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
deeper understanding of this dangerous phenomenon, along with the
increasing sophistication of measures against it. One can predict that this
tendency will remain steadfast and keep progressing.
Chapter IV. Measures to Suppress and Prevent Drug Abuse
Measures to Prevent Drug Abuse Regulated by Law:
International legal acts are realized on a national scale. National
measures in turn are of the three basic types: suppression, prevention, and
rehabilitation.
Legal measures of suppression are coercive measures in regard to crimes
that have already been committed. They are a combination of criminal-legal,
criminal-executive and legal-administrative measures.
The criminal-legal measures must be fully compatible with the criminal
law and registered in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. They are
expected to safeguard the public from the drug-related crimes by inflicting
punishment on persons who have committed these crimes and also, in
combination with it, in cases stipulated by the law, apply coercive
measures of medical nature or, if need be, a system of guardianship. These
measures can be divided into two groups: those referring to crime and those
referring to punishment. Measures of the second group, though they are
envisaged by the norms of the criminal law, seem to be closer to legal-
executive measures, and can therefore be grouped, with a certain degree of
relativity, into the legal-executive category.
The legal-executive measures include punishment, coercive measures of
medical nature, as well as the process of executing punishment and coercive
measures of medical nature along with putting under guardianship, if
required.
Legal-administrative measures are covered by the norms of the
administrative law, establishing responsibility for the infringements of
the law and regulating compulsory treatment of drug addicts.
Measures to prevent narcotics are very diverse. Their aim is to exert
influence on various elements such as on persons using drugs, sowing and
raising drug-bearing crops, manufacturing, acquiring, storing and selling
narcotic substances and committing other drug-related crimes; on persons
committing crimes with the aim of getting the means to purchase drugs or
those undertaking criminal actions in the state of narcotic intoxication;
and on circumstances that are seen as causes and conditions of drug
addiction, etc. The preventive influence on all these persons may take
three forms: persuasion, compulsion and stimulation.
The last two forms can only be applied if they are regulated by law.
Measures to Prevent Drug Abuse Unregulated by Law:
In terms of goals these measures can be divided into general social and
special ones. General social measures have to do with society's social and
economic development, the rise in cultural, educational and moral standards
of all citizens. The economic development measures aim to increase the
production of material benefits, as well as of intellectual output making
the nation richer and the living standards higher. Social measures are
apparent in rational distribution of funds in increase the government
provides for social needs. Cultural and educational measures aim to promote
the development of art, literature, science and education; they draw an
ever-greater number of people into this process and ensure that they gain
knowledge, know-how, and skills. Measures aiming to raise moral standards
are expressed in inculcating an awareness of the need to abide by the
social, particularly, legal, religious and other norms and rules of conduct
in society. All these measures are designed to prevent crimes and
violations, including drug-related crimes, and drug abuse particularly.
Special are those measures that prevent drug abuse as such, and crimes
related to it, including those recommended by the international
organizations and fora.
These are, for example, measures to promote a healthy way of life
without consumption of narcotics and censuring the harm caused by narcotics
and drug-related crimes. These measures are implemented by means of: 1)
education - lectures, presentations at schools and other training centers,
statements on the radio, television or press; 2) training law enforcement
officers and medical personnel in the techniques of combating narcotics and
drug-related crimes by creating special educational programs and setting up
special training centers; 3) treatment and rehabilitation of addicts; 4)
collection, analysis, summary, and transmission of information about
narcotics, particularly, about new areas of drug-bearing plants, and
methods of their production, illegal channels for their exportation, as
well as the methods for moving them, using different kinds of transport; 5)
preventing the sowing and the growing of drug-bearing plants by replacing
them with other crops and stimulating the farmers and providing them an all-
round assistance; 6) blocking the channels through which narcotics are
moved along; curbing the smuggling of drugs through the joint efforts of
customs and law-enforcement officers of neighboring countries specializing
in actions against narcotics; 7) supervising the fulfillment of anti-drug
laws regulating the sowing and growing of drug-bearing plants, drug
circulation, etc; 8) reducing the demand for drugs by preventing their
transfer from the legal to the illegal domain, including the use of a
"daily dosage method" which makes it possible to determine the correlation
between the quantity of drugs necessary for medical and research needs and
the volume of sale; 9) introduction of remote control devices to estimate
the scale of illegal cultivation of drug-bearing plants in remote places
and creating obstacles for laundering money and other property acquired as
a result of drug trafficking.
In terms of the time, frame measures against narcotics and drug-related
offenses can be divided into early warning, direct impact and
postpenitentiary prophylactic.
The early warning measures are expected to exert influence on persons,
who are not well-versed in drugs and their danger, and who are informed on
the subject but do not take drugs. The preventive influence on poorly
informed persons is made by disseminating knowledge. In this respect the
experience of the United States is worthy of attention and could be
borrowed by the Russian Federation. For as long as a quarter of a century,
preschool children, especially, the ones who attend day care centers have
been educated that any medicines, including drug-bearing ones are harmful
for their health, if they are taken without a doctor's prescription and the
knowledge of the exact dose. To achieve a more vivid effect an album for
coloring pictures featuring narcotics and health is used.
