This year marks the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, s... more This year marks the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, signed on 30 March 1961. 73 countries were represented at the conference that took place in New York from 24 January to 25 March 1961, which sought to lay a new solid foundation for drug control in the post-war United Nations era. The aim was to replace the multiple existing multilateral treaties in the field with a single instrument as well as to reduce the number of international treaty organs concerned with the control of narcotic drugs, and to make provisions for the control of the production of raw materials of narcotic drugs. The Single Convention entered into force on 13 December 1964, having met the requirement of forty state ratifications.
Policy changes over the past five years have dramatically reshaped the global cannabis market, op... more Policy changes over the past five years have dramatically reshaped the global cannabis market, opening up legal markets for medical cannabis and, increasingly, also for adult, non-medical use. Despite the fact that these shifts look set to bring a clear range of benefits in terms of health and human rights, there is concern over the many for-profit cannabis companies from the Global North that are aggressively competing to capture the licit spaces, squeezing out small and traditional cannabis farmers from the Global South. If the construction of the global cannabis prohibition regime was an historic mistake, then a transition towards a legally regulated market that concentrates profits in a handful of Big Pharma, Ag, Tobacco and Cannabis companies, while locking out small-scale farmers in the Global South, only serves to further this damaging legacy. The focus of Fair Trade cannabis must be to empower small and traditional producers in the cannabis trade, based on a number of first ...
Published on Dec 29, 2015 Bouncing Back-Relapse in the Golden Triangle 01 June 2014Report TNI&... more Published on Dec 29, 2015 Bouncing Back-Relapse in the Golden Triangle 01 June 2014Report TNI's indepth examination of the illegal drug market in the Golden Triangle, which has witnessed a doubling of opium production, growing prison populations and repression of small-scale farmers. This report details the failure of ASEAN's 'drug free' strategy and the need for a new approach. Authors Ernestien Jensema, Martin Jelsma, Tom Kramer, Tom Blickman Projects Drugs & Conflict, Drug Law Reform, Drugs & Democracy, Myanmar in Focus Series Drugs Special Reports The illicit drug market in the Golden Triangle – Burma, Thailand and Laos – and in neighbouring India and China has undergone profound changes. This report documents those changes in great detail, based on information gathered on the ground in difficult circumstances by a group of dedicated local researchers. After a decade of decline, opium cultivation has doubled again and there has also been a rise in the production and consumption of ATS – especially methamphetamines. Drug control agencies are under constant pressure to apply policies based on the unachievable goal to make the region drug free by 2015. This report argues for drug policy changes towards a focus on health, development, peace building and human rights. Reforms to decriminalise the most vulnerable people involved could make the region’s drug policies far more sustainable and cost-effective. Such measures should include abandoning disproportionate criminal sanctions, rescheduling mild substances, prioritising access to essential medicines, shifting resources from law enforcement to social services, alternative development and harm reduction, and providing evidence-based voluntary treatment services for those who need them. The aspiration of a drug free ASEAN in 2015 is not realistic and the policy goals and resources should be redirected towards a harm reduction strategy for managing – instead of eliminating – the illicit drug market in the least harmful way. In view of all the evidence this report presents about the bouncing back of the opium economy and the expanding ATS market, plus all the negative consequences of the repressive drug control approaches applied so far, making any other choice would be irresponsible. Contact Transnational Institute (TNI) Drugs & Democracy Programme PO Box 14563, 1001 LD Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31-20-6626608 Fax: +31-20-6757176 E-mail: drugs@tni.orgwww.tni.org/drugswww.undrugcontrol.infowww.druglawreform.infowww.tni.org/work-area/burma-project @DrugLawReform Drugsanddemocracy
The Oxford Handbook of United Nations Treaties, 2019
This chapter discusses the relatively little-known convention framework focusing on the tradition... more This chapter discusses the relatively little-known convention framework focusing on the traditionally connected issues of drugs and crime and the differing consequences of treaty flexibility within each domain. It begins with an overview of the evolution and expansion in scope of the international drug control regime and its structural focus on narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and illicit traffic in both. A range of growing tensions are discussed as views of the issue area among member states diverge and systemic dissonance across the UN becomes more obvious, particularly in relation to human rights. The chapter then moves on to examine the development of the transnational organized crime and corruption regime and assessment of the conventions upon which it is based. It concludes by looking to the future with a discussion of some of the available options to address tensions within the drug control regime, including what lessons might be learned from the governance structures...
