Bulletin on narcotics最新文献

The author begins with a discussion on trends in drug abuse and trafficking in Italy in the period 1979-1990, when the country was experiencing major heroin-related problems and the situation with regard to cocaine trafficking and abuse was rapidly deteriorating. He then describes the organization of the anti-drug services in Italy and identifies strategies pursued by the Italian Government with a view to intensifying its activities in international drug control.

The Asian region has experienced drug problems ever since opium was exported to China in the eighteenth century. Today, in some parts of the region, high priority is placed on drug control policies relating, for example, to the eradication of opium poppy cultivation, criminal sanctions against drug trafficking, and treatment programmes for drug-dependent persons. Some good results have been achieved in recent years: according to estimates, opium cultivation in at least one country in the region has decreased; the number of new cases involving drug-dependent persons is falling in a number of countries; and major drug trafficking syndicates have been disbanded.

In the present paper, a law enforcement official with nearly 40 years of experience in combating drug trafficking provides insight that may prove useful to persons in other organizations and/or cultures. He examines, in particular, the development, at the national level, of drug control legislation, a drug law enforcement strategy and a drug intelligence unit.

The present article provides a description of the practice of pre-trial destruction of seized narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances in India as provided for in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, and the Customs Act, 1962, and in the context of the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. It includes explanations of why, as well as how, the pre-trial destruction of such substances should be carried out.

Little or nothing has been written about the environmental consequences of the cultivation of coca and the production of basic cocaine paste. Nevertheless, there is much evidence that both activities have a severe and irreparable impact on the ecosystems in which they are carried out. This chapter describes the situation in the Peruvian Amazon, discusses the consequences of these activities, and recommends measures to improve current conditions.

The Government of Thailand, which has long recognized the serious threat posed by illicit drugs, has implemented stringent law enforcement measures aimed at suppressing illicit drug trafficking by dismantling clandestine laboratories, intercepting essential chemicals, effecting significant seizures and eradicating illicit crops. In addition, the Government has taken steps to initiate the enactment of legislation providing for the confiscation of proceeds derived from illicit drug trafficking activity. Furthermore, it has maintained and strengthened its already close bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the field of drug abuse control.

Because of the increase in heroin trafficking in France, it was decided that data on samples of heroin seized in the country would be filed in a computer in the Interregional Forensic Science Laboratory at Lyon. The computer file has made it possible to identify certain physical and chemical similarities among samples of seized heroin. According to the data in the computer file, the colour, purity, diluents etc. of the heroin offered on the street has changed significantly since 1987. The Laboratory will be in a better position to identify the geographical sources of heroin seized in France once samples of seized heroin have been obtained directly from their countries of origin.

Drug abuse and the environment are among the most preoccupying issues in today's world. Up to now, relatively little attention has been given to linkages between these two issues, which are at first glance unconnected in any meaningful way. More careful analysis identifies major linkages between the environmental impact of illicit drug cultivation, the rapid expansion of illicit cultivation into tropical forest areas, the efforts to eradicate illicit crops and pollution through the processing of raw materials into drugs of abuse. This article reviews those linkages and recommends measures that might be taken to deal with their consequences.

Illicit drug trafficking is a very complex matter, not only because it causes serious and pernicious problems in the socio-economic sphere, but because drug-taking can lead to personal degradation. To this situation, lamentable enough in itself, must be added the immense ecological and environmental damage, which presents grave and serious dangers for the planet.

The ecology in northern Thailand has been affected by the lifestyle of minority groups living there and some ethnic Thai people. Since 1970 development work to improve socioeconomic conditions and national security has been under way. The highlands cover an area of 17 million hectares consisting of forest and watershed areas. A new problem has arisen with the spread of heroin abuse in the neighbouring Lao People's Democratic Republic and Myanmar, producing a negative impact on the ecology, politics and the administration of minority groups. The Government of Thailand has shown flexibility in striving to solve these problems through development work in cooperation with the private sector. This has contributed to good relationships between the countries concerned. Some of the policies and programmes introduced by the Government of Thailand are reviewed in this article.