Change is Possible: The History of the International Drug Control Regime and Implications for Future Policymaking

Abstract

The article, based upon an extensive literature review, reconstructs and analyzes the parallel evolution of the international drug control regime and the world opiate market, assessing the impact of the former on the latter until the rise of present-day mass markets. It shows that, since its inception, the regime has focused almost entirely on matters of supply. However, that focus has not always meant "prohibition"; until 1961, the key principle of the regime was "regulation." Given the different forms drug control policy has taken in the past, the authors conclude it may be amenable to new forms in the future.

Weighing of the criminalization of cannabis in Indonesia narcotic law with international human rights law perspective

“…In Indonesia, it is crucial to read and understand the context of the establishment of the convention to perceive the need for new perspective towards international law and international treaties on Narcotics (Paoli et al, 2012). Since not only due to Indonesia's membership in international drug control conventions, it is also a responsibility as an independent country to protect the health and constitutional rights of the citizens which is again contained in other international agreements (Room, 2005).…”

No Opiates for the Masses: Untreated Pain, International Narcotics Control, and the Bureaucratic Production of Ignorance

“…11 Within their respective Asian empires, Britain, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, and Spain each controlled monopolies on the sale of opiates. 12 While colonial offi cials claimed these monopolies were intended to control the fl ow of drugs, the revenues they garnered made them pillars of colonial fi nance. 13 In 1905-6, opium sales were responsible for 16 percent of tax revenues in French Indochina, 16 percent of tax revenues in the Dutch Indies, and 53 percent of tax revenues in British Malaya.…”

A Typology of the Unintended Consequences of Drug Crop Reduction

“…Others adopt a more balanced approach: "The consolidation and expansion of the control regime in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, to include prohibition against consumption, did not prevent renewed expansion of opiate consumption or the tendency toward mass markets and widespread distribution networks-nor does the adoption of the more stringent policies appear to have caused them" (Paoli, Greenfield, Reuter, 2012: 932).…”