The 2006 International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) report emitted a clear signal to the governments of Bolivia, Peru and Argentina that growing and using coca leaf is in conflict with international treaties, particularly the 1961 Single Convention.
This paper describes the problems caused by injecting drug use as a mode of transmission of HIV, and the need for the global community to find effective methods of minimising that risk.
Efforts to combat opium production in Afghanistan have been marred by corruption and have failed to prevent the consolidation of the drugs trade in the hands of fewer powerful players with strong political connections, says a report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC http://www.unodc.org/) and the World Bank (http://www.worldbank.org/).
This report reviews the global situation regarding Cannabis cultivation and use, with particular reference to recent debates around the variable THC content of Cannabis products, and the link between use of the drug and mental health problems such as schizophrenia and psychosis.
The International Narcotics Control Board is charged with monitoring the implementation of the three United Nations Conventions and of alerting member states and the international community to weaknesses in the system.
This report draws together the findings from the series of reports and briefing papers produced under the Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme in the last 18 months.
At the 49th Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), held in Vienna in March 2006, a draft resolution was tabled by the European Union (EU) to guide the process of evaluation of the implementation of political declaration and action plans of the 1998 UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) in 2008.
This briefing paper, the second in a series from the IDPC, looks at the issues raised by the publication in June of the latest World Drug Report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.