Revue Internationale de Politique de Développement, 2020
Des changements politiques importants ont mene a un developpement sans precedent du marche du can... more Des changements politiques importants ont mene a un developpement sans precedent du marche du cannabis licite tandis qu’un nombre croissant de pays s’orientent vers la legalisation de l’usage recreatif de cette plante pour les adultes. Cette tendance peut presenter de nombreux avantages, meme si l’on peut s’inquieter de la concurrence acharnee que se livrent les nombreuses entreprises des pays du Nord, qui commercialisent le cannabis, pour mettre la main sur ces nouvelles parts de marche qui ne cessent de s’ouvrir dans un marche mondial representant deja plusieurs milliards de dollars. Cela risque d’exclure des marches emergents les petits cultivateurs traditionnels des pays du Sud. De fait, ceux qui tentent de sortir de l'illegalite sont confrontes a d'enormes problemes en raison de l'heritage de la criminalisation et des barrieres juridiques et administratives qui empechent d’entrer sur ce marche emergent. Face a un marche mondial du cannabis en surchauffe et extrememe...
This report which was compiled by a group of experts in the United States, Mexico, the Netherland... more This report which was compiled by a group of experts in the United States, Mexico, the Netherlands, Canada, and the United Kingdom, makes clear that the problem is not that countries are pursuing reforms to legally regulate cannabis, but rather the antiquated drug treaty provisions that explicitly block such reforms. Overcoming that hurdle, the report argues, does not require a global consensus to re-write the UN drug treaties—an impossible task under current conditions—but can be achieved by procedures available to individual countries and groups of countries under international law.
In the context of a fast changing and well documented market in legal highs, the case of khat (Ca... more In the context of a fast changing and well documented market in legal highs, the case of khat (Catha edulis) provides an interesting anomaly. It is first of all a plant-based substance that undergoes minimal transformation or processing in the journey from farm to market. Secondly, khat has been consumed for hundreds if not thousands of years in the highlands of Eastern Africa and Southern Arabia. In European countries, khat use was first observed during the 1980s, but has only attracted wider attention in recent years.
Revue internationale de politique de développement, 2020
Los importantes cambios en las politicas han dado lugar a un auge sin precedentes de los mercados... more Los importantes cambios en las politicas han dado lugar a un auge sin precedentes de los mercados del cannabis medicinal, y un numero creciente de paises avanza hacia una reglamentacion juridica de su consumo no medico por parte de adultos. Es probable que esta tendencia aporte una serie de beneficios. No obstante, la preocupacion aumenta respecto al surgimiento de una gran cantidad de empresas de cannabis con fines de lucro originarias del Sur global, las cuales compiten ferozmente para apoderarse de los espacios licitos que se estan abriendo en la actualidad en un mercado internacional del cannabis de miles de millones de dolares. Esta situacion amenaza con expulsar a los pequenos agricultores tradicionales del Sur global de los mercados legales emergentes. Aquellos que intentan abandonar su condicion de ilegalidad se ven enfrentados a enormes dificultades como consecuencia de una combinacion de herencia de la penalizacion y obstaculos administrativos para la legalizacion. Ante el actual recalentamiento de un mercado dominado por las empresas, la conquista de espacios y la proteccion de estos para los pequenos agricultores requeriran acciones positivas, reglamentacion de la inversion extranjera y una buena concepcion de estrategias legislativas y de mercado. Esta reflexion politica analiza el desarrollo de las dinamicas de mercado desde una perspectiva de desarrollo, ofreciendo un conjunto de principios orientadores y proposiciones de accion sobre las cuales construir un modelo de regulacion comercial del cannabis mas equitativo y (mas) justo.
This paper explores key lessons from the 1990 Special Session of the United Nations General Assem... more This paper explores key lessons from the 1990 Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Drug Abuse (UNGASS 1990) and the 1998 Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS 1998), and tracks subsequent policy events and trends. It discusses the wide array of increasing tensions and cracks in the “Vienna consensus,” as well as systemic challenges and recent treaty breaches. Various options for treaty reform are explored and the following questions are considered: Given policy developments around the world this past decade, what outcomes can the 2016 Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS 2016) have in terms of a new political compromise? How can UNGASS 2016 contribute to more system-wide coherence where previous attempts failed? Can UNGASS 2016 realistically initiate a process of modernizing the global drug control system and breathe oxygen into a system risking asphyxiation? F...
