Drug abuse: Tendencies and ways to overcome it

Measures to Prevent Drug Money Laundering:

There are two documents, which have been mentioned earlier that are very important in controlling drug abuse because they affect the "sore points" of narco-business. Both of these documents need to be applied in the Russian Federation. One, from 12th December 1988, is a statement by the
Committee on Banking Rules and Banking Supervision. Its aim is to prevent the criminal use of the banking system for laundering money gained from the trade in drugs. The other is the decision by the heads of state and government of the 7 leading industrial countries and by the European
Commission Chairman. Under this decision taken at the 15th Economic Summit in Paris in July 1989, a Special Operations Group on financial issues was set up.

It must also be noted that the past few years have seen the convocation of numerous official and unofficial conferences, symposia and meetings of experts specializing in combating drug abuse, including one held in 1996 in
Baku. They all worked out and recommended for implementation various measures to control narcotics.

Par. 2. Tendencies in the World Community's Reaction to Drug Abuse.

The world community counteracts the negative tendencies of drug abuse.
This can be clearly seen in the materials of the world fora and in the international legal acts.

The Overriding Tendency of Combating Drug Abuse:

The overriding tendency is the expanding scale, and improvement of activities, as well as of the international legal regulations combating drug abuse. The core of this tendency is expressed in the following trajectory from the study of drug abuse, and exerting influence by the world community through establishing international control over legitimate distribution and consumption of drugs, to the adoption and implementation of the increasingly diversified, detailed, rationalized and tough measures combating illegal drug trafficking and criminal drug money laundering.
These measures are being worked out by international agencies and organizations and are aimed at fully blocking the spread of narcotics.

This overall tendency can be seen in several of its more concrete manifestations, such as bringing the problem of narcotics to the forefront; expanding the sphere of the international legal regulation by amending existing measures and approving new international legal norms; making actions against drug abuse more purposeful by revealing its most vulnerable spots and controlling them by using new, more perfected international legal norms; ensuring a more universal, unified and standardized understanding of international legal terms regulating narcotics and; adopting international legal norms that pave the way for a real opportunity to combat narcotics; bringing international and national legal acts in line concerning actions against narcotics in the process of nations joining international legal acts and ratifying them; increasing the number of countries taking part in international conferences on actions against narcotics and the number of countries joining international legal acts and setting up and expanding the functions of specialized international agencies that work to combat narcotics.

Bringing to the Foreground Problems of Combating Drug Abuse:

Nearly 80 years since the convocation of the Shanghai Opium Commission in 1909, the first official body on the international scene that had drawn attention to the problems of narcotics, its regulation and gradual restriction, public attention to the problem has been steadily growing in proportion to the rise in the degree of public danger and the spread of narcotics. This is manifested by the increasing number of conferences, meetings, and symposia that concentrate on working out and adopting various international legal acts regulating measures to combat narcotics along with producing recommendations aimed at improving these types of measures and their application.

Expanding the Sphere of International Legal Regulation:
Expanding the sphere of international legal regulation means that each successive forum and each new international legal act against narcotics has focused on such areas of drug abuse, which have not been previously subject of international regulation.

In particular, the 1912 Hague Convention was the first to define types of narcotics - raw opium, smoke opium, medicinal opium, morphine and some others, which were placed under international control. Later this list was expanded. Under the Convention of 19th February 1925, some additional raw materials such as coca leaves, raw cocaine and Indian hemp (cannabis) were included. Also any other drug capable of causing harmful affects, according to the finding of a competent body, could be added to the list. Under the
Protocol of 19th November 1948 the list was further extended by synthetic drugs that had come into being by that time and had not been regulated by any of the previously adopted international legal acts. The 1961 Uniform
Convention contained a much longer list of narcotics allowing for further subsequent changes and additions.

