that they could protect criminal activities.
The resistance of narco-business to government lawful actions can
result in attempts to undermine the foundations of state and in the re-
orientation and distortion of any country's policy. So, central to the
political aspect of measures against narco-business is blocking the
influence of drug dealers on the national policy by barring nomination of
corrupt officials to key posts in the government.
Economic Dimension:
There are two facets- retrospective and perspective of the economic
aspect of measures against drug abuse. The retrospective facet, on the one
hand, involves direct expenses of the state to combat narcotics, and, on
the other, the lost benefits to citizens as a result of the spread of drug
addiction.
Direct expenses include sizeable resources taken out from the state
budget to set up and maintain various medical and educational centers for
handicapped children, including those who inherited health problems from
their parents suffering from drug addiction. In addition this includes
expenses to support internal affairs agencies, customs officers engaged in
combating the proliferation of drugs, production of special equipment for
identifying drugs, as well as production of medicines for drug users.
Finally, the direct expenses are used to promote international cooperation
in joint antidrug actions with the United Nations Organization, Interpol
and other international agencies and carry out research in the field of
medicine, psychiatry, psychology and law, and to conduct an antidrug
education.
The cost to society is revealed in an increase in the number of
physically handicapped and mentally retarded people, victims of narcotics.
In the long run this leads to a curtailment of society's physical and
intellectual potential as a whole, such as lower standards in education and
labor productivity. This, in turn, causes a reduction in the amount of
material and other benefits produced by society and of resources for
various government-run programs. There is also an increase in the number of
cases of accidents in industry and, as a consequence the increasing failure
to meet the output targets.
It is therefore essential to develop economic levers to oppose narco-
business, including the money laundering. This has been poorly done so far,
as no economic measures for combating narcotics have been developed and
applied in practice. These tasks require an independent study by economists
and lawyers.
Ecological Dimension:
The ecological dimension of measures against drug abuse is linked to
the legal regulation that puts restrictions on the preservation and
dissemination of drug-bearing plants. This amounts to a ban on their
cultivation and destruction of the fields without any damage to the
environment. The cultivation of such plants is expected to be limited to
specially allotted areas where drug-bearing plants can be sown for medical
purposes only.
International Dimention:
The international dimention of measures against drug abuse is
manifested in various legislative, and law enforcement measures at the
international level.
In sum, this system of measures covers a totality of numerous, diverse,
complementary and carefully outlined programs that have social, legal,
criminological, medical, economic, ecological, organizational and
international dimensions.
Par. 2. Classification of Measures to Overcome Drug Abuse
The essence of the system of measures to overcome drug abuse can be
understood by their classification in view of the diversity of these
measures. By establishing their different categories and distributing them
into various groups, this classification would make it possible to give
each measure its own niche, to define its boundaries and its relationship
to other measures. This classification makes it possible to determine the
degree of each measure's significance and its priority in terms of its
practical implementation.
It is important to group them by contents, form, level, subject of
application, and type. As for legal measures, they should be grouped in
accordance with different branches of law.
The Content of Measures to Overcome Drug Abuse:
The measures to overcome drug abuse carried out by the UN Commission on
Drugs of the UN Economic and Social Council, by the UN International
Committee on Drug Control and by other international agencies can be
grouped into the following categories: analytical, organizational, training
and educational, research, technical, medical, economic, financial,
international law, preventive, monitoring, legislative, and criminal.
Analytical component is needed in order to be able to make use of a
complex system of collecting and assessing data about drug abuse, to
evaluate the extent of the illegal use of drugs in different countries
worldwide, and to make data available on the seizure of large quantities of
narcotics to interested parties.
Organizational component of measures is aimed at setting up
international agencies to control drugs and to combat drug trade; assisting
countries in developing national policies on such control; supporting
projects, promoting national law enforcement agencies; defining direction
of programs and ensuring the organizational backing of such programs;
estimating the amount of illegal cultivation of drug-bearing plants in
areas difficult and dangerous to access. Governmental measures should
include adoption and fulfillment of national programs to overcome drug
abuse by forming special law-enforcement, medical and other institutions,
as well as special services and squads to combat drug trade; taking stock
of lands used to cultivate drug-bearing plants; arranging control over the
production, storage, consumption, an shipments of drugs, especially across
national borders, as well as over the actions for pharmaceutical and
medical centers.
The training and educational component includes educating specialists
in law-enforcement agencies, mass media, narcological centers, and social
services.
The research component aims to define and analyze data on drug abuse,
to work out recommendations for overcoming it, to set up and run special
research labs, and to find new ways of ending drug addiction.
The technical component includes identifying drugs, designing equipment
for special labs, developing remote control devices to spot fields of drug-
bearing crops.
The medical component of measures is: to promote a system of
rehabilitative treatment for drug users; to choose appropriate curative
programs; and work on methods to reduce the spread of infectious diseases
among drug users.
The economic component consists chiefly in funding various programs and
projects, combating drug abuse, supporting programs reducing demand for
drugs and their supply, encouraging and supporting populations which had
switched to cultivating farm crops on territories where drug-bearing plants
had been grown previously.
The financial component involves measures against money laundering.
Financial operations by drug moguls aimed at making their earnings legal
are the most vulnerable part for the criminals. In view of this, the
Committee for Banking Rules and Banking Supervision issued a statement on
December 12th, 1988 that calls for preventing criminal uses of the banking
system for laundering cash obtained from drug trafficking. It requires that
the international banking community use extreme discretion while
identifying clients. The statement also calls for more cooperation with
judicial systems and police institutions in halting the legalization of
cash from drug trafficking. Many countries have accepted that the
principles contained in this statement are applicable to the operation of
their own financial systems. In keeping with a decision of the G Seven
countries and of the European Commission Chairman at the 15th economic
summit in Paris in July 1989, a special operational group on financial
issues was started. It produced 40 recommendations made public in February
1990. It also analyzed world financial flows, banking and financial systems
and methods for laundering cash. The group found some weak spots and
undertook a number of other steps. All the countries, who are members of
this group and (in keeping with its recommendations) some other countries
declared that they viewed participation in laundering cash as a criminal
act and started special services to investigate leads on shady deals
reported by subunits of the financial system. At the recommendation of the
special operational group on finances, the UN International Committee on
Drug Control called on all governments to pass and effectively use
appropriate legislative acts to stop money laundering, to confiscate the
property of drug dealers, and to consider a possibility of lifting the
burden of proving the legitimacy of supposed incomes or of other property
subject to confiscation under par. 7 of Article 5 of the 1988 Convention
even if this may require legal or constitutional amendments.
Among the international law components of measures are those calling
for reciprocal legal support of countries working to combat drug
trafficking. It is essential to make extradition easier, to strengthen
international cooperation against illegal drug trafficking, as well as to
promote the international system of control over medicinal drugs and
psychotropes.
The preventive measures are comprised of destroying illegal plantations
of drug-bearing crops; preventing a transfer of drugs and of their
components from the legal sphere to the illegal one; curbing illegal drug
trafficking; reducing the demand for drugs; preventing the use of
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