Legal tensions are growing as more jurisdictions move towards legal regulation of the cannabis ma... more Legal tensions are growing as more jurisdictions move towards legal regulation of the cannabis market in contravention of the obligation under UN drug control treaties to limit cannabis exclusively to medical and scientific purposes. Reaching a global consensus to amend the conventions does not appear to be a viable political option in the foreseeable future. Amongst the limited options not requiring consensus, inter se modification – based on article 41 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties – provides a useful safety valve for collective action to adjust a treaty regime arguably frozen in time. Restrictions imposed on inter se modification require a clear commitment to the original treaty aim to promote the health and welfare of humankind and to the original treaty obligations vis-à-vis states not party to the agreement. A coordinated collective response has benefits compared to a chaotic scenario of multiple unilateral reservations and questionable re-interpretations.
The cannabis plant has been used for spiritual, medicinal and recreational purposes since the ear... more The cannabis plant has been used for spiritual, medicinal and recreational purposes since the early days of civilization. In this report the Transnational Institute and the Global Drug Policy Observatory describe in detail the history of international control and how cannabis was included in the current UN drug control system. An increasing number of countries have shown discomfort with the treaty regime’s strictures through soft defections, stretching its legal flexibility to sometimes questionable limits. Today’s political reality of regulated cannabis markets in Uruguay, Washington and Colorado operating at odds with the UN conventions puts the discussion about options for reform of the global drug control regime on the table.
The WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) released in January 2019 the outcomes of the f... more The WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) released in January 2019 the outcomes of the first-ever critical review of cannabis, recommending a series of changes in the current scheduling of cannabis-related substances under the UN drug control conventions. Eagerly anticipated, the ECDD recommendations contain some clearly positive points, such as acknowledging the medicinal usefulness of cannabis by removing it from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs; clarifying that cannabidiol (CBD) is not under international control; and addressing some long-standing scheduling inconsistencies. But the ECDD recommendations also reveal problematic underlying evaluation methods and scheduling procedures along with a very questionable rationale for keeping cannabis in Schedule I. Moreover, the recommendations leave many questions unanswered regarding levels of control for different types of medical cannabis preparations.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, s... more This year marks the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, signed on 30 March 1961. 73 countries were represented at the conference that took place in New York from 24 January to 25 March 1961, which sought to lay a new solid foundation for drug control in the post-war United Nations era. The aim was to replace the multiple existing multilateral treaties in the field with a single instrument as well as to reduce the number of international treaty organs concerned with the control of narcotic drugs, and to make provisions for the control of the production of raw materials of narcotic drugs. The Single Convention entered into force on 13 December 1964, having met the requirement of forty state ratifications.
Policy changes over the past five years have dramatically reshaped the global cannabis market, op... more Policy changes over the past five years have dramatically reshaped the global cannabis market, opening up legal markets for medical cannabis and, increasingly, also for adult, non-medical use. Despite the fact that these shifts look set to bring a clear range of benefits in terms of health and human rights, there is concern over the many for-profit cannabis companies from the Global North that are aggressively competing to capture the licit spaces, squeezing out small and traditional cannabis farmers from the Global South. If the construction of the global cannabis prohibition regime was an historic mistake, then a transition towards a legally regulated market that concentrates profits in a handful of Big Pharma, Ag, Tobacco and Cannabis companies, while locking out small-scale farmers in the Global South, only serves to further this damaging legacy. The focus of Fair Trade cannabis must be to empower small and traditional producers in the cannabis trade, based on a number of first ...
