Own your ow legal marijuana business | Your guide to making money in the multi-billion dollar marijuana industry |
Major Studies of Drugs and Drug Policy | ||||
Canadian Senate Special Committee on Illegal Drugs | ||||
Volume 3 - Public Policy Options |
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Chapter 19 - The International Legal EnvironmentThe
1936 Geneva Convention for the Suppression of the Illicit Traffic in Dangerous
Drugs
Based on
initiatives of the International Police Commission, forerunner of the
International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), negotiations had begun
in 1930 to develop a treaty to stem illicit drug trafficking and punish
traffickers severely through criminal sanctions.[1][37] In 1936, the Convention for the Suppression of the
Illicit Traffic in Dangerous Drugs[2][38] (1936 Trafficking Convention) was
concluded in Geneva. The U.S., led by Anslinger, had attempted to include
provisions that would criminalize all activities–cultivation, production,
manufacture and distribution–related to the use of opium, coca (and its
derivatives) and cannabis for non-medical and non-scientific purposes. Many
countries objected to this proposal, and the focus remained on illicit
trafficking.[3][39] Article 2 of the Convention called
on signatory countries to use their national criminal law systems to “severely”
punish, “particularly by imprisonment or other penalties of deprivation of
liberty,” acts directly related to drug trafficking. The U.S.
refused to sign the final version because it considered the Convention too
weak, especially in relation to extradition, extraterritoriality and the
confiscation of trafficking revenues. The U.S. was also worried that if it
signed, it might have to weaken its domestic criminal control system to comply
with the Convention. In fact, the Convention never gained widespread
acceptance, as most countries interested in targeting traffickers concluded
their own bilateral treaties. Despite its
minimal overall effect, the 1936 Trafficking Convention marked a turning point.
All the previous treaties had dealt with the regulation of “legitimate” drug
activities, whereas the 1936 Trafficking Convention now made such activities an
international crime subject to penal sanctions. |