International Drug Control: Consensus Fractured

Cover
......Page 1
International Drug Control......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Figures and maps......Page 11
Tables and boxes......Page 12

Preface and acknowledgements......Page 13

Abbreviations......Page 16
1: Introduction......Page 19
The global drug prohibition regime......Page 21
On the right path? Differential metrics of success......Page 29
Approaches and key themes......Page 36
Plan of the book......Page 51
2: Soft defection and the domestic normalization of harm reduction......Page 54
The mechanics of soft defection: harm reduction via glitches in the system......Page 62
The domestic normalization of harm reduction......Page 71
Opioid substitution therapy – from law enforcement to public health......Page 83
Needle and syringe programmes – grassroots and government initiatives......Page 86
Controlled heroin prescription: long history, limited uptake......Page 90
Drug consumption rooms: robust legal justification, limited uptake......Page 93
Harm reduction and policy transfer......Page 96
‘Condemned to pragmatism’: the emergence of harm reduction as a core component of EU drug policy......Page 98
Maastricht: changing the landscape......Page 101
Harm reduction via triangulation......Page 105
The impact of the 2005–08 Action Plan......Page 109
Concluding discussion......Page 111
3: Harm reduction at the UN: member state tension and systemic dissonance......Page 118
Harm reduction at the CND, 1998–2009: schisms, science and suasion......Page 120
Country and regional group statements......Page 140
The dynamics of dissonance: regime (in)stability......Page 145
Drug control, harm reduction and core UN values......Page 155
Concluding discussion......Page 166
4: Cannabis, soft defection and regime weakening......Page 170
Cannabis within the conventions: composite classification......Page 172
First and second waves of soft defection......Page 175
Prohibition with cautioning or diversion (‘depenalization’)......Page 185
Prohibition with civil penalties (‘decriminalization’)......Page 191
Medical marijuana control......Page 195
Partial prohibition: de facto and de jure legalization......Page 199
Partial prohibition: de facto legalization......Page 200
Partial prohibition: de jure legalization......Page 206
Commonalities underpinning soft defection......Page 208
The issue of cannabis at the CND, 1998–2009......Page 215
Cannabis resolutions: the INCB and the diligent producer versus the ‘lenient’ consumer state dichotomy......Page 218
Cannabis as the ‘most vulnerable point in the whole multilateral edifice’......Page 224
Dronabinol and the WHO......Page 229
Concluding discussion......Page 231
5: Defending the regime: the International Narcotics Control Board......Page 237
The INCB and its place within the international drug control system......Page 238
Defence via the Annual Report......Page 242
Inconsistent positions on policy debates......Page 247
Selective use of the available evidence base......Page 254
Selective focus of subject matter......Page 258
Exceeding mandate......Page 263
Defence by other means: missions, letters and misuse of expert roles......Page 268
Coca and the conventions: the hardening of the INCB’s prohibitionist stance......Page 273
Reactions to moves to ‘un-schedule’ coca......Page 279
Explaining INCB behaviour during the UNGASS decade......Page 284
Concluding discussion......Page 294
6: Beyond regime weakening? Lessons from the UNGASS decade......Page 297
Rationales for regime modernization......Page 300
Treaty reform on technical and scientific grounds: cannabis and coca......Page 301
Treaty reform on performance grounds: failure to achieve core objectives and the generation of counterproductive impacts......Page 308
The capacity of the GDPR to limit freedom of action: the need for drug policy repatriation......Page 316
Reformist debate and political pragmatism......Page 322
Negotiating the obstacles to a change of regime......Page 328
Treaty revision......Page 329
Withdrawal from the conventions......Page 331
Harnessing like-mindedness......Page 334
Problems with sequencing......Page 338
Europe as the core of a like-minded group?......Page 342
What role for the EU?......Page 345
Concluding discussion......Page 350
Index......Page 355