In Australia, there are centers for preventing drug abuse where school
students between 5 and 12 years old have 7 lessons a year forming a certain
attitude to narcotics, as well as an awareness of the danger of drug
addiction.
The influence on persons who are aware of the harm of narcotics and do
not take drugs can be achieved by "tearing them away," so to speak, from
their surroundings where drugs may be used or are used already. This can be
accomplished by conversation with individuals, their families, and
colleagues living in similar environment.
Direct impact prophylactic measures are expected to influence persons
taking drugs, including drug addicts. This impact brings or may bring
positive results when medical treatment is combined with the social
Postpenitentiary measures should influence persons who have served
prison terms for drug-related offenses by continuous treatment of drug
addiction, securing the results of previous treatment, and neutralizing a
possible unfavorable influence of their immediate surroundings, finding
jobs and also forestalling the repetition of drug-related offenses.
International, National and Regional Measures:
In terms of their level, the measures to prevent drug abuse can be
divided into international, national and regional.
International measures are the ones, which are carried out on an
international scale. They include a number of earlier listed special
measures to prevent drug abuse. Apart from that, they also include measures
carried out by the international agencies and organizations, such as 1)
creation of programs to prevent the advancement of narcotics; 2) assistance
to countries in implementation of the conventions provisions; 3) providing
assistance in bringing national legislation in line with the conventions;
4) training officers specializing in actions against narcotics for law-
enforcement and other agencies of different countries; 5) supporting the
scientific development of laboratories in the members countries; 6)
providing financial, technical and other kinds of assistance to raise the
effectiveness of national efforts against drug abuse and ensure access to
the international system of information about narcotics. It should be noted
at this point that the Russian Federation adheres to the international
measures because it has joined the world legal effort aiming to combat
narcotics.
National measures to prevent drug abuse are the ones, which are carried
out on the entire territory of the Russian Federation. Regional measures
cover the territory of a region, city or district. Any of the mentioned
general or special measures against narcotics can be used on a national or
regional scale.
It should be stressed at this point, that the last few years have seen
a sharp decline in the effort of law-enforcement bodies, government
agencies and other organizations to prevent offenses, including drug abuse
and drug-related crimes. This state of affairs cannot help but arouse deep
concern. In this context the approval of the national program for combating
drug addiction in the Russian Federation is a necessary step towards
improving the work of preventing narcotics and drug-related crimes, along
with other offenses.
Chapter V. Organized Measures to Counteract Narcotics
Par. 1. General Provisions for Counteracting Narcotics
The multiplicity of drug abuse necessitates a joint combative effort
involving a large number of participants who have a broad spectrum of
powers and who will act simultaneously in different directions, performing
a variety of functions. The joining of anti-narcotism forces can be
achieved through a flexible system of measures against this deplorable
social phenomenon.
Organizing a System of Measures Against Narcotics:
The multifaceted nature of drug abuse necessitates forming a single
united front with many participants acting simultaneously in different
directions, performing various functions with a wide spectrum of measures.
This can be achieved by the mobile and flexible system of measures and
means. In terms of overcoming drug abuse, organization is a system of
measures to combat drug abuse and means of their implementation with regard
to the division of the spheres of activity, responsibilities and
hierarchical order.
Based on the social and economic reality, actions against narcotics
should comply with the national and international norms of law and with the
scientifically based principles of management. They should take account of
the new developments in medicine, pharmaceutics, psychology, psychiatry,
pedagogy, sociology, instrument building, and have substantial legislative,
material, informational, and research backing. They must have clear
parameters of time and space and, most importantly, professionally trained
personnel.
At the same time, the anti-narcotics strategy must reflect the irksome
particularities and complicated nature of this phenomenon as it combines
two interrelated sides - that of illness and that of crime. This defines
our approach to drug abuse as a medical, as well as a social problem and it
determines what steps and means must be chosen.
Drug Abuse as an Object of Government Action:
Narcotics-related issues, including organizational ones, cannot be
isolated either from the social, economic, political, historical,
legislative, medical, and biological problems or from other social
pathologies that call for counteraction. The definition of drug abuse as a
phenomenon of multiple factors is not therefore accidental.
Therefore, efficient counteraction requires much organization and
precisely targeted moves.
Such a stance justifies the view of drug abuse as an object for state
action.
This approach makes a broad analysis of the wide-ranging problems and
ways to solve them possible. Besides, drug abuse helps to define who the
subject (subjects) of influence are, its (their) condition and functioning,
the influence its (their) structure projects, as well as choice of goals
and function. These properties also define clear goals and a reasonable
choice of means to attain them as well as to ensure an overall realization.
Observing the fundamental properties of drug abuse, researchers call
upon us to be ready for new and unusual capability of this phenomenon to
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