The 1912 Hague Convention obliged the participating countries to pass national legislation controlling the production, distribution, importation and exportation of raw opium as well as measures scaling down production, domestic trade and consumption of smoke opium, banning its import and export. The Agreement of 11th February 1925 envisaged setting up a government monopoly for opium production and monopoly associations for opium trade. The Geneva Convention of 19th February 1925 introduced new measures, such as exercising control over the activities of persons who held permits to manufacture, import, export, sell, distribute and apply narcotics, as well as control over the premises where these persons practiced their trade. The Convention also limited the number of ports, cities and other populated centers through which the import and export of drugs was allowed, and urged the adoption of domestic legislation qualifying violation of these provisions of the Convention as criminal offence. The Convention of 13th July 1931 formulated the following additional measures: extradition of criminals for committing drug-related crimes; setting up domestic government agencies to implement the
Convention's decisions and regulations, supervision over the trade in drug- bearing medicines, listed in the Convention, and a clamp-down on illegal drug trafficking. The Bangkok agreement of 27th November 1931 contained such amendments as limiting retail opium trade to government agencies only.
For persons under 21 years of age visiting opium dens, was a criminal offence. The Convention of 26th June 1936 was the first to introduce the word "struggle" and provided for a much wider range of criminal drug- related offenses. Under the Protocol of 19th November 1948, the signatories had to inform the UN about any substance that had the potential of being abused in the future.

The 1961 Uniform Convention (with amendments) broadened international legal norms, over new aspects of drug abuse. For example, it established a special procedure for cultivating narcotic-bearing plants and manufacturing narcotic substances, it established uniform rules for storing drugs. These procedures bound the signatories to cooperate with each other and with authorized international organizations in arranging and holding campaigns against illegal drug trafficking, and in applying imprisonment and against those guilty of premeditated drug-related crimes.

The 1988 UN Convention contained recommendations to define concrete premeditated actions as crimes in national legislation. An extended list of these crimes was included into the concept "illegal drug trafficking." The
Convention also listed such measures as medical treatment of addicts, restoration of their working capabilities or social re-integration under subsequent supervision. The Convention outlined recommendations on using controlled deliveries at the international level on the basis of mutual accords.

Purposeful Actions Against Drug Abuse:

Intensifying actions against drug abuse by revealing and attacking vulnerable spots of narco-business through the help of new, more perfect law as the world community increasing realized the danger of narcotics, it displayed a growing ability to apply new international legal norms. As a result the world community has been approving appropriate legal norms to check the spread of narcotics. For example, on the basis of the 1912 Hague
Convention the signatories pledged to undertake measures to gradually stop the production, domestic trade, and consumption of smoke opium, as well as to ban its import and export. The 1988 Convention registered the provision on controlled drug deliveries at the international level on the basis of mutual accords. In accordance with the statement by the Committee for
Banking Rules and Banking Supervision of 12th December 1988 and the decision of July 1989 by the heads of states and governments of the seven leading industrial nations and by the European Commission Chairman, measures were taken to prevent criminal use of the banking system for laundering money obtained from drug trade.

The Universalization of Legal Norms:

The trend to ensure universalization, unification and standardization of the international legal norms on narcotics first manifested it self in the 1912 Hague Convention, the Convention of 19th February 1925 and the
Uniform Convention. These contained uniform lists of controlled narcotics.
The Convention of 13th July 1931 introduced the notions "production",
"refining", "processing", "reserve storage stocks", "government storage stocks", "export-import", "cultivation", "illegal trafficking",
"territory", "manufacture", "preparation", "storage stocks", and "special storage stocks". The 1961 Uniform Convention and the 1988 Convention provided unified lists of socially dangerous activities, qualified as criminal offenses.

Raising the Effectiveness of the International Legal Norms:

More and more specific and not just declarative norms ensuring effective and lasting actions against narcotics have been introduced into law-enforcement practice at each new stage in the international legal regulation of narcotics. The adoption of these international legal norms is paving the way for a real opportunity to oppose drug abuse.

