Drug abuse: Tendencies and ways to overcome it

CONTENTS:

Number: Pages:

1. Introduction 2-4

Chapter 1. Concept, Manifestations and Tendencies of

Drug Abuse 4-14

2. The Concept and Manifestation of Drug Abuse 4-11

3. Tendencies of Development 11-14

Chapter II. System and Classification of Measures to Overcome

Drug Abuse 14-22

4. System of Measures to Overcome Drug Abuse 14-17

5. Classification of Measures to Overcome Drug Abuse 17-22

Chapter III. Drug Abuse in the International Law 22-38

6. International Fora and Legal Acts on Drugs 22-34

7. Tendencies in the World Community's Reaction to Drug Abuse. 34-37

Chapter IV. Measures to Suppress and Prevent Drug Abuse 37-40

Chapter V. Organized Measures to Counteract Narcotics 40-57

8. General Provisions for Counteracting Narcotics 41-45

9. Organization of Medical Counteraction to Narcotics 45-49

10. Enforcement of Legal Measures of Narcotics Counteraction 50-53

11. Other Organizational Measures to Combat Narcotics 53-57

12. Conclusion 57-58

Introduction

The 20th century has witnessed the spread of narcotics to the entire world. In the past narcotics in the natural economy were confined to territories where drug-bearing plants were grown. By the end of century drug addiction has become a worldwide socially dangerous trend.

Narco-dealers making fabulous profits infect more and more people and even entire social groups with drug addiction. Narcotics have long since gone beyond the borders of traditional drug-producing areas and have infiltrated all the countries of the world, exerting its malicious effect on their peoples. It has affected social, economic, political and biological aspects of life.

Statistics is constantly reporting the spread of drug addiction and the growth in the number of drug addicts on file at medical institutions, as well as the rise in officially recorded drug-related crimes.

Drug abuse has become a real plague of the 20th century in many countries of the world and may become the plague of this country in particular.

The pleasurable sensations of comfort and satisfaction that a person experiences using narcotics is much greater than that of alcohol thus making the repetition necessary. Consequently, dependence on drugs and the desire to enlarge the dose or experiment with the new and more powerful drugs increases. Gradually the desire for dope becomes so overwhelming that it degrades the addict's individuality. The transition from experimentation to dependence is no longer a secret for it has been studied thoroughly. Profit seeking dealers expand the drug market at any cost by supplying drugs to more and more addicts taking advantage of their weaknesses.

Drug sales are the closing stage in drug trafficking. Drug trade earns huge profits that cover the costs of cultivating drug-bearing plants, producing (or illegally acquiring from medical institutions) transportation, sale expenses, and the bribery of officials, including those of the law enforcement agencies. Since illegal drug trafficking is extremely advantageous in terms of illegal profit accumulation and so harmful and immoral it must be regarded by the entire world community as a socially dangerous phenomenon. Some countries qualify its certain manifestations as a heinous crime.

Throughout this century international organizations have been paying much attention to actions against drug abuse. For example, in 1909 the Shanghai Opium Commission approved documents to restrict drug trafficking between countries. The international opium conference held in the Hague between 1911 and 1912 worked out, for the first time in history, the drug convention of 1912. The conference on opium held in Geneva between 1924 and 1925 approved, on February 11, 1925, an Agreement under which opium was made a government monopoly. The second Geneva conference on opium passed a convention on February 19, 1925, under which narcotics were to be produced only for the purpose of meeting the countries' legal demand for them. Besides this convention stipulated the extension of the list of drugs. On July 13, 1931, an international convention limiting the production of drugs and regulating their distribution was approved in Geneva. It came into force in 1933. A convention of actions against the illegal trade in hard drugs was signed in Geneva on June 26, 1936. It made international prosecution for drug-related crimes possible and introduced punishments for such crimes compared with the previous conventions.

