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Fifty Years of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs: A Reinterpretation
David Bewley-Taylor Martin JelsmaSeries on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 12
March 2011This year marks the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, signed on 30 March 1961. 73 countries were represented at the conference that took place in New York from 24 January to 25 March 1961, which sought to lay a new solid foundation for drug control in the post-war United Nations era. The aim was to replace the multiple existing multilateral treaties in the field with a single instrument as well as to reduce the number of international treaty organs concerned with the control of narcotic drugs, and to make provisions for the control of the production of raw materials of narcotic drugs. The Single Convention entered into force on 13 December 1964, having met the requirement of forty state ratifications.
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Lifting the ban on coca chewing
Bolivia’s proposal to amend the 1961 Single Convention
Martin JelsmaSeries on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 11
March 2011January 31 marked the close of the 18-month period during which countries could submit objections to Bolivia’s proposal to remove from the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs the obligation to abolish the practice of coca chewing.
A total of eighteen countries formally notified the UN Secretary General that they could not accept the proposed amendment: the United States, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Canada, Denmark, Germany, the Russian Federation, Japan, Singapore, Slovakia, Estonia, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Latvia, Malaysia, Mexico and Ukraine.
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On the Frontline of Northeast India
Evaluating a Decade of Harm Reduction in Manipur and Nagaland
TNI Drug Policy Briefing Nr. 35
March 2011Conflict and underdevelopment in the region have contributed to drug consumption and production, and are hampering access to treatment, care and support for drug users. Obstacles include curfews imposed by the national government, as well as punitive actions by armed opposition groups against drug users, and discrimination and stigmatization from the local population.
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The development of international drug control
Lessons learned and strategic challenges for the future
Martin JelsmaSeries on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 10
February 2011The emergence of more pragmatic and less punitive approaches to the drugs issue may represent the beginning of change in the current global drug control regime. The spread of HIV/AIDS among injecting drug users, the overcrowding of prisons, the reluctance in South America to remain a theatre for military anti-drug operations, and the ineffectiveness of repressive anti-drug efforts to reduce the illicit market have all contributed to the global erosion of support for the United States-style war on drugs.
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Cannabis social clubs in Spain
A normalizing alternative underway
Martín Barriuso AlonsoSeries on Legislative Reform of Drug Policies Nr. 9
January 2011Cannabis social clubs (CSC) are noncommercial organisations of users who get together to cultivate and distribute enough cannabis to meet their personal needs without having to turn to the black market. They are based on the fact that the consumption of illegal drugs has never been considered a crime under Spanish legislation. Taking advantage of this grey area, private clubs that produce cannabis for non-profit distribution solely to a closed group of adult members have existed for years.
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U.S. Renews Anachronistic Campaign to Stamp Out Coca Leaf Chewing
Coletta YoungersForeign Policy in Focus
Friday, January 14, 2011Just one month after President Obama announced that the U.S. would finally sign the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, U.S. officials are already violating the spirit – and the letter – of the agreement. U.S. officials are playing a lead role in maintaining an out-dated provision in the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs which attempts to abolish the centuries-old indigenous practice of chewing coca leaves. The 1961 Convention also mistakenly classified coca as a narcotic, along with cocaine.
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Cannabis Social Clubs en Espagne
Une alternative de normalisation en voie de réalisation
Martin Barriuso Alonso (FAC)Série sur la Réforme Législative des Politiques des Drogues No 9
Janvier 2011Les Clubs Sociaux du Cannabis (CSC) sont des associations d’usagers qui s’organisent pour s’auto-approvisionner sans avoir recours au marché noir. Profitant de une zone grise juridique, il existe depuis plusieurs années, des clubs privés qui produisent du cannabis pour le distribuer, sans but lucratif et en circuit fermé, à des consommateurs adultes.
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Systems Overload
Drug Laws and Prisons in Latin America
Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) / Transnational Institute (TNI)
December 2010Study reveals alarming pattern in imprisonment for drug crimes in Latin America
The weight of the law falls on the most vulnerable individuals, overcrowding the prisons, but allowing drug trafficking to flourish
An unprecedented one-year comparative study on the impact of the drug laws and prison systems in eight Latin American countries – Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay – reveals that drug laws have contributed to the prison crises these countries are experiencing. The drug laws impose penalties disproportionate to many of the drug offenses committed, do not give sufficient consideration to the use of alternative sanctions, and promote the excessive use of preventive detention.
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The 'miracle of San Martín' and symptoms of 'alternative development' in Peru
Hugo CabiesesTNI Drug Policy Briefing Nr. 34
December 2010The Peruvian government has presented the “Miracle of San Martin Model” as the path to follow to achieve drug supply reduction. However a closer look reveals that the model is not replicable, not ecologically sustainable, and won't remedy the ‘symptoms of alternative development’.
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Alternative Development or Business as Usual?
China’s Opium Substitution Policy in Burma and Laos
TNI Drugs Policy Briefing Nr. 33
November 2010The Chinese Government's opium substitution programmes in northern Burma and Laos have prompted a booming rubber industry, but the beneficiaries have been a small few with many others losing their lands as a result.
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