Whereas the 1909 Shanghai Opium Commission failed to generate any constructive measures against narcotics, the 1912 Hague Convention managed to define the kinds of narcotics to be placed under international control.
The Agreement of 11th February 1925 provided for the establishment of monopoly institutions to deal with opium and for the transfer of the smoke opium production to a government monopoly. The Convention of 19th February
1925 extended the list of controlled narcotics and introduced new restrictions. Appropriate provisions of the 1931 Bangkok Agreement, the
Convention of 13th July 1931, of 26th June 1936, the Protocol of 19th
January 1948, the 1961 Uniform Convention (with amendments), the 1988 UN
Convention and documents of the European Community of 1988 and 1989 as discussed above, have also been raising the effectiveness of the drive against narcotics.

Bringing into Line the International and National Legal Norms:

Increasingly international and national legal norms against narcotics are brought into line as nations sign and ratify international acts. This leads to the mutual enrichment of the international and national legal norms aimed at blocking narcotics. On the one hand, the world community elevates national legal norms to international level by instituting international legal norms. On the other hand, nations ratify international legal acts thus adopting them as domestic legislation. International and domestic legal norms coincide almost completely sometimes, in such areas the list of narcotics and drug-related actions considered a criminal offense, as well as the procedure of filing criminal charges against persons committing drug-related crimes, and their extradition.

The Rise in the Number of Countries Taking Part in International

Conferences:

There has been an increase in the number of nations taking part in international conferences on narcotics and in the number of nations signing international legal acts. This is evident in the fact that 13 nations took part in the Shanghai Opium Commission in 1909, whereas 73 nations attended the New York conference, which adopted the Uniform Convention in 1961.
Since then, many nations have ratified the Uniform Convention and the 1988
UN Convention and more are going to sign them.

Setting up Specialized Agencies:

The world community has created and keeps expanding the functions of the specialized agencies dealing with narcotics, such as Permanent Central
Committee on Drugs of 1925, the Special Commission of 1928, the Control
Commission of 1931, the Commission on Drugs of the UN Economic and Social
Council of 1961 and the UN International Committee on Drug Control, and the special operations group on financial matters of 1989 dealing with money laundering resulting from drug trafficking. These agencies handle more and more functions in response to the ever more sophisticated dissemination of drugs, and money laundering resulting from drug trafficking.

The reaction of the world community to narcotics examined above shows a deeper understanding of this dangerous phenomenon, along with the increasing sophistication of measures against it. One can predict that this tendency will remain steadfast and keep progressing.

Chapter IV. Measures to Suppress and Prevent Drug Abuse
Measures to Prevent Drug Abuse Regulated by Law:

International legal acts are realized on a national scale. National measures in turn are of the three basic types: suppression, prevention, and rehabilitation.

Legal measures of suppression are coercive measures in regard to crimes that have already been committed. They are a combination of criminal-legal, criminal-executive and legal-administrative measures.

The criminal-legal measures must be fully compatible with the criminal law and registered in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. They are expected to safeguard the public from the drug-related crimes by inflicting punishment on persons who have committed these crimes and also, in combination with it, in cases stipulated by the law, apply coercive measures of medical nature or, if need be, a system of guardianship. These measures can be divided into two groups: those referring to crime and those referring to punishment. Measures of the second group, though they are envisaged by the norms of the criminal law, seem to be closer to legal- executive measures, and can therefore be grouped, with a certain degree of relativity, into the legal-executive category.

The legal-executive measures include punishment, coercive measures of medical nature, as well as the process of executing punishment and coercive measures of medical nature along with putting under guardianship, if required.

Legal-administrative measures are covered by the norms of the administrative law, establishing responsibility for the infringements of the law and regulating compulsory treatment of drug addicts.

Measures to prevent narcotics are very diverse. Their aim is to exert influence on various elements such as on persons using drugs, sowing and raising drug-bearing crops, manufacturing, acquiring, storing and selling narcotic substances and committing other drug-related crimes; on persons committing crimes with the aim of getting the means to purchase drugs or those undertaking criminal actions in the state of narcotic intoxication; and on circumstances that are seen as causes and conditions of drug addiction, etc. The preventive influence on all these persons may take three forms: persuasion, compulsion and stimulation.

