|
|
PRINCIPLES
AND OBJECTIVES
This
Program of Action is based on the following principles, which also provide
action for its overall goals and objectives:
-
The
principal goal of socioeconomic development is to improve standards of
living and quality of life. Policies adopted to reduce the demand for
drugs, prevent drug abuse, and combat unlawful trafficking in drugs
must, in the final analysis, also serve this main purpose;
-
Socioeconomic
development cannot flourish in an environment lacking in conditions
conducive to personal dignity, democracy, and state security;
-
The
prevention of drug abuse and the campaign against trafficking in drugs
are interrelated with socioeconomic development, and each can
influence the other. Adoption of this Program of Action reflects
recognition by the inter-American community of the importance of that
interrelationship;
-
Policies
to reduce the demand for drugs, prevent drug abuse, and combat
unlawful trafficking in drugs must be included in the socioeconomic
development policies of the member states. They must also be
consistent with human rights, the basic claims to nationally and
internationally recognized individual liberties and rights, respect
for the traditions and customs of national and regional groups, and
environmental protection;
-
Recommendations
made under this Program of Action take into account the imperative
need for respect for the sovereignty of nations in determining their
policies to reduce the demand for drugs, prevent drug abuse, and
combat drug trafficking, for the diversity of domestic conditions
obtaining in the countries of the Americas, and for the specific
regional features existing in each country;
-
Drug
trafficking constitutes a global phenomenon that can threaten both the
sovereignty of states and the integrity and identity of people; and
-
International
cooperation, whether bilateral or multilateral, is becoming
increasingly vital to the effectiveness of efforts to reduce the
demand for drugs, prevent drug abuse, and combat unlawful trafficking
in drugs. It is of mutual interest to the countries that produce, use,
or serve as transit points for drugs that such cooperation should
develop free of pressures of any kind.
In
keeping with the above cited principles, the main objectives of the
Program are to increase and strengthen the capacity of the member states
to reduce the demand for drugs, prevent drug abuse, and effectively combat
unlawful production of and trafficking in drugs. The Program also seeks to
elicit an appropriate inter-American response through an increase in
regional activities in the fields of research, exchange of information,
training of specialized personnel, and the furnishing of mutual
assistance.
Chapter I
The
Inter-American Specialized Conference on Traffic in Narcotic Drugs
recommends to the OAS member states the following actions to prevent the
improper demand for and abuse of narcotic drugs and psychotropic
substances:
-
Assignment
of top priority to measures to reduce the improper demand for, and
abuse of, narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances;
-
Carrying
out of epidemiological and other relevant studies to identify the
causes and prevalence of drug abuse in the various age brackets and
social strata of the national populations, taking into account the
regional peculiarities of each country;
-
Promotion
of studies to increase knowledge of the most appropriate ways of
making society aware of the causes and effects of drug abuse, taking
into account the regional peculiarities of each country;
-
Promotion
of programs for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts. Such
programs should involve the participation of the Inter-American
Specialized Organizations, particularly the Pan American Health
Organization;
-
Promotion
of primary prevention campaigns through education, social welfare, and
health departments and other relevant agencies, with a view to
enlisting maximum community participation;
-
Establishment
of mechanisms in the appropriate governmental agencies for supervising
and controlling the production, marketing, and use of legal drugs
within the context of national policies;
-
Promotion
of studies on the medical prescription of drugs that act on the
central nervous system and the social repercussions of self-medication
of such drugs; and
-
Carrying
out of studies on the harmful effects on the use of inhalants and on
mechanisms for controlling their sales, taking into account the
necessary social solutions to the problem.
Chapter
II
The
Conference also recommends to the OAS member states the following actions
to combat the unlawful production and supply of narcotic drugs and
psychotropic substances:
-
The
development and expansion of mechanisms for an exchange of information
on the structures of illegal marketing and any other aspects of
unlawful trafficking in drugs among affected nations;
-
The
study--and possible approval--of draft legislation designed:
-
to
strengthen the ability of appropriate agencies to investigate and
prosecute unlawful drug trafficking, including their ability to
trace the origin of monies deposited in or transferred among
financial and other business institutions by drug traffickers;
-
to
forfeit assets derived from or used to facilitate drug
trafficking, irrespective of where such trafficking occurred; and
-
to
treat as a punishable offense the acquisition, possession, use, or
so-called laundering of assets that are known to be directly or
indirectly the proceeds of unlawful drug trafficking, irrespective
of where such trafficking occurred, and to enable such assets to
be forfeited.