In 1946, the UN Economic and Social Council passed a resolution that provided for the international drug control and for the establishment of a drug commission for this purpose. On November, 19 1946, the UN General Assembly passed resolution 54/1 which endorsed a Protocol on Drugs. It was signed at Lake Success on December 11, 1946. At the initiative of the Drug Commission, a protocol extending the international control over drugs set forth by the 1931 convention, was signed at the third UN General Assembly session in Paris on November 19, 1948. A Protocol on Control over opium poppy, consisting of the Preamble and the Final Act, was signed in New York at the UN opium conference on June 23, 1953. The UN conference in New York in 1961 approved a Uniform Drug Convention and in 1971 in Vienna a special diplomatic conference passed a convention that stipulated the establishment of a control over psychotropic preparations. The UN conference in Vienna in 1988 adopted a convention of actions against the illegal trafficking of drugs and psychotropic substances. In keeping with the decisions of the G Seven heads of state and governments and of the European Commission Chairman, the 15th top-level economic summit in Paris set up a special group in July 1989 to deal with the laundering of drug money. Upon this group's recommendations, the International Drug Control Council called on all the governments to approve, among other things, legislative acts against attempts to launder money obtained from drug sales and to ensure their effective use. The list of international antidrug conferences and their drug-prevention documents alone, as well as the establishment of special international bodies and organizations to carry out their decisions, is a graphic illustration of how serious the world community's effort to oppose drug abuse has been.

A lot of people today are drawn into the process of illegal drug trafficking: from those engaged in cultivating drugs or producing medical preparations containing drugs, to drug salesmen and dealers engaged in money-laundering. At times these people form groups, which are termed, organized criminal groups or associations by the criminal code. On the one hand, these groups take control of drug-related crimes and draw people who commit such crimes on their own. And on the other hand, they establish firm organizational ties among themselves forming drug cartels in order to monopolize drug trafficking in the vast regions of the world. This shows that there is a continuous blending process between narcotics and organized crime. These factors characterize the highest degree of danger that narcotics represent. They prove the pressing need to increase worldwide action against narcotics. This action calls for the use of all possible means: political, legal, economic, and medical among others.

The antidrug campaign is a big drain on the material resources of the country. It involves large spending on various programs such as preventive Medicare, law-enforcement, legal and economic measures, and other. If this spending is to be rational and effective, a range of measures should be outlined with the utmost precision and professionally implemented.

All this calls for a comprehensive analysis of the existing situation and of the possible opposition by drug dealers. As the owners of enormous wealth, which sometimes exceeds the budgets of some countries, drug dealers are able to influence government policies, especially in small countries. Mainly bribing top government officials in the legislative or the executive branches ensures this influence. As a result, criminals get a chance to interfere in law making from the outset. The bribery of the law enforcement officers and of the officers of the court, among others, makes it possible to cover up drug deals, prevent exposed members of the criminal associations involved in these deals from prosecution or substantially curtail their prison terms.

Unlike the United States and other wealthy countries, smaller nations are in no position to allocate sufficient sums from their budgets to carry out effective antidrug projects. Research-based guidance may to a certain extent make up for the lack of necessary funding. And here government-supported antidrug programs may play an essential role.

The study of drug abuse has always been prominent in the study of law. Many booklets, articles, serious textbooks, and monographs are devoted to narcotics. It is as hard to cover all aspects of the problem, even in the most profound study, as it is to establish absolute truth, especially, since reality keeps creating new problems all the time.

The key solution lies in the need to pool international efforts in eradicating drug addiction and narco-business. In the present-day world with its integration processes it is impossible to do away with drug addiction in any one country. Yet there is no way for the world community to regard itself free from the problem even at a time when drugs will be a peril only in one particular country. An intensive and continuous buildup of the world community's joint effort against narcotics is a top priority objective of the world at large.

Chapter 1. Concept, Manifestations and Tendencies of Drug Abuse

1. The Concept and Manifestation of Drug Abuse

Sociologists, lawyers and medical experts single out three basic aspects of drug abuse: social, legal and medical.

