Egypt. Has felt magnitude of threat at all levels. Comprehensive strategy to counter. Liquidation of criminal rings. Combating precursors and chemical drugs. Have been making every effort to combat illicit cultivaton of all drugs including opium. Have also been combating production of precursors and all chemical drugs. Egypt as transit country for Afghanistan drugs. Developing intelligence on drug trafficking. Sharing with our partners at regional levels. Cooperating with neighboring countries in re drug and criminal rings. Developing capacities. taking all measures in order to render money laundering law operational so as to freeze illicit proceeds from trafficking.
Argentina. Firm commitment in combating trafficking. No cultivation of drug crops and low transit level. Strong chemical industry that is highly controlled. Precursor registry. Government decided to have radical reorganization to strengthen fight against trafficking but have a number of questions to raise here.
1) we always need to work with accurate figures in INCB report
2) demand increase figures is important. No supply if no demand. We don’t know about strong consuming countries to know what to go by in next few years as possible supply trends. Needs to be enhancing of communication to intensify our work.
US. (Dan Baum) Agree on tremendous value of AD. But no single intervention can entirely solve the problem. Coca and cocaine an example. Strong cooperation between consumer and producer states. AD only one very important piece. Also state presence to supply security, and social justice and services in areas. Also eradication. Interdiction on land and sea a critical contributor to success against cocaine and other drugs. Drug Seizures facilitate law enforcement investigation and intelligence. Then lead to disruption and dismantle drug trafficking organization. Post-seizure investigation, destruction of transnational criminal investigation. Colombia has reduced cultivation by 50%. Has reduced cocaine consumption by over 1/3 in US. Many challenges from NPS also. Will the focus of a resolution to be discussed next week. Side event monday morning at 9am. Challenges with diversion of precursors used to manufacture meth. Very critical to look at accomplishments such as cocaine.
Ghana. Core of young men and women being trained by DEA as part of law enforcement effort. In coming years we are committed in long term. High investment project. Will only yield returns in a number of years. Developing world problem is that we are pushed into international conventions. Takes time. We are committed to conventions. We are only the losing end. We have to take one step and be sure that you have moved forward than to take three steps and see you are at same place. Meth is a problem and with the support of our DEA partners as soon as the labs were spotted in Nigeria we sought their support and said we believe it is likely we have a lab in Ghana. Ghana guy in lab in Nigeria. so must be some expertise in Ghana. Question to ask, Ghana’s question, is Mexico has banned ephedrine. Has found an alternative. If we know ephedrine is precursor why can’t they tell us? Why are we talking about it? If international community does not ban the source it will be diverted. No one is an angel. People profit from ephedrine. $45K for 40 kilos. Challenge international community to look at. A lot of support form our partners in terms of capacity building for intelligence. Thank UK and DEA and Germany and Indian counterparts for supporting capacity. Focus has been on high impact work and high value dealers. Capacity has been boosted tremendously. NPS — conference on NPS hosted by UNODC. Synthetic cannabinoids and meth added to list. Has been laid before parliament and will be law in next 21 days. Took opportunity of Single Convention — don’t have to wait for Scheduling of international community to schedule.
Latvia. (didn’t get this)
Pakistan. SR is a priority in our country. In the neighborhood with largest opium producer. In 2013, seizure figures. Pakistan has put in place an elaborate precursor regime. Checking for illicit heroin production precursors. (hard to understand). Since 2011 Pakistan declared a poppy free state, not more than 1000 hectares. Not just arrests but development scheme. Arrest and prosecution and highest conviction rates in the world. Supports Ghana on ephedrine production. Why is world not stopping? Source for medicines that we use, but if there is a substitute, we can stop using.
Korea. Express appreciation for discussion. Despite efforts of international community, new chemically engineered substances. Abused in Korea as a substitute for other controlled stimulants. In response, S korean government has developed approval scheme. Applies to manufacturers, importers and exporters. Scientific evaluation of dependency inducing properties. Cannabinoids — Spike or Skunk frequently smuggled into Korea. Should be controlled. Designate as psychotropic drugs and brought under control. Has helped curb abuse and misuse. In order to address emergence of NPS government updates list of controlled substances. Korean government cooperating with international drug control programs implemented by INCB. Mutual assistance structures needed with other member states.
