roadmaps to reforming the un drug conventions - Beckley Foundation

would also include transforming a drug into a Schedule III preparation). 111 As notedabove, the 1961 Commentary suggests that Article 4(c) does not apply to themanufacture of substances not covered by the Convention. In addition, Article 2(9) ofthe Convention provides that Parties are not required to apply the provisions of theConvention to drugs used in industry for non-medical and non-scientific purposes. 112Article 4(c) is expressed to be ‘[s]ubject to the provisions of this Convention’. Exceptionsto the general obligation of Parties in Article 4(c) to limit drugs to medical and scientificpurposes are provided in Article 2(9) (discussed above), Article 27 (permittingproduction, import, export, trade in, and possession and use of coca leaves for thepreparation of a flavouring agent), and Article 49 (which allows Parties to reserve theright to temporarily permit non-medical and non-scientific use of certain drugs at thetime of signature, ratification or accession to the Convention).4.4.2 Option 1 – changes to Article 4(c)Article 4(c) imposes obligations on Parties to prevent non-medical and non-scientific useof drugs, as well as production, manufacture, distribution of, and possession of drugs,where these actions are undertaken for the purpose of non-medical and non-scientificuse of drugs, whether for commercial purposes or otherwise, or involving smallquantities of drugs or otherwise. Therefore, Article 4(c) would need to be amended orchanged in effect to allow Parties to permit domestic actions relating to non-commercialuse of small quantities of drugs.The effect of the addition of a new provision, as described above, exempting noncommercialactions with respect to small quantities of drugs from the scope of theConvention, would be to confine the scope of Parties’ general obligations under Article4(c) to limiting commercial manufacture, distribution of, use and possession of drugs tomedical and scientific purposes, or limiting non-commercial actions to medical andscientific purposes if they involve more than a small quantity of drugs. That is, Partieswould only be obliged to limit these actions to medical and scientific purposes wherethey are undertaken for the purpose of receiving pecuniary benefit, or involved morethan small quantities of drugs. They would not be obliged to prohibit or prevent theseactions where they are undertaken solely for the purpose of personal use of smallquantities of drugs (whether medical or non-medical).111But note that Article 1, subparagraph (x)(ii), Article 2, paragraph 4, Article 19, subparagraph 1(b),Article 20, subparagraph 1(b), and Article 21, subparagraph 1(b) refer to the use or utilisation of drugsin manufacturing other drugs, substances or preparations. Note also that Article 9 provides thatParties are not required to apply the provisions of the 1961 Convention to drugs which are commonlyused in industry for other than medical or scientific purposes.112Provided that they ensure that drugs used in this way ‘are not liable to be abused or have ill effects’and that ‘the harmful substances cannot in practice be recovered’ (i.e. that drugs cannot be recoveredor restored from their industrial use for consumption), and that they include the amount of drugsused in industry in the statistical information they must provide under article 20.86