The last two forms can only be applied if they are regulated by law.

Measures to Prevent Drug Abuse Unregulated by Law:

In terms of goals these measures can be divided into general social and special ones. General social measures have to do with society's social and economic development, the rise in cultural, educational and moral standards of all citizens. The economic development measures aim to increase the production of material benefits, as well as of intellectual output making the nation richer and the living standards higher. Social measures are apparent in rational distribution of funds in increase the government provides for social needs. Cultural and educational measures aim to promote the development of art, literature, science and education; they draw an ever-greater number of people into this process and ensure that they gain knowledge, know-how, and skills. Measures aiming to raise moral standards are expressed in inculcating an awareness of the need to abide by the social, particularly, legal, religious and other norms and rules of conduct in society. All these measures are designed to prevent crimes and violations, including drug-related crimes, and drug abuse particularly.

Special are those measures that prevent drug abuse as such, and crimes related to it, including those recommended by the international organizations and fora.

These are, for example, measures to promote a healthy way of life without consumption of narcotics and censuring the harm caused by narcotics and drug-related crimes. These measures are implemented by means of: 1) education - lectures, presentations at schools and other training centers, statements on the radio, television or press; 2) training law enforcement officers and medical personnel in the techniques of combating narcotics and drug-related crimes by creating special educational programs and setting up special training centers; 3) treatment and rehabilitation of addicts; 4) collection, analysis, summary, and transmission of information about narcotics, particularly, about new areas of drug-bearing plants, and methods of their production, illegal channels for their exportation, as well as the methods for moving them, using different kinds of transport; 5) preventing the sowing and the growing of drug-bearing plants by replacing them with other crops and stimulating the farmers and providing them an all- round assistance; 6) blocking the channels through which narcotics are moved along; curbing the smuggling of drugs through the joint efforts of customs and law-enforcement officers of neighboring countries specializing in actions against narcotics; 7) supervising the fulfillment of anti-drug laws regulating the sowing and growing of drug-bearing plants, drug circulation, etc; 8) reducing the demand for drugs by preventing their transfer from the legal to the illegal domain, including the use of a
"daily dosage method" which makes it possible to determine the correlation between the quantity of drugs necessary for medical and research needs and the volume of sale; 9) introduction of remote control devices to estimate the scale of illegal cultivation of drug-bearing plants in remote places and creating obstacles for laundering money and other property acquired as a result of drug trafficking.

In terms of the time, frame measures against narcotics and drug-related offenses can be divided into early warning, direct impact and postpenitentiary prophylactic.

The early warning measures are expected to exert influence on persons, who are not well-versed in drugs and their danger, and who are informed on the subject but do not take drugs. The preventive influence on poorly informed persons is made by disseminating knowledge. In this respect the experience of the United States is worthy of attention and could be borrowed by the Russian Federation. For as long as a quarter of a century, preschool children, especially, the ones who attend day care centers have been educated that any medicines, including drug-bearing ones are harmful for their health, if they are taken without a doctor's prescription and the knowledge of the exact dose. To achieve a more vivid effect an album for coloring pictures featuring narcotics and health is used.

In Australia, there are centers for preventing drug abuse where school students between 5 and 12 years old have 7 lessons a year forming a certain attitude to narcotics, as well as an awareness of the danger of drug addiction.

The influence on persons who are aware of the harm of narcotics and do not take drugs can be achieved by "tearing them away," so to speak, from their surroundings where drugs may be used or are used already. This can be accomplished by conversation with individuals, their families, and colleagues living in similar environment.

Direct impact prophylactic measures are expected to influence persons taking drugs, including drug addicts. This impact brings or may bring positive results when medical treatment is combined with the social rehabilitation.

Postpenitentiary measures should influence persons who have served prison terms for drug-related offenses by continuous treatment of drug addiction, securing the results of previous treatment, and neutralizing a possible unfavorable influence of their immediate surroundings, finding jobs and also forestalling the repetition of drug-related offenses.