Published on Dec 29, 2015 Bouncing Back-Relapse in the Golden Triangle 01 June 2014Report TNI&... more Published on Dec 29, 2015 Bouncing Back-Relapse in the Golden Triangle 01 June 2014Report TNI's indepth examination of the illegal drug market in the Golden Triangle, which has witnessed a doubling of opium production, growing prison populations and repression of small-scale farmers. This report details the failure of ASEAN's 'drug free' strategy and the need for a new approach. Authors Ernestien Jensema, Martin Jelsma, Tom Kramer, Tom Blickman Projects Drugs & Conflict, Drug Law Reform, Drugs & Democracy, Myanmar in Focus Series Drugs Special Reports The illicit drug market in the Golden Triangle – Burma, Thailand and Laos – and in neighbouring India and China has undergone profound changes. This report documents those changes in great detail, based on information gathered on the ground in difficult circumstances by a group of dedicated local researchers. After a decade of decline, opium cultivation has doubled again and there has also been a rise in the production and consumption of ATS – especially methamphetamines. Drug control agencies are under constant pressure to apply policies based on the unachievable goal to make the region drug free by 2015. This report argues for drug policy changes towards a focus on health, development, peace building and human rights. Reforms to decriminalise the most vulnerable people involved could make the region’s drug policies far more sustainable and cost-effective. Such measures should include abandoning disproportionate criminal sanctions, rescheduling mild substances, prioritising access to essential medicines, shifting resources from law enforcement to social services, alternative development and harm reduction, and providing evidence-based voluntary treatment services for those who need them. The aspiration of a drug free ASEAN in 2015 is not realistic and the policy goals and resources should be redirected towards a harm reduction strategy for managing – instead of eliminating – the illicit drug market in the least harmful way. In view of all the evidence this report presents about the bouncing back of the opium economy and the expanding ATS market, plus all the negative consequences of the repressive drug control approaches applied so far, making any other choice would be irresponsible. Contact Transnational Institute (TNI) Drugs & Democracy Programme PO Box 14563, 1001 LD Amsterdam The Netherlands Tel: +31-20-6626608 Fax: +31-20-6757176 E-mail: drugs@tni.orgwww.tni.org/drugswww.undrugcontrol.infowww.druglawreform.infowww.tni.org/work-area/burma-project @DrugLawReform Drugsanddemocracy
The Oxford Handbook of United Nations Treaties, 2019
This chapter discusses the relatively little-known convention framework focusing on the tradition... more This chapter discusses the relatively little-known convention framework focusing on the traditionally connected issues of drugs and crime and the differing consequences of treaty flexibility within each domain. It begins with an overview of the evolution and expansion in scope of the international drug control regime and its structural focus on narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and illicit traffic in both. A range of growing tensions are discussed as views of the issue area among member states diverge and systemic dissonance across the UN becomes more obvious, particularly in relation to human rights. The chapter then moves on to examine the development of the transnational organized crime and corruption regime and assessment of the conventions upon which it is based. It concludes by looking to the future with a discussion of some of the available options to address tensions within the drug control regime, including what lessons might be learned from the governance structures...
Revue Internationale de Politique de Développement, 2020
Des changements politiques importants ont mene a un developpement sans precedent du marche du can... more Des changements politiques importants ont mene a un developpement sans precedent du marche du cannabis licite tandis qu’un nombre croissant de pays s’orientent vers la legalisation de l’usage recreatif de cette plante pour les adultes. Cette tendance peut presenter de nombreux avantages, meme si l’on peut s’inquieter de la concurrence acharnee que se livrent les nombreuses entreprises des pays du Nord, qui commercialisent le cannabis, pour mettre la main sur ces nouvelles parts de marche qui ne cessent de s’ouvrir dans un marche mondial representant deja plusieurs milliards de dollars. Cela risque d’exclure des marches emergents les petits cultivateurs traditionnels des pays du Sud. De fait, ceux qui tentent de sortir de l'illegalite sont confrontes a d'enormes problemes en raison de l'heritage de la criminalisation et des barrieres juridiques et administratives qui empechent d’entrer sur ce marche emergent. Face a un marche mondial du cannabis en surchauffe et extrememe...
This report which was compiled by a group of experts in the United States, Mexico, the Netherland... more This report which was compiled by a group of experts in the United States, Mexico, the Netherlands, Canada, and the United Kingdom, makes clear that the problem is not that countries are pursuing reforms to legally regulate cannabis, but rather the antiquated drug treaty provisions that explicitly block such reforms. Overcoming that hurdle, the report argues, does not require a global consensus to re-write the UN drug treaties—an impossible task under current conditions—but can be achieved by procedures available to individual countries and groups of countries under international law.
In the context of a fast changing and well documented market in legal highs, the case of khat (Ca... more In the context of a fast changing and well documented market in legal highs, the case of khat (Catha edulis) provides an interesting anomaly. It is first of all a plant-based substance that undergoes minimal transformation or processing in the journey from farm to market. Secondly, khat has been consumed for hundreds if not thousands of years in the highlands of Eastern Africa and Southern Arabia. In European countries, khat use was first observed during the 1980s, but has only attracted wider attention in recent years.