These aspects are interconnected and interdependent and reveal the diverse nature of drug abuse. Moreover one can also point out the criminological, economic and ecological aspects.

To highlight the entire multiplicity of this phenomenon, it is necessary to go beyond the widespread notion of "drug addiction" because strictly speaking it applies only to the medical or biological aspects of drug use being viewed exclusively as a disease without covering social, legal and some other aspects. This is why the notion "drug abuse" rather than "drug addiction" is used in juridical literature as a much wider term covering social, legal and other aspects. So, drug abuse is understood as a "social phenomenon" which combines such illegal actions as willful consumption of narcotics, dealing in narcotics illegally, as well as solicitation to use drugs, creating the conditions for becoming a part of illegal drug trafficking.

This definition is acceptable on the whole and may be used as a basis for describing the phenomenon, yet it fails to cover the biological aspect and insufficiently expresses the economic, legal and criminological aspects.

There is a need for a term that would cover all the aspects of this negative phenomenon, and of the ways of combating it.

Social Aspects of Drug Abuse:

Most concisely, the social aspect of drug abuse can be described as a combination of social behaviors linked to narcotics and their social consequences in the form of damage that has been done and can be done to society.

The actual negative social manifestations of drug abuse are expressed in various drug-related actions: cultivation of drug bearing plants, preparation, acquisition, storage, sale and consumption of narcotics, as well as persuasion to use narcotics.

Negative Social Consequences of Drug Abuse:

The negative social consequences of drug abuse are similar to the social consequences of crime. They amount to "real harm caused by crime to social relationships and expressed in the cause-and-effect combination of criminal behavior and in the direct and indirect, immediate and mediate negative changes (damage, losses, and other ill effects), ultimately affecting the social (economic, moral, legal, etc.) Values and also implying the combination of society's economic and other social hazards attributed to the effort to combat and to socially prevent crime.

Proceeding from this definition it is possible to recognize the negative social consequences of drug abuse. The first is the negative social changes, such as harm to people's health, the destruction of family foundations, and a decline in work efficiency. The second is the cost which society has to pay to overcome these changes. Other changes also include refusal to work, various antisocial actions, and crime. A closer look at these negative changes shows that drug addicts are poor workers because of their ill health, which, in general, makes work impossible for them during spells of abstinence. Their entire range of interests and thoughts lies in the desire to find ways of obtaining drugs. The list of negative changes also includes material damage perpetrated by the drug addicts who are often the source of transportation accidents and accidents in industry. For example, 60 billion dollars worth of damage is done annually in the United States alone. There is also the moral damage resulting from the various unlawful actions motivated by the desire to find means for buying drugs, such as the willingness to commit crime for the sake of meeting that desire. Forgery, embezzlement, abuse of authority and office duties is just a few. Drug addicts create unbearable conditions for their families by denying them normal lifestyles and means of existence. They harm their offspring by upsetting the hereditary stock. Drug addicts undergo physical and moral degradation and die early. They destroy their own basic moral and ethical values.

The Committee of Experts of the World Health Organization determines the social danger and negative consequences of drug abuse according to the basic factors and divides them into two main groups: the breach of relations among drug consumers and the spread of unfavorable consequences among many people.

Specific Social Problems of Drug Abuse:

WHO experts describe the specific social problems caused by drug abuse as follows: the huge material losses and their consequences in the form of all kinds of damage done to those who immediately surround drug consumers (parents, college roommates and so on) and to the society as a whole; the deterioration of relations with official organizations and institutions, staff at college and at work etc.; drug consumers' inclination to commit crimes motivated by the need to have drugs or the means to buy them, and also the mercenary and violent crimes committed under the influence of drugs; the additional demand for welfare benefits and medical care for persons using drugs other than for medicinal purposes and in connection with this the unnoticed spending both by drug addicts and by society as a whole; the danger arising from drug addicts as potential conduct of drug addiction in their immediate surroundings.