International, National and Regional Measures:

In terms of their level, the measures to prevent drug abuse can be divided into international, national and regional.

International measures are the ones, which are carried out on an international scale. They include a number of earlier listed special measures to prevent drug abuse. Apart from that, they also include measures carried out by the international agencies and organizations, such as 1) creation of programs to prevent the advancement of narcotics; 2) assistance to countries in implementation of the conventions provisions; 3) providing assistance in bringing national legislation in line with the conventions;
4) training officers specializing in actions against narcotics for law- enforcement and other agencies of different countries; 5) supporting the scientific development of laboratories in the members countries; 6) providing financial, technical and other kinds of assistance to raise the effectiveness of national efforts against drug abuse and ensure access to the international system of information about narcotics. It should be noted at this point that the Russian Federation adheres to the international measures because it has joined the world legal effort aiming to combat narcotics.

National measures to prevent drug abuse are the ones, which are carried out on the entire territory of the Russian Federation. Regional measures cover the territory of a region, city or district. Any of the mentioned general or special measures against narcotics can be used on a national or regional scale.

It should be stressed at this point, that the last few years have seen a sharp decline in the effort of law-enforcement bodies, government agencies and other organizations to prevent offenses, including drug abuse and drug-related crimes. This state of affairs cannot help but arouse deep concern. In this context the approval of the national program for combating drug addiction in the Russian Federation is a necessary step towards improving the work of preventing narcotics and drug-related crimes, along with other offenses.

Chapter V. Organized Measures to Counteract Narcotics

Par. 1. General Provisions for Counteracting Narcotics

The multiplicity of drug abuse necessitates a joint combative effort involving a large number of participants who have a broad spectrum of powers and who will act simultaneously in different directions, performing a variety of functions. The joining of anti-narcotism forces can be achieved through a flexible system of measures against this deplorable social phenomenon.

Organizing a System of Measures Against Narcotics:

The multifaceted nature of drug abuse necessitates forming a single united front with many participants acting simultaneously in different directions, performing various functions with a wide spectrum of measures.
This can be achieved by the mobile and flexible system of measures and means. In terms of overcoming drug abuse, organization is a system of measures to combat drug abuse and means of their implementation with regard to the division of the spheres of activity, responsibilities and hierarchical order.

Based on the social and economic reality, actions against narcotics should comply with the national and international norms of law and with the scientifically based principles of management. They should take account of the new developments in medicine, pharmaceutics, psychology, psychiatry, pedagogy, sociology, instrument building, and have substantial legislative, material, informational, and research backing. They must have clear parameters of time and space and, most importantly, professionally trained personnel.

At the same time, the anti-narcotics strategy must reflect the irksome particularities and complicated nature of this phenomenon as it combines two interrelated sides - that of illness and that of crime. This defines our approach to drug abuse as a medical, as well as a social problem and it determines what steps and means must be chosen.

Drug Abuse as an Object of Government Action:

Narcotics-related issues, including organizational ones, cannot be isolated either from the social, economic, political, historical, legislative, medical, and biological problems or from other social pathologies that call for counteraction. The definition of drug abuse as a phenomenon of multiple factors is not therefore accidental.

Therefore, efficient counteraction requires much organization and precisely targeted moves.

Such a stance justifies the view of drug abuse as an object for state action.

This approach makes a broad analysis of the wide-ranging problems and ways to solve them possible. Besides, drug abuse helps to define who the subject (subjects) of influence are, its (their) condition and functioning, the influence its (their) structure projects, as well as choice of goals and function. These properties also define clear goals and a reasonable choice of means to attain them as well as to ensure an overall realization.

Observing the fundamental properties of drug abuse, researchers call upon us to be ready for new and unusual capability of this phenomenon to adapt to any conditions and manifest itself in new forms in most undesirable circumstances. On this occasion A. Gabiani writes: "Hardly had they banished the opium poppy, when the niche was quickly filled by common poppy. When the entire hemp-growing regions were cut off from black markets, the pharmaceutics flooded the market. The channels for natural drugs were blocked, then the far more dangerous chemicals began spreading.»

