roadmaps to reforming the un drug conventions - Beckley Foundation

actions involving commercial quantities of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substancesand actions undertaken for a commercial purpose. It would also limit the application ofother provisions of the Conventions to such actions, such as those related to thefunctions and powers of the INCB.3. Approach to amending the Conventions in Option 2This option directly amends the provisions of the Conventions that impose obligationson Parties to limit actions with respect to drugs to medical or scientific purposes (Article4(c) of the 1961 Convention, and Articles 5 and 7 of the 1971 Convention), and thatprovide for this as a function of the INCB (Articles 9(4) and 12(5) of the 1961Convention). The proposed amendments would remove such requirements, and changethis function of the INCB to one of monitoring domestic actions with respect to drugs formedical and scientific, and for other purposes, and preventing illicit international tradein drugs.Article 36 of the 1961 Convention, Article 22 of the 1971 Convention and Article 3 of the1988 Convention require Parties to penalise or criminalise actions only where they arecontrary to laws or regulations that Parties are required to adopt under the Conventions.Therefore, the effect of these proposed amendments would also be to free Parties fromtheir obligations to make punishable or criminal offences of domestic activities withrespect to drugs in nonmedical and nonscientific use. (However, Parties would still berequired to penalise or criminalise non-compliance with remaining control measures inthe Conventions.) Direct amendments of Article 36 of the 1961 Convention and Article3(1) of the 1988 Convention are nevertheless proposed to clarify the application of thoseprovisions, based on the drafting approach used in Article 22 of the 1971 Convention.Direct amendments of Articles 19 and 20 of the 1961 Convention and Article 16(4) of the1971 Convention are also proposed to require Parties to furnish estimates of, andstatistical returns on, drug production, manufacture, use and consumption in theircountries and territories for non-medical/non-scientific purposes. This would be inaddition to reporting on drug use for medical/scientific purposes. Similarly, directamendments of Article 21 of the 1961 Convention are also proposed to require Parties toprevent manufacture and import of drugs beyond the total quantity of drugs used andconsumed, both for non-medical/non-scientific and medical/scientific purposes.Under Option 2, as under Option 1, it is also proposed that a new Article 3 bis andArticle 2 bis be added to the 1961 Convention and the 1971 Convention (respectively) toexempt non-commercial actions involving small quantities of drugs from the provisionsof those Conventions. The proposed definition of ‘non-commercial purpose’ would beadded as Article 1(1)(o) bis of the 1961 Convention, and as Article 1(c) bis of the 1971Convention, as discussed in relation to Option 1 above. The amendments to theprovisions of the Conventions proposed under Option 2 would relieve Parties fromobligations to prohibit and penalise or criminalise actions involving small quantities ofdrugs for use other than medical or scientific, so long as it was for non-commercialpurposes. This would not require the addition of the new articles, as the proposed76