-
The
establishment of rigid controls on the manufacture, importation,
exportation, transport, and marketing of solvents, precursors, and
chemical products essential to the preparation of narcotic drugs and
psychotropic substances;
-
The
establishment of judicial, police, and customs cooperation mechanisms
among member states to obtain more effective action in this field;
-
The
substitution, under appropriate conditions, of illegal crops from
which narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances may be extracted,
when required by the socioeconomic conditions prevailing in the areas
of cultivation;
-
The
eradication, by biologically and environmentally sound methods, of
illegal crops--as defined by each state from which narcotic drugs and
psychotropic substances may be extracted;
-
Research
in order to develop biological methods for the eradication of illegal
crops;
-
The
drafting and implementation of effective controls for the issuance of
permits, classification, marketing, importation, and exportation of
such legal production as takes place within the quantitative limits
determined each year by the International Narcotics Control Board; and
-
Research
on new legal uses for plants from which narcotic and psychotropic
substances may be derived, provided those substances are subject to
government control.
Chapter
III
The
Conference further recommends to the member states of the OAS the
following general measures to combat the illicit use and production of
narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and traffic therein:
-
Establishment
of central agencies at the national level charged with formulating the
respective national plans, policies, and programs regarding narcotic
drugs and also with exercising general coordination, supervision,
control, and monitoring of activities related to drug abuse and
unlawful trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances;
-
Encouragement
of contacts between the above mentioned central agencies and public
and private national, regional, and municipal organizations that are
engaged in the prevention of drug abuse and the treatment of drug
addicts;
-
Establishment
of a national fund for the prevention of drug abuse and the campaign
against unlawful drug trafficking. Such a fund could be made up from
the following sources, among others:
-
voluntary
public and private contributions;
-
specific
government budgetary allocations; and
-
funds
and assets linked to unlawful drug trafficking that have been
seized by the competent national authorities.
-
Encouragement
of efforts to facilitate implementation of the recommendations and
suggestions of the First Seminar on the Illicit Traffic for Law
Enforcement Officers of the Anglophone Caribbean, held in Nassau, The
Bahamas, on March 22-31, 1983, with particular reference to measures
which could reduce the vulnerability of the Caribbean subregion to
illicit sea and air transit traffic.
Chapter
IV
To
help the member states implement the actions and institute the measures
set forth in Chapters I, II and III through regional cooperation, the
Conference recommends:
-
To
the General Assembly of the OAS
-
That
it establish an Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission
(CICAD), composed of representatives of member states. That
Commission would be responsible for developing, coordinating,
evaluating and monitoring the measures prescribed in this Program
of Action and for submitting proposals to increase the
effectiveness of prevention of drug abuse and of the campaign
against trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances
in the region, and
-
That
it consider the adoption of financing mechanisms--including the
possible establishment of a regional fund--to promote within the
region activities and programs aimed at preventing drug abuse and
combating unlawful drug trafficking, with special attention to
assistance that might be made available by the United Nations Fund
for Drug Abuse Control, based on the study to be carried out by
the General Secretariat of the Organization.
-
To
the Inter-American Juridical Committee that it conduct juridical
research to help the member states explore the advisability of:
-
Adopting
specific bilateral or multilateral instruments on particular
aspects of drug abuse and unlawful trafficking in drugs, including
mechanisms for extradition and for cooperation among judicial,
police and customs authorities of the member states, leading to
more effective action against all drug traffickers;
-
Seeking
to harmonize national laws on trafficking;
-
Coordinating
at the national level judicial, police, and customs procedures
with respect to unlawful trafficking; and
-
Promoting
regional cooperation in the judicial, police, and customs areas
with respect to unlawful trafficking.
-
To
the General Secretariat of the OAS
-
That
it establish a data bank on drug abuse and unlawful trafficking in
drugs at the headquarters of the Organization. Such a bank would
be at the disposal of all the member states and would be
compatible with similar systems already in existence;
-
That
it set up inter-American training centers for basic and
professional training in the areas of education, treatment and
rehabilitation, police action, and control, in order to prevent
drug abuse and combat unlawful drug trafficking in the member
states, taking advantage of existing national and subregional
structures;
-
That
it establish a documentation center on drugs, at the headquarters
of the Organization, to promote coordinated inter-American efforts
in this area;
-
That
it increase coordination and cooperation between the OAS and the
appropriate United Nations agencies, the South American Accord on
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (ASEP), the Caribbean
Community, and other subregional entities, to render their
activities compatible and complementary;
-
That
it conduct studies necessary to prepare the draft Statute and
Regulations of CICAD, which should be presented as soon as
possible to the Permanent Council for study and possible
transmittal to the General Assembly;
-
That
it prepare an annual report on the problem of drug abuse and
unlawful trafficking in drugs in the region, to be submitted to
the member states through CICAD; and
-
That
it submit to the sixteenth regular session of the General Assembly
a study of financing mechanisms--including the possible setting up
of a regional fund--to promote activities and programs within the
region to prevent abuse of and combat unlawful traffic in drugs,
with special attention to assistance that might be made available
by the United Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control.
-
To
the Inter-American Specialized Organizations:
That
they cooperate in the implementation of this Program of Action, with
special importance being assigned to any assistance that might be
provided to this end by the Inter-American Indian Institute, the
Inter-American Children's Institute, the Inter-American Commission of
Women, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture,
and the Pan American Health Organization.
|