The specificity of drug abuse, and its forms and degree of proliferation, stress the need for a regular re-evaluation of its rapidly changing state in order to promote the methods of counteraction, discard the outlived methods, bring all techniques of exerting influence in line with the legislation and day-to-day reality. Experience proves that an objective assessment of any process demands for corrections to be made which take due notice of reality.

A system of measures to combat narcotics presupposes that its elements are mutually compatible and that the system itself can be a part of a higher order -(law enforcement and crime-prevention systems, and social administrative systems, as a whole). This means that not one subject or measure in the counter-narcotics system may contradict the values accepted by the society. The authority of the subjects must be sufficiently reflected in their rights and duties.

It is essential that all elements of the anti-narcotics system have enough potential possibilities to ensure its effective operation. The utmost goal of the organization is, in this case, to transform the potential possibilities into the real functions and make them serve as a system of counteraction measures. For example, the professional duty of medical institutions and doctors who provide treatment for drug addicts is manifested as a certain function performed by the elements of the system of counteraction to drug abuse.

A solution of the problems of drug abuse requires, on the one hand, considerable efforts by national, international and other organizations and their numerous divisions that act in different directions and focus on different target groups of people, and on the other hand, it requires coordination and accord in their activities.

The interaction of different elements of the system may be indirect, through the understanding of common objectives. This, however, requires a link in management. Such a link "is based on a certain program of action and is, in itself, a method of implementing this program. There is always a general structure of the process behind a developing operational system.»

General Provisions of Organizing Action Against Drug Abuse:

The above mentioned makes it possible to outline the following principles of an efficiently organized effort against drug abuse in the
Russian Federation.

As the manifestations of drug abuse continue to grow and diversify, a real counteraction is possible only in the framework of a well-tested and scientifically based government policy which defines the forms, tasks and contents of the government's contribution to this effort. The understanding of drug abuse phenomenon should be reflected in the Concept of the government policy towards narcotics. Its principal goal is to secure legislative and organizational realization of anti-narcotics efforts, bring harmony and coordination into the activities of different ministries and departments, draw up a list of priorities and concentrate the available resources for their synchronized deployment. No other document but such a
Concept can lay the solid foundation for the National Program of
Counteraction against Narcotics. The Program necessarily requires an approval at the highest level by the President, the government and the parliament to make all of its provisions mandatory for everyone.

The development of the National Program stands out as one of the most important tasks among the anti-narcotics measures. It is essential to invite experts in different fields of research, as well as the practitioners from the concerned departments to participate in it. The list of participants, the scope of their duties and the financing are to be endorsed by the government. The authors of the Program have personal responsibility for producing a profound analysis of the situation with drugs, and for the efficiency of the recommended methods for combating drug abuse. They are also responsible for providing research or organizational background during the implementation of the steps they have recommended.
The time frame and other specifics of the program must be included in the resolutions of the government and the parliament.

2. The main goal of the government policy in regard to narcotic substances should be: a) to prevent their use for other than medical purposes; b) curb the demand for them; c) and curtail their illegal manufacturing and turnover. This goal is attainable in practical terms only through a set of coordinated steps in politics, economy, legislation and public health. They should be directed at perfecting the laws regulating narcotics. Methods should be developed of an early identification of the persons who use drugs for non-medical reasons, of their treatment and rehabilitation. Policies should be developed counteracting the unlawful production and sale of drugs at the national and international setting.

3. The mandatory measures of organizational, legislative and material support of the government policy in the field of drugs fall into two categories.

The first category implies the establishment of an inter-departmental anti-narcotics system of measures, which will incorporate the following elements.

Information support of the program. The departments involved should set up a data bank to store information about the state of affairs in narcotics, the proliferation of drugs, the accurate techniques of drug identification, and other data - national and international - which will help make decisions and implement measures against narcotics.