Ecuador. Cites numbers of world acreage of poppy increase. Coca acreage down. Families behind this? Obliged to grow these crops sometimes with violence. We have transformed our vision and treatment of this phenomenon. Main importance focus on prevention. Now PAD in Ecuador a state policy to reduce supply. Strengthen involvement of community in social and environmental opportunities. Reduces their vulnerability. Policy led to certification of AD. Socio-economic alternatives that were licit and profitable. Has commercial benefits attached. In vulnerable areas with specific characteristics. Crop eradication has left aside other aspects of these areas. Has not been possible for farmers that used to grow coca to have a profitable livelihood. Has to be real commitment from other states. World acreage used for illicit production must go down through development of vulnerable areas. Reducing supply starts with prevention. We have a model for control of diversion of controlled substances. Recognized by UN as model for control of precursors. Cooperate with other LAM countries. Recognize new understanding of phenomenon and give support. take phenomenon as a whole and defend lives of people involved.
Brazil. All countries recognize importance of efforts against trafficking. Where there is cultivation and other drug related activity. Few studies and data to establish evidence to help guide action, so countries continue with high investments that are quantity based. (terrible translation) not looking at effectiveness. No question in other areas including demand reduction. Evaluate for effectiveness. Trafficking routes and crimes have to be evaluated so states can know how they change.
Zimbabwe. Absence of documented evidence. Trying to stop diversion of precursors. Z has a small pharmaceutical industry. Imports table 2 substances. Have gained significant control over licit substances. Need more technologies such as PEN online. Ingenuity of traffickers provides more movement of ephedrine. Documented seizures of precursors smuggled through luggage through mules. Downside of precursor success is that it has raise deprives of precursors on illicit market. Draws in more players. New battle front coming.
Iraq. three points. 1) Concerns felt by friendly countries using our territory as transit country. Many efforts going to combat terrorism. Need more support and training. Iraqi experts have good training. Project for aide memoire. Cooperate as far as containers are concerned. Challenge of drugs far greater than what we can handle. Has contact with policies and economy. Not just health. Priority on international agenda. Needs deep thinking. Have academies under supervision of UNODC. High time to use new technologies to reduce supply. See where illicit planting is concerned. use telemetry. Should be a joint session with UNODC and ?? Committee. Finally, believe balanced strategy has to be taken seriously. ???
Colombia. Neutralization of heads of cartels in Colombia and 70% reduction of coca bush crops has meant that drug trafficking has been involved in a process that is local with regional influence and ultimately globalization. Colombian state generated structural changes in criminal world in drug trafficking since Medellin and Cali cartels have been disbanded (terrible translation!). With last three decades has been decisive in weakening capabilities. Large cartels were broken down and subjected to law. We have a country with drug trafficking problems but so weakened and so fragmented with fewer capabilities. Diaspora of drug traffickers, product of law enforcement. (Incoherent translation) Colombia no longer main producer. lowest figure in 18 years. 47790 hectares in 2012. End of large cartels through fragmentation of networks with capturing of heads and dismantling of independent cartels, lower acreage of coca bush growing and interdiction and confiscation by national police and state offices. Losses in international trafficking. Instructors that controlled whole cycle of production, and cartels of other countries took over illicit trafficking. Drug trafficking has become work of lower networks. Now a social problem related to social security with lower numbers. Has moved from public life to underground with less capacity. Breakdown of structure to fragmented groups limits criminal capability. Neighboring countries learned. Intercontinental effects. Cooperation agreements. Colombia helps Mexico, Central America, African countries. 12K people have participated. Interdiction actions initiated. Colombia can contribute its knowledge on airport controls, precursor control, base production, cocaine hydrochloride, potassium pomangenate. Many victories but have not won the war. Worry that others could go through what we did, especially with NPS.