Revue internationale de politique de développement, 2020
Los importantes cambios en las politicas han dado lugar a un auge sin precedentes de los mercados... more Los importantes cambios en las politicas han dado lugar a un auge sin precedentes de los mercados del cannabis medicinal, y un numero creciente de paises avanza hacia una reglamentacion juridica de su consumo no medico por parte de adultos. Es probable que esta tendencia aporte una serie de beneficios. No obstante, la preocupacion aumenta respecto al surgimiento de una gran cantidad de empresas de cannabis con fines de lucro originarias del Sur global, las cuales compiten ferozmente para apoderarse de los espacios licitos que se estan abriendo en la actualidad en un mercado internacional del cannabis de miles de millones de dolares. Esta situacion amenaza con expulsar a los pequenos agricultores tradicionales del Sur global de los mercados legales emergentes. Aquellos que intentan abandonar su condicion de ilegalidad se ven enfrentados a enormes dificultades como consecuencia de una combinacion de herencia de la penalizacion y obstaculos administrativos para la legalizacion. Ante el actual recalentamiento de un mercado dominado por las empresas, la conquista de espacios y la proteccion de estos para los pequenos agricultores requeriran acciones positivas, reglamentacion de la inversion extranjera y una buena concepcion de estrategias legislativas y de mercado. Esta reflexion politica analiza el desarrollo de las dinamicas de mercado desde una perspectiva de desarrollo, ofreciendo un conjunto de principios orientadores y proposiciones de accion sobre las cuales construir un modelo de regulacion comercial del cannabis mas equitativo y (mas) justo.
This paper explores key lessons from the 1990 Special Session of the United Nations General Assem... more This paper explores key lessons from the 1990 Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Drug Abuse (UNGASS 1990) and the 1998 Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS 1998), and tracks subsequent policy events and trends. It discusses the wide array of increasing tensions and cracks in the “Vienna consensus,” as well as systemic challenges and recent treaty breaches. Various options for treaty reform are explored and the following questions are considered: Given policy developments around the world this past decade, what outcomes can the 2016 Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS 2016) have in terms of a new political compromise? How can UNGASS 2016 contribute to more system-wide coherence where previous attempts failed? Can UNGASS 2016 realistically initiate a process of modernizing the global drug control system and breathe oxygen into a system risking asphyxiation? F...
Legal tensions are growing as more jurisdictions move towards legal regulation of the cannabis ma... more Legal tensions are growing as more jurisdictions move towards legal regulation of the cannabis market in contravention of the obligation under UN drug control treaties to limit cannabis exclusively to medical and scientific purposes. Reaching a global consensus to amend the conventions does not appear to be a viable political option in the foreseeable future. Amongst the limited options not requiring consensus, inter se modification – based on article 41 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties – provides a useful safety valve for collective action to adjust a treaty regime arguably frozen in time. Restrictions imposed on inter se modification require a clear commitment to the original treaty aim to promote the health and welfare of humankind and to the original treaty obligations vis-à-vis states not party to the agreement. A coordinated collective response has benefits compared to a chaotic scenario of multiple unilateral reservations and questionable re-interpretations.
The cannabis plant has been used for spiritual, medicinal and recreational purposes since the ear... more The cannabis plant has been used for spiritual, medicinal and recreational purposes since the early days of civilization. In this report the Transnational Institute and the Global Drug Policy Observatory describe in detail the history of international control and how cannabis was included in the current UN drug control system. An increasing number of countries have shown discomfort with the treaty regime’s strictures through soft defections, stretching its legal flexibility to sometimes questionable limits. Today’s political reality of regulated cannabis markets in Uruguay, Washington and Colorado operating at odds with the UN conventions puts the discussion about options for reform of the global drug control regime on the table.
The WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) released in January 2019 the outcomes of the f... more The WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) released in January 2019 the outcomes of the first-ever critical review of cannabis, recommending a series of changes in the current scheduling of cannabis-related substances under the UN drug control conventions. Eagerly anticipated, the ECDD recommendations contain some clearly positive points, such as acknowledging the medicinal usefulness of cannabis by removing it from Schedule IV of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs; clarifying that cannabidiol (CBD) is not under international control; and addressing some long-standing scheduling inconsistencies. But the ECDD recommendations also reveal problematic underlying evaluation methods and scheduling procedures along with a very questionable rationale for keeping cannabis in Schedule I. Moreover, the recommendations leave many questions unanswered regarding levels of control for different types of medical cannabis preparations.
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