Research and technical support. Conducting fundamental research of and quick response analysis on drugs, the development of advanced techniques and technologies of halting narcotics should be implemented.

Administrative support. The President, the parliament or the government should found a special committee entrusted with the overall monitoring of the drug abuse in the republic. This agency also should map out a uniform national strategy and tactics, direct and coordinate all the elements of the struggle against narcotics, and set up subordinate regional committees and commissions. As need be, it should be able to amend the state policy in regard to drugs. This agency surely must include psychiatrists specializing in the treatment of addicts, lawyers, psychologists, sociologists, teachers, pharmacists, journalists and other specialists and experts, as well as representatives from the ministries of public health, social welfare, education, agriculture, foreign economic ties, industry and trade, transport, telecommunications, foreign affairs, the interior, justice, finance, national security (as well as of the foreign intelligence service), air, maritime, and inland water transport, of the State Bank,
Intourist, customs service, and the Prosecutor's Office.

Material support. Financing should be provided for the National Program to Counteract Drug Abuse in general and for its specific aspects. The financing structure may include specialized funds.

Medical support. A mechanism of medical interaction on the issues of drugs must involve all the agencies and departments concerned and their separate branches.

Support from the system of education. It is necessary to train an appropriate number of anti-drug specialists with due regard to the experience gained by their foreign counterparts.

Accountability. Regulated accountability and control of all the agencies and departments participating in the campaign against narcotics should be established. The participants will be furnished with special sets of documents and evaluation criteria. They will bear personal responsibility for the final results.

The second category of mandatory measures defines the direction of the effort against narcotics, sets out the target goals and names the participants. At a minimum, the main direction should be of a simultaneous offensive on the production, trade and consumption of drugs.

In the field of legislative regulation, a set of laws on combating narcotics should encompass a) perfection of the effective legal acts on drugs, b) the legally defined rules of identification, check-up and voluntary/compulsory treatment of drug addicts, c) the rules of drug identification, d) legislative support of international cooperation including the obligations that arise from the international treaties and agreements, e) elaboration of legal norms to fight drug-related money- laundering, f) and bringing national legislation in line with the international laws.

In the field of medicine: the identification, medical treatment and social rehabilitation of drug addicts presupposes improving the methods of early diagnosis and treatment of addiction, the development of prophylactic measures, a system of registering and monitoring drug abusers, the gathering and analysis of information and information exchange between relevant departments.

In the sphere of combating drug-related crimes, it is essential to suppress the illegal cultivation of plants containing narcotic substances, improve control over the transportation of narcotics across borders, and curb their clandestine manufacture. It is also necessary to control the manufacturing, storage and trade in the chemicals and equipment, which may be used in the illegal production of drugs. The stamping-out of such crimes necessitates stringent regulatory mechanisms in the production, transportation and use of narcotic substances for medical and research purposes, as required by the international conventions, advancement of investigative methods, improvement in the customs service, administrative and other forms of curtailing crimes linked to drugs and limiting the illegal demand for them. The circle of involved participants in actions against narcotics, especially in the field of prophylactics and halting the spread of drug abuse should be enlarged through unconventional forms and methods of work, such as invigorating the efforts of religious and charitable organizations, private companies, psychological aid centers, army units, and so on.

Understandably, the suggested list of efforts is not exhaustive.
Nonetheless, it puts the emphasis on the main directions and can be viewed as a version of a multifaceted approach toward organizing a program of action combating drug abuse.

The Experience of Countries:
The experience of countries that have developed national programs against drug abuse can be very instrumental in drawing up a national anti-narcotics program.

In 1982, the United States adopted a program against drug trafficking and organized crime. Its implementation presumed mapping out a special presidential policy and the participation of the governors of all the states.

The USA:

The then US President Ronald Reagan sanctioned the allocation of an additional USD 130 million to the Department of Justice budget for the implementation of that program. These funds were distributed to the federal law-enforcement agencies, the judiciary, penitentiaries and the police. The administration envisioned an increase in the number of prosecutors, FBI agents, and the personnel of anti-drug departments, customs services, the coast guards, Internal Revenue Service, Immigration Naturalization Service, and other departments.

