The last decades, changing societal phenomena concerning the drug problem influenced the national strategies and legal approaches of countries in a significant manner. Indeed, many European and other countries have developed a differentiated, multidisciplinary national drug policy.The pursuance of risk reduction strategies and the possible depenalisation of acts related to personal consumption remain controversial topics, though implemented in several countries. This book gives an overview of the main relevant international legal instruments dealing with the control of the drug problem.The United Nations, as well as the Council of Europe and the European Union have established an international legal framework to tackle the problem of illicit substances. The reader will find the full texts of the three United Nations drug Convention in annex of this book. On the one hand, the book provides an analysis of the latitude that Parties have within the present United Nations Conventions to develop a differentiated, integrated national drug policy. Specific attention is given to acts related to personal consumption. The latitude is discussed at the different levels of the criminal justice system, being the levels of criminalisation, reaction (including the alternative measures to sanctions and with a focus on exploring the limits and possibilities of pursuing risk reduction policies within the framework of the United Nations Conventions), prosecution, sentencing and execution of sanctions. On the other hand, the book explores the possibilities for reform that have been embedded in the United Nations Conventions.The technique of amending, the modification of substances in the schedules, the possibilities to make reservations and to denounce the Conventions is outlined.

The 2019 World Drug Report will include an updated overview of recent trends on production, trafficking and consumption of key illicit drugs. The Report contains a global overview of the baseline data and estimates on drug demand and supply and provides the reference point for information on the drug situation worldwide.

The United Nations is a vital part of the international order. Yet this book argues that the greatest contribution of the UN is not what it has achieved (improvements in health and economic development, for example) or avoided (global war, say, or the use of weapons of mass destruction). It is, instead, the process through which the UN has transformed the structure of international law to expand the range and depth of subjects covered by treaties. This handbook offers the first sustained analysis of the UN as a forum in which and an institution through which treaties are negotiated and implemented. Chapters are written by authors from different fields, including academics and practitioners; lawyers and specialists from other social sciences (international relations, history, and science); professionals with an established reputation in the field; younger researchers and diplomats involved in the negotiation of multilateral treaties; and scholars with a broader view on the issues involved. The volume thus provides unique insights into UN treaty-making. Through the thematic and technical parts, it also offers a lens through which to view challenges lying ahead and the possibilities and limitations of this understudied aspect of international law and relations.

This commentary on the 1988 Convention against the illicit trafficking in narcotic drugs & psychotropic substances, which entered into force on 11 November 1990, will provide further understanding of the contents & objectives of the Convention. In their firm commitment to aggressively confront the challenges of the drug problem, Governments will find the publication an extremely useful tool in the practical implementation of the Convention. The Commentary is divided into five functional parts: General Provisions, Substantive Provisions, Implementation Provisions, Final Clauses & Tables Annexed to the Convention. In addition to the introduction which gives an overview of the genesis of the Convention from its conception by the General Assembly in December of 1984 to its adoption in December 1988.

While evidence-based policy is an emerging rhetoric of the desire by and for governments to develop policies based on the best available evidence, drug policy is an area where particular challenges abound. This book is a detailed and comprehensive examination of the contours of drug policy development through the consideration of the particular roles of science, media, and interest groups. Using Belgium as the primary case-study, supplemented by insights gathered from other countries, the author contributes to a richer understanding of the science-policy nexus in the messy, real-world complexities of drug policy. Change or Continuity in Drug Policy: The Roles of Science, Media, and Interest Groups is the first book to bring together policy and media theories, knowledge utilisation models, and public scholarship literature. As such, the book provides unique insights relevant to aspects of change or continuity in drug policies in Europe and beyond. This book will be of great value to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as to academics, practitioners and policymakers with interest in the science-policy nexus with a particular focus on the drug policy domain.

The United States and International Drug Control, 1909-1997 charts the US quest to internationalize the doctrine of drug prohibition. The study reveals the origins, motivation and methodologies as well as the recurring contradictions and inconsistencies present within the US overseas fight against the production, manufacture, trafficking and use of certain psychoactive substances. Drawing on extensive historical materials, David Bewley-Taylor uses the international career of America's first Drug Czar, Harry J. Anslinger, to explore how the US successfully exploited hegemonic superiority in 1945 to influence the philosophy of the multilateral drug control system operated by the United Nations.More than a purely historical study, the book employs an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the development, perpetuation and consequences of a US driven multilateral drug control system. Examining the contemporary UN drug control framework, the author argues that international legislation is largely ineffective.This provocative book is the first study to provide a picture of US involvement in drug control from its inception to the present day. Its wide-ranging scope makes it of interest not only to scholars of diplomatic history, US foreign Policy and international relations, but also to anyone concerned by the universal growth of the illicit drug problem.