Article 3 requires nations to criminalize Money laundering is the practice of engaging in financial transactions in order to conceal the identity, source and destination of the money in question. In the past, the term money laundering was applied only to financial transactions related to otherwise criminal activity. Today its definition is often expanded by government... money laundering and other drug-related white-color crimes.
United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances
Place signed	This article is about the city and federal state in Austria. For other places or things called Vienna, see Vienna (disambiguation). Vienna (German: Wien [viːn]) is the capital of Austria, and also one of Austrias nine federal states (Bundesland Wien). Situated on both sides of the river... Vienna
Date signed	December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 11 days remaining. Events 1522 - Suleiman the Magnificent accepts the surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually re-settle on Malta and become known... December 20, 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Events Environmental change Zebra mussels found in the Great lakes December 2 - Cyclone in Bangladesh leaves 5 million homeless - thousands dead December 7 - In Armenia an earthquake 6.9 on the Richter scale killed nearly 25.000... 1988[1] (http://www.incb.org/e/conv/1988/)
Date entered into force	November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 50 days remaining. Events 1215 - The Fourth Lateran Council meets, adopting the doctrine of transubstantiation, meaning that bread and wine are transformed into the body and blood of Christ. 1620 - In what... November 11, 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1990 in video gaming January January 3 - Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces. January 7 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns. January 9 - Lt Gen... 1990[2]  (http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaty_adherence.html)
Parties	170[3]  (http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaty_adherence.html)

The 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Events Environmental change Zebra mussels found in the Great lakes December 2 - Cyclone in Bangladesh leaves 5 million homeless - thousands dead December 7 - In Armenia an earthquake 6.9 on the Richter scale killed nearly 25.000... 1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is one of three major drug control treaties currently in force. It provides additional legal mechanisms for enforcing the 1961 (As MAD Magazine pointed out on its first cover for the year) was the first upside-down year - i.e., one that looked the same upside down - since 1881, and the last until 6009. Events January January 1 - The farthing coin, used since the 13th century, ceases to be... 1961 Governments of opium-producing Parties are required to purchase and take physical possession of such crops as soon as possible after harvest to prevent diversion into the illicit market. The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is the international treaty against illicit drug manufacture and trafficking that forms the bedrock of... Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). Events January January 1 - British divorce Reform Act comes into force January 2 - 66 die in stairway crush at Rangers v Celtic football match, Glasgow, Scotland. See Ibrox disaster. January 2 - A ban on television cigarette advertisements... 1971 The Convention allows medical and scientific uses of Schedule I drugs. The World Health Organization Expert Committee that recommended in 1985 that MDMA be placed in Schedule I internationally included a statement urging signatory nations to the Convention on Psychotropic Substances to facilitate research on this interesting substance. The Convention... Convention on Psychotropic Substances. The Convention entered into force on November 11, 1990 is a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1990 in video gaming January January 3 - Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces. January 7 - The Leaning Tower of Pisa is closed to the public due to safety concerns. January 9 - Lt Gen... 1990. As of January 1, 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. Events January Iraqi police officers hold up their index fingers marked with purple indelible ink, a security measure to prevent double voting. Worldwide aid effort continues to develop in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. January 3... 2005, there were 170 Parties to the Convention[4]  (http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaty_adherence.html).

Background

The Convention represents an escalation in the The prohibition of drugs through legislation or religious law is a common means of controlling the perceived negative consequences of recreational drug use at a society- or world-wide level. Present-day attempts to enforce drug prohibition are frequently considered to be part of the ongoing war on drugs instituted... War on Drugs. The preamble  (http://www.incb.org/e/conv/1988/articles.htm) notes that previous enforcement efforts have not stopped drug use, warning of "steadily increasing inroads into various social groups made by illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances". It cautions that the drug trade and related activities "undermine the legitimate economies and threaten the stability, security and sovereignty of States". The sense of urgency is underscored by the image of innocent boys and girls being exploited:

[C]hildren are used in many parts of the world as an illicit drug consumers market and for purposes of illicit production, distribution and trade in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, which entails a danger of incalculable gravity.

Drug manufacture and distribution

A cache of precursor chemicals near a South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. South America is situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. It became attached to North America only recently, geologically speaking, with the formation of the Isthmus of Panama... South American Cocaine is a crystalline alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system and an appetite suppressant, creating a euphoric sense of happiness and increased energy. Though most often used recreationally for this effect, cocaine is also a topical... cocaine processing lab.

Much of the treaty is devoted to fighting Organized crime is crime carried out systematically by formal criminal organizations. The Organized Crime Control Act ( U.S. - 1970) defines organized crime as: The unlawful activities of...a highly organized, disciplined association.... Some Criminal Organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are politically motivated. Mafias are criminal organizations whose primary motivation is... organized crime by mandating cooperation in tracing and seizing drug-related assets. Article 5 (http://www.incb.org/e/conv/1988/articles.htm#5) of the Convention requires its parties to confiscate proceeds from drug offenses. It also requires parties to empower its courts or other competent authorities to order that bank, financial, or commercial records be made available or seized. The Convention further states that a party may not decline to act on this provision on the ground of bank secrecy.

Article 6 (http://www.incb.org/e/conv/1988/articles.htm#6) of the Convention provides a legal basis for Extradition is a formal process by which a criminal suspect held by one government is handed over to another government for trial or, if the suspect has already been tried and found guilty, to serve his or her sentence. Extradition treaties The consensus in international law is that a state... extradition in drug-related cases among countries having no other extradition treaties. In addition, the Convention requires the parties to provide mutual legal assistance to one another upon request, for purposes of searches, seizures, service of judicial documents, and so on.