More than a half of the allocation was set aside as salary and bonuses for special service agents. The rest was spent on modernizing police equipment, the renovation of the state and federal prisons, and enhancement of the FBI technical capabilities in neutralizing criminals who can afford the most up-to-date listening devices and surveillance equipment.

The program also made provisions for creating special regional task force, and creating programs for participation in actions against drug abuse by the state, as well as for more room in federal jails. Coordination committees responsible to the Secretary of Justice were established in all of the 94 Federal judicial districts. The committees were obliged to make up plans for fighting grave crimes at the county, state and national levels.

It was for the first time that a program envisioned deployment of the armed forces against the spread of drugs. Their task was to detect and detain traffickers, especially at the US-Mexican border and in the
Caribbean.

A variety of drug prevention programs were developed at the regional level, such as the program of aid to potential abusers and their victims in the District of Columbia or the program against the abuse of drugs and alcohol by adolescents in Maryland. Many of them, however, remained ineffective not because they lacked professionalism, but more often because the moves lacked coordination. Not rare was the shortage of financing, technical and personnel support.

In 1989, the US adopted the national strategy against drugs, which is executed by more than thirty federal departments, including the CIA.
American experts believe that the US share of the worldwide consumption of drugs is more than a fifty per cent. They also consider drug trafficking as a global threat which cannot be controlled by the efforts of a single country. There must be international cooperation to settle this bedeviling problem.

Since the bulk of drugs originate outside the US, the Administration put an emphasis on attacking drug dealers on their home territory and on stepping up counteraction to the proliferation and sale of drugs inside the country. The strategy evidently has flaws, as the situation shows no signs of dramatic improvement.

Canada:

On May 25th, 1987, the Canadian government officially introduced a national strategy against drug abuse. The strategy had resulted from long consultations with provincial governments, different private organizations and individual specialists. The goal of the strategy was to shape a unified course of actions against the abuse of drugs in Canada.

The general supervision of its implementation was vested in the
Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. Other participants were the Royal
Mounted Police of Canada, the Directorate of the Penitentiaries, the
Ministry of Justice, the Customs Department and the Excise Tax Service, the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Training and Youth.

The main goal was to work out a balanced line of action that would meet the needs of all Canadians, bring down the impact of alcohol and other stimulants on individuals, families and entire communities. The strategy comprised six directions of action: 1)education and prevention, 2)control over law abidance, 3) medical treatment and rehabilitation, 4) gathering of information and research, 5) international cooperation 6) and national policy. Over two-thirds of the resources were directed into the educational, preventive and treatment programs to curtail demand on the banned substances.

The Royal Mounted Police had the assignment to help develop and implement five initiatives on restraining the supply of and the demand for drugs, namely 1) a program to curb the black marketing of drugs, 2) the coordination of coastal guard patrol, 3) the gathering and processing of data on drugs, 4) technical assistance to foreign countries and 5) an educational program.

Canadian experts note that it is hard to measure the effects of this program yet, but all the above measures contribute to saving lives and making the nation healthier.

The United Kingdom:

The British government is acting upon a multifaceted anti-narcotic strategy that it adopted in 1994. There are five strategic priority aspects in it 1) cutting down drug imports, 2) raising the efficiency of law enforcement, 3) exercising effective deterrence measures and strict control inside the country, 4) organizing preventive efforts, and improving the treatment and 5) the rehabilitation of drug addicts.

The government strategy is based on the assumption that all the problems of narcotics are inter-related. Therefore, parallel measures against the supply and demand of drugs are necessary. It is intended to scale down illegal imports of drugs by supporting international efforts against their manufacture and trade, reinforcing the customs and police force, toughening control over the legitimate production, and consumption of drugs for medical purposes, deterring drug dealers by heavy fines and depriving them of their illegal profits.

The struggle to curtail demand must follow two general lines - keeping the new addicts from abuse and rendering aid to those whom have developed addiction.

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