Detailed research however allows for a broader list of specific social aspects. They include: ideological and cultural, law enforcement, medical care and preventative medicine, labor and education, family and leisure time, and material resources. The specific ill effects of narcotics and their unfavorable social consequences can be seen in any of the categories listed above. For example, in the ideological and cultural area they express themselves in the development of a specific drug ideology; in the law enforcement area there is an increase of crime. In Medicare and preventive medicine, there is deterioration in people's health and an increase in the number of handicapped children. In industry and education - a decline in labor efficiency and poor results at schools and other educational centers is evident. One can also point to accidents and to deterioration of relations among staff. In the family relations, a loss of understanding occurs. All this requires setting up special schools, preventive centers, drug departments at medical institutions, rehabilitation centers and new antidrug programs.

To sum up the above-cited social aspects of drug abuse one may state, that it is harmful in physical, moral and proprietary ways. This harm is caused by the proliferation of the narcotic sub-culture as it draws more victims into it; secondly, by drug-related crimes; thirdly, by crimes committed for the purpose of getting means for buying more drugs; fourthly, by crimes committed under the influence of drugs; and, finally, by the spending needed to carry out various programs aimed at eliminating drug abuse.

Legal Aspect of Drug Abuse:

The legal aspect of drug abuse is also a part of the social aspect. Crimes and other law-breaking acts covered by the totality of legal norms involve the illegal cultivation of drug-bearing plants, the preparation, storage, transportation, trafficking, sales, and theft of drugs, the use of drugs without doctor's prescription, and the violation of laws regulating the handling of narcotics. This also covers the situation when suitable conditions are created for taking drugs and those in which more people are persuaded to use drugs or when people have to commit crimes in order to obtain means to buy drugs. Crimes committed under the influence of drugs, as well as crimes that are committed for the purpose of getting money to purchase drugs are included as well.

These crimes should be viewed as part of the notion of drug abuse since they are caused by the desires of drug users to boost drug-inspired activities or their level of intoxication. The legal aspect of drug abuse also includes those relationships regulated by law and arising from the non-medical use of drugs.

Criminological Aspect of Drug Abuse:

The criminological aspect of drug abuse includes a part of this phenomenon that poses an extreme danger to the public, i.e. is linked to the above-cited crimes, their state, level, structure, dynamics, cause-and-effect, criminal's personality, and prevention measures, among others.

Economic Aspect of Drug Abuse:

The economic aspect of drug abuse is associated with its affect on economy, such as large sums of money in possession of drug dealers, a decline in labor productivity of drug addicts; an increase in spending on law-enforcement engaged in combating drug-related crimes; and a drain on national budgets due to preventive and rehabilitation measures to combat drug addiction. Experts claim, for example, that in the former USSR, the cost of illegal drug trafficking within the "narco-business-shadow economy" amounted to billions of troubles.

Biological Aspect of Drug Abuse:

The biological aspect of drug abuse is associated with the notion that it is "a disease manifested by a constant and insurmountable craving for drugs (morphine, for example) causing euphoria in small doses and stupor in large ones. The regular use of drugs arouses a desire to increase the dose. The abstinence syndrome usually accompanies withdrawal.

Narcotics damage the internal organs of drug takers, destroy their nervous systems, their state of mind, and bring about their social degradation.

Since drug addiction is a disease, there is a need to find a cure for it. Hence, the need to have qualified medical personnel, special drug rehabilitation centers and branches offices, effective medicines and curative methods.

Ecological Aspectof Drug Abuse:

The ecological aspect of narcotics is associated, on the one hand, with the natural existence of drug-bearing plants, and on the other, with their man-made cultivation. These plants are a source of obtaining and preparing narcotic substances. From the ecological point of view there is a need, first, to do away with the spread of wild drug-bearing plants, and second, to ban their man-made cultivation. The economic, biological and ecological aspects are subjects for research by experts.

Drug-related Crimes:

It is possible to define drug abuse as a negative social phenomenon touching upon the social, legal, criminological, economic, biological and ecological areas accordingly. One part of the phenomenon is drug addiction, as a disease, and other, embraces all the law