For example, a comprehensive inter-disciplinary action program to prevent
the spread of drug addiction submitted for discussion at the international
antidrug conference in Vienna in July 1987 contained more than 400 articles
and recommendations to governments and organizations as to how this
negative phenomenon should be overcome.
The UN international program for combating drugs for the years 1994 and
1995, 1995 and 1996 comprises 298 projects featuring various aspects,
directions and measures for checking the spread of drugs. 216 out of them
were carried through in 1994 and 1995 and the implementation of the
remaining 82 projects is underway. The total dollar amount of resources
mobilized for the fulfillment of these projects is estimated at US$
484,397,800. The sum was allocated by the UN International Antidrug
Program's Fund.
The Concept of the Russian Federation government's policy on drug
control, endorsed by decision No 5494 of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian
Federation on July 22nd 1993, incorporates quite a few antidrug measures
from those developed by the world community and registered by international
conventions and in other documents. This Concept emphasizes the measures
that have been tested and are successfully utilized.
Since the system of measures against drug abuse is too complicated the
discussion of its contents is related, firstly, to the general
characterization of its components and, secondly, to the classification of
these measures in their relation to each other.
Basic Aspects of Measures to Overcome Drug Abuse:
The measures against drug abuse have some social, legal,
criminological, medical, biological, political, economic, ecological,
organizational and international aspects. Although these aspects have
different spheres of application, they still remain interrelated. For
example, measures for curing drug addicts have medical, social and legal
aspects to them; measures for combating drug-related crimes have legal,
criminological, social and other aspects; measures for combating money
laundering have legal, social, economic, international and other aspects
and so on. So, each particular aspect can be discussed only in abstract
terms. This approach to the definition and description of aspects makes it
possible to give a full characterization of the system of measures against
drug abuse.
Social Dimension:
The social dimension is the cornerstone of all other aspects. All the
antidrug measures are permeated with it. There is a correlation between the
social aspect and each of the other aspects. It is either a general element
in relation to something specific such as medical measures, or the whole of
something, which represents a part such as criminological measures. It can
also be a content when the other represents a form, as in legal measures.
In short, the social aspect can be regarded as a common for all antidrug
measures. Additionally there are legal measures for making those involved
in drug-related crimes answerable for their actions and for intensifying
the customs' control over the shipment of drugs across borders.
Legal Dimension:
The legal aspect of the measures under consideration can be seen as a
totality of legal norms including international conventions against drugs
and determining the degree of a judicial responsibility for them, mainly,
criminal and administrative; secondly, regulating various legal
relationships arising from drug use, thirdly, ensuring a compulsory
treatment for drug addicts who try to avoid it and, fourthly, referring to
these or other substances as narcotics.
Criminological Dimension:
The criminological aspect comprises measures aiming to overcome narco-
crime, as a totality of drug-related crimes. These measures aim to study,
analyze and sum up the structure and dynamics of these crimes and their
latency. In addition, they aim to establish the causal complex of the given
crime and determine the content, nature and direction of actions aimed at
removing or neutralizing the causes conducive to the commitment of drug-
related crimes. Thirdly, they aim to disclose and fix typical features,
traits and qualities of an individual guilty of committing this or that
crime. Lastly, they aim to develop methods for preventing drug-related
crimes.
Medical Dimension:
The medical (biological) aspect involves the improvement of
narcological aid and methods for curing drug addicts, the need to increase
the level of professional medical training for those engaged in treating
addicts and persons taking drugs without a doctor's prescription and the
development of new medicines and medical equipment for treating addicts.
Political Dimension:
The political aspect involves combating narco-business, which tries to
undermine the foundations of state power, weaken the entire machinery of
state and diminish the nation's trust in the government.
Some juridical works make it a point that organized crime opposes legal
actions of top government bodies not only by committing crimes but also by
bending administration officials to the will of criminal associations so
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
narcotics, particularly, in places of employment, eliminating the addicts'
pads, illegal labs where narcotics are made and stores which sell them;
promoting social rehabilitation of drug addicts and encouraging education
campaigns against drugs.
The control component of measures envisages supervision over the
following areas: the growing of drug-bearing plants, to rule out a
"leakage" of the legitimately grown plants: illegal sowing and raising;
production of narcotics, their acquisition, storage, stocking and
dispensing; commercial trade turnover in special equipment used for
producing drugs, as well as in raw materials; semi-finished products,
chemicals and narcotic analogies; international parcel post deliveries as a
vehicle for sending narcotics; ships sailing on the high seas and planes
flying in international space; transit through customs' ports; approaches
to land, sea and air borders; and deliveries of drugs for treatments at
hospitals.
The most important law-making measure is that of bringing national
legislation in line with international conventions on narco-business.
The common criminal measures are those applied in every country, as
criminal responsibility for illegal drug trafficking, sowing and raising
drug-bearing plants as well as for other socially dangerous actions related
to drugs. These measures cover both punishments for the above-listed crimes
and also confiscation of tools and of income earned from the illegal drug
trafficking.
Other measures include improving judiciary and legal systems such as
law-enforcement bodies, courts of law, penitentiary and post penitentiary
programs, customs and education.
Forms of Measures to Overcome Drug Abuse:
The classification of measures to overcome drug abuse can be subdivided
into two groups: those having legal form and those that do not, i.e. those
which are regulated and unregulated by the law accordingly.
Measures to Overcome Drug Abuse Regulated by the Law:
The legal measures against drug abuse include compulsory educational;
compulsory medical; preventive- repressive; repressive; those ensuring
active participation of citizens in combating crimes, in preventing and
curbing them; as well as procedural and organizational managerial. The
compulsory medical, preventive repressive and repressive measures are those
aimed at suppressing drug abuse and the compulsory educational-at
preventing it.
Organizational managerial measures on the basis of administrative legal
norms, determine in general terms, the status of curative educational and
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