NGO. Mexico. Centers for Treatment and would like to comment on the need to involve new approaches that are comprehensive in demand and supply reduction. Civil society has to participate jointly with governments to tackle world problem. We should encourage a policy that affect well being in Mexico. Comprehensive program to address risk and help recovery of social fabric with cooperation of CS organization fighting violence, crime, supply and demand. Recommendations are as follows. 1) better budget and balance in resources for supply and demand reduction to strengthen prevention activities in all countries. Resources have not been balanced. Should be more resources for drug users so they are not criminalized or stigmatized. 2) Strengthen alternative development plans. Transparency for ?? Terrible translation. CS can be useful in supply reduction through recovery of social fabric and social networks promoting culture of peace and legality. Could have networks to add to prevention networks. Organizations for treatment of users and actions should continue. Effective control for pseudoephedrine. NPS has not gone up. Can contain drug demand without having more users. Consumption adds to public health harm. Promote convention of rights of the child to help promote wellbeing.
Transform Drug Policy Foundation. Statement for the round table on supply reduction – Steve Rolles
Thank you Mr. Chairman,
• the experience of the past 50 years clearly demonstrate that enforcement-based supply reduction efforts have not been effective in the face of high and growing demand.
• The profit opportunities now available to organised crime groups mean that ‘success’ has only ever been localised and temporary.
• More often, enforcement efforts have simply displaced drug production or transit geographically – this is the so-called ‘balloon effect’ as noted by UNODC in its World Drug Report of 2008
• Beyond this long term failure, supply reduction efforts have additionally been associated with a range of what the UNODC has described as negative ‘unintended consequences’
• These include severe environmental and health harms associated with arial crop eradication, and the displacement of already impoverished and vulnerable populations involved in drug crop production
• Furthermore, supply reduction efforts have often led to increases in drug market related violence – this is demonstrated most graphically by the more than 100,000 drug market related killings in Mexico since the 2006 ‘crack down’ enacted by former president Felipe Calderon.
• Drug enforcement interventions have frequently been associated with human rights abuses committed by enforcers themselves – and a lack of accountability for such abuses amongst enforcement agencies
• In this historic context of demonstrably ineffective and counterproductive supply reduction efforts, talk of ‘rebalancing’ demand and supply reduction efforts are meaningless.
• Supply reduction has never, and can never achieve its stated long term goals
• We therefore propose –instead- that the goal of drug market enforcement should, in the short to medium terms, shift towards reducing social harms associated with drug markets, rather than a futile and counterproductive pursuit of reductions in total production.
• This is, in other words, moving from a market eradication based approach to a market management and harm reduction based approach.
• in practice this means:
1. De-prioritising enforcement low level market operatives – such as peasant farmers and drug mules;
2. Strategically targeting criminal organisations associated with the highest levels of violence and social harms;
3. Avoiding militarisation of drug enforcement and ensuring accountability and compliance with human rights amongst drug enforcers, and
4. Including evaluation of ‘unintended consequences’ such as violence, human rights abuses, and environmental harms, in national and UN annual drug policy evaluations, including those of the UNODC, INCB and various UN human rights agencies, To this end, we must establish meaningful metrics and financial resources.
• In conclusion, in the longer term it is essential that we consider the roll of the drug control framework in fuelling the creation of the vast ‘criminal black market’.
• A meaningful debate needs to take place –both at the CND, and at the upcoming UN General Assembly Special Session– around the possibilities for regulated market alternatives that could dis-empower organised crime groups by moving control of key drug markets back into the sphere of responsible government agencies.
India. Answer why ephedrine should not be banned? Only effective substitute is pseudo ephedrine. As we all know it is an ATS precursor. Banning a substance easiest solution but does not bring long term results. Substances still have legitimate uses. 3 drug control conventions talk about principle of balance. Importance to keep availability for medical purposes. Have to think of ways that go beyond banning.