On December 7, 1987, the United Nations established the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, also known as World Drug Day. This annual observance served as a powerful symbol of the international community’s commitment to tackling the global drug problem.
The date itself holds historical significance as it commemorates Lin Zexu’s dismantling of the opium trade in Humen, China, 1839. The World Drug Report of 2007 by the United Nations estimated that the revenues from illicit drug trafficking worldwide were at $300 billion. The illicit drug trade continues to flourish despite strict international restrictions and active campaigning against drug abuse.
This is a pressing global concern that requires urgent and sustained international cooperation.
As a global problem, drug trade has always been a debatable scenario. The first international conference on narcotic drugs was held in Shanghai in 1909. Gradually, a multilateral system to control the production, trafficking, and abuse of drugs was developed.
Drug Control Conventions
This International Day Against Drug Abuse, here are the three drug control conventions were adopted under the auspices of the United Nations (in 1961, 1971 and 1988).
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 – The aim of the convention was to combat drug abuse by international action that was well coordinated. Intervention and control that work together and have two forms. First, it seeks to limit the possession, use, trade-in, distribution, import, export, manufacture and production of drugs exclusively to medical and scientific purposes. Second, it combats drug trafficking through international cooperation to deter and discourage drug traffickers.
Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971 – An international control system for psychotropic substances was established. It responded to the diversification and expansion of the spectrum of drugs of abuse and introduced controls over a number of synthetic drugs according to their abuse potential on the one hand and their therapeutic value on the other.
United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, 1988 – This Convention provides comprehensive measures against drug trafficking, including provisions against money laundering and the diversion of precursor chemicals. It provides for international cooperation through, for example, extradition of drug traffickers controlled deliveries and transfer of proceedings.
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