In addition, Article 12 (http://www.incb.org/e/conv/1988/articles.htm#12) of the Convention establishes two categories of controlled illicit drug precursor substances, Table I and Table II. The At the presiding table, from left to right: Mr. S. P. Sotiroff, Assistant to the Director, U.N. Narcotics Division; Dr. Sten Martens, Director, U.N. Narcotics Division; Mr. Vittorio Winspeare-Guicciardi, Director-General U.N. Office at Geneva; Mr. John E. Ingersoll (United States), Chairman of the Session; and... Commission on Narcotic Drugs has power to decide whether to control a precursor substance, and which Table to place it in. The assessment of the Mr. Madan Mohan Bhatnagar and Dr. Robert JJCH Lousberg, members of the International Narcotics Control Board, Vienna, Austria, and party. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB or Board) is the independent and quasi-judicial control organ for the implementation of the United Nations drug conventions, established in 1968 by the... International Narcotics Control Board is binding on the Commission, however, as to scientific matters. A two-thirds vote is required to add a substance to a Table.

Article 12 protects the interests of pharmaceutical and chemical companies by requiring the Board to take into account the "extent, importance and diversity of the licit use of the substance, and the possibility and ease of using alternate substances both for licit purposes and for the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances."

Drug possession

The Mr. Madan Mohan Bhatnagar and Dr. Robert JJCH Lousberg, members of the International Narcotics Control Board, Vienna, Austria, and party. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB or Board) is the independent and quasi-judicial control organ for the implementation of the United Nations drug conventions, established in 1968 by the... International Narcotics Control Board interprets the 1988 Convention as requiring Parties to criminalize simple drug possession.

Article 3 (http://www.incb.org/e/conv/1988/articles.htm#3) of the Convention bans possession of drugs for personal use, stating:

Subject to its constitutional principles and the basic concepts of its legal system, each Party shall adopt such measures as may be necessary to establish as a criminal offence under its domestic law, when committed intentionally, the possession, purchase or cultivation of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances for personal consumption contrary to the provisions of the 1961 Convention, the 1961 Convention as amended or the 1971 Convention.

Drug reformers would like to repeal this provision, since it theoretically prevents marijuana Decriminalization is the process of making an action no longer a criminal act in the relevant jurisdiction. Such decriminalizations are the result of changing moral values, where a society feels that the act once considered to be criminal in nature is not as harmful to society as before. Some activities... decriminalization at the national level. Individual nations could withdraw from the treaty under the provisions of Article 30 (http://www.incb.org/e/conv/1988/articles.htm#30). However, as former UN drug official Cindy Fazey is a criminologist and former Chief of Demand Reduction for the United Nations Drug Control Programme. She has been Professor of International Drug Policy at the University of Liverpool since 1998. Fazey has spoken in the past of the complete failure of national and international drugs policies[1... Cindy Fazey notes, the Convention has no termination clause, and therefore would remain in effect even if only one signatory remained[5]  (http://www.fuoriluogo.it/arretrati/2003/apr_17_en.htm).

Previous drug control treaties had targetted drug manufacturers and traffickers, rather than users. The Mechanics and Dynamics of the UN System for International Drug Control by David R. Bewley-Taylor, PhD and Professor Cindy Fazey, PhD, explains that "[t]he 1988 Convention was an attempt to reach a political balance between consumer and producer countries. Consequently, it was not only the duty of producing countries (e.g. the developing countries of Asia and South America) to suppress illicit supply, but also the duty of consumer countries (e.g. the industrialized countries of Europe and North America) to suppress the demand for drugs."

Constitutional issues

Several of the Convention's provisions are prefaced with the words, "Subject to its constitutional principles and the basic concepts of its legal system, each Party shall . . ." According to Fazey, "This has been used by the USA not to implement part of article 3 of the 1988 Convention, which prevents inciting others to use narcotic or psychotropic drugs, on the basis that this would be in contravention of their constitutional amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech"[6]  (http://www.fuoriluogo.it/arretrati/2003/apr_17_en.htm). Similarly, if a national prohibition on drug possession violated a nation's constitution, those provisions would not be binding on that country.

Proposed repeal

In 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January January 1 - Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. Pascal Couchepin becomes President of the Confederation in... 2003, a The European Parliament is the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by EU citizens once every five years. Together with the Council of Ministers, it comprises the legislative branch of the institutions of the Union. It meets in two locations: Brussels and Strasbourg. The European Parliament cannot... European Parliament committee recommended repealing the 1988 is a leap year starting on a Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Events Environmental change Zebra mussels found in the Great lakes December 2 - Cyclone in Bangladesh leaves 5 million homeless - thousands dead December 7 - In Armenia an earthquake 6.9 on the Richter scale killed nearly 25.000... 1988 Convention, finding that "despite massive deployment of police and other resources to implement the UN Conventions, production and consumption of, and trafficking in, prohibited substances have increased exponentially over the past 30 years, representing what can only be described as a failure, which the police and judicial authorities also recognise as such"[7]  (http://www.chanvre-info.ch/info/en/article603.html).

Reference

• Bewley-Taylor, David R. and Fazey, Cindy S. J.: The Mechanics and Dynamics of the UN System for International Drug Control, Mar. 14, 2003.
• Fazey, Cindy: The UN Drug Policies and the Prospect for Change (http://www.fuoriluogo.it/arretrati/2003/apr_17_en.htm), Apr. 2003.
• List of Precursors and Chemicals Frequently Used in the Illicit Manufacture of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Under International Control (http://www.incb.org/e/ind_list.htm).
• Monthly Status of Treaty Adherence (http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/treaty_adherence.html), Jan. 1, 2005.
• Recommendation on the reform of the conventions on drugs (http://www.chanvre-info.ch/info/en/article603.html), European Parliament, 2003.
• United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (http://www.incb.org/e/conv/1988/index.htm?).