
procedures bound the signatories to cooperate with each other and with
authorized international organizations in arranging and holding campaigns
against illegal drug trafficking, and in applying imprisonment and against
those guilty of premeditated drug-related crimes.
The 1988 UN Convention contained recommendations to define concrete
premeditated actions as crimes in national legislation. An extended list of
these crimes was included into the concept "illegal drug trafficking." The
Convention also listed such measures as medical treatment of addicts,
restoration of their working capabilities or social re-integration under
subsequent supervision. The Convention outlined recommendations on using
controlled deliveries at the international level on the basis of mutual
accords.
Purposeful Actions Against Drug Abuse:
Intensifying actions against drug abuse by revealing and attacking
vulnerable spots of narco-business through the help of new, more perfect
law as the world community increasing realized the danger of narcotics, it
displayed a growing ability to apply new international legal norms. As a
result the world community has been approving appropriate legal norms to
check the spread of narcotics. For example, on the basis of the 1912 Hague
Convention the signatories pledged to undertake measures to gradually stop
the production, domestic trade, and consumption of smoke opium, as well as
to ban its import and export. The 1988 Convention registered the provision
on controlled drug deliveries at the international level on the basis of
mutual accords. In accordance with the statement by the Committee for
Banking Rules and Banking Supervision of 12th December 1988 and the
decision of July 1989 by the heads of states and governments of the seven
leading industrial nations and by the European Commission Chairman,
measures were taken to prevent criminal use of the banking system for
laundering money obtained from drug trade.
The Universalization of Legal Norms:
The trend to ensure universalization, unification and standardization
of the international legal norms on narcotics first manifested it self in
the 1912 Hague Convention, the Convention of 19th February 1925 and the
Uniform Convention. These contained uniform lists of controlled narcotics.
The Convention of 13th July 1931 introduced the notions "production",
"refining", "processing", "reserve storage stocks", "government storage
stocks", "export-import", "cultivation", "illegal trafficking",
"territory", "manufacture", "preparation", "storage stocks", and "special
storage stocks". The 1961 Uniform Convention and the 1988 Convention
provided unified lists of socially dangerous activities, qualified as
criminal offenses.
Raising the Effectiveness of the International Legal Norms:
More and more specific and not just declarative norms ensuring
effective and lasting actions against narcotics have been introduced into
law-enforcement practice at each new stage in the international legal
regulation of narcotics. The adoption of these international legal norms is
paving the way for a real opportunity to oppose drug abuse.
Whereas the 1909 Shanghai Opium Commission failed to generate any
constructive measures against narcotics, the 1912 Hague Convention managed
to define the kinds of narcotics to be placed under international control.
The Agreement of 11th February 1925 provided for the establishment of
monopoly institutions to deal with opium and for the transfer of the smoke
opium production to a government monopoly. The Convention of 19th February
1925 extended the list of controlled narcotics and introduced new
restrictions. Appropriate provisions of the 1931 Bangkok Agreement, the
Convention of 13th July 1931, of 26th June 1936, the Protocol of 19th
January 1948, the 1961 Uniform Convention (with amendments), the 1988 UN
Convention and documents of the European Community of 1988 and 1989 as
discussed above, have also been raising the effectiveness of the drive
against narcotics.
Bringing into Line the International and National Legal Norms:
Increasingly international and national legal norms against narcotics
are brought into line as nations sign and ratify international acts. This
leads to the mutual enrichment of the international and national legal
norms aimed at blocking narcotics. On the one hand, the world community
elevates national legal norms to international level by instituting
international legal norms. On the other hand, nations ratify international
legal acts thus adopting them as domestic legislation. International and
domestic legal norms coincide almost completely sometimes, in such areas
the list of narcotics and drug-related actions considered a criminal
offense, as well as the procedure of filing criminal charges against
persons committing drug-related crimes, and their extradition.
The Rise in the Number of Countries Taking Part in International
Conferences:
There has been an increase in the number of nations taking part in
international conferences on narcotics and in the number of nations signing
international legal acts. This is evident in the fact that 13 nations took
part in the Shanghai Opium Commission in 1909, whereas 73 nations attended
the New York conference, which adopted the Uniform Convention in 1961.
Since then, many nations have ratified the Uniform Convention and the 1988
UN Convention and more are going to sign them.
Setting up Specialized Agencies:
The world community has created and keeps expanding the functions of
the specialized agencies dealing with narcotics, such as Permanent Central
Committee on Drugs of 1925, the Special Commission of 1928, the Control
Commission of 1931, the Commission on Drugs of the UN Economic and Social
Council of 1961 and the UN International Committee on Drug Control, and the
special operations group on financial matters of 1989 dealing with money
laundering resulting from drug trafficking. These agencies handle more and
more functions in response to the ever more sophisticated dissemination of
drugs, and money laundering resulting from drug trafficking.
The reaction of the world community to narcotics examined above shows a
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