History of Drug Policy

A journey through how current drug policies were constructed, which international framework regulates them, and effective and disputed paradigms

In order to analyze drug policies, it’s necessary to understand the history of some concepts.  First, that of prohibition arose around the end of the nineteenth century in the United States which was constructed in the hegemonic discourse about how to confront the problem.  In that moment, the return of the traditional religious element in the Anglo-Saxon world, the social tensions that “obliged” new forms of control, the evolution of the medical sector, and the assumption of tasks formally reserved for the ecclesiastic world all contributed to imposing that manner of viewing the question.

INTERNATIONAL REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

There are various legal antecedents in the international system of drug control- the first of which dates to the Shanghai Conference on 1909- but three United Nations Conventions constitute the current regulatory framework:

1-     The 1961 Single Convention on Narcotics, amended by the 1972 Protocol.  It prohibits poppy seed, coca, and cannabis.

2-     The 1971 Agreement on Psychotropic Substances.  It includes substances within the pharmaceutical industry such as amphetamines, barbiturates, and LSD, among others.

3-     The 1988 Convention against Illegal Trafficking of Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances. Provisions regarding extradition, reciprocal judicial assistance, cooperation, and assistance for States in transit, controlled delivery, money laundering, goods seizure, and diversion of precursor chemicals.  It deepens repressive aspects, such as criminalizing personal possession.

1988 COMPROMISE: ERADICATING PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION

In 1988, a United Nations General Assembly Special Session regarding the global drug problem concluded that the commitment of member nations to “achieve important and measurable results regarding the reduction of demand by the year 2008.”  Not just that: it also affirmed the promise of “eliminating or considerably reducing the illegal cultivation of the coca crop, the cannabis plant, and poppy seed by the year 2008. ”

2009 REVISION: WITHOUT SUCCESS BUT THE SAME POLICY

Given the expired deadline, in a High-Level Meeting in 2009 these focuses were reaffirmed with a new ten-year limit to eliminate or considerably reduce the illegal cultivation of the coca crop, the cannabis plant, and poppy seed.  In other words, the continuity of the repressive policies was guaranteed.  However, it was noted that some countries recognize the deficiencies of these policies and urge adopting new approaches.

WHAT ARE THE DISPUTED APPROCAHES?

As for supply control, one can differentiate between:

— Criminalization: maintaining and broadening the number of prohibited substances.  The consumers are as much criminals as they are patients that must be punished and also treated (coercively).

— Legalization: passing prohibited substances to official regulation (prescription).  Consumers are sick people that must be treated.

— Liberalization: access to all substances by adults. Drug usage is considered a personal choice, neither a crime nor a disease.

As for demand control, the categories faced are:

— Abstinence: Interventions oriented toward eliminating drug usage, in prevention (promoting the population not to use drugs) as well as treatment (stopping consumption).

— Harm reduction: Interventions oriented toward decreasing the negative effects that are produced from drug usage.  Here, education and drug assistance are based in an objective hierarchy—in the short, medium, and long terms—in which abstinence is not necessarily a condition.

The complexity of this question provides an enriching debate.  From the Civil Association Intercambios and the Collective for a comprehensive policy toward drugs (CuPIHD), among many other groups, it is considered that the discussion embarks on these themes, among others:

— An evaluation of the adverse consequences of current drug policies.

— Decriminalizing consumption, possession, and cultivation of drugs for personal use.

— A distinction between problematic and non-problematic drug consumption.

— A distinction between cultivators, carriers and small dealers (alternative punishments than prison), and organized crime.

— An experimentation with legal regulation models.

— Greater coherence between the system of drug control and the human rights agenda.

The III Latin American Conference on Drug Policy will further these topics and will be held on September 13^th and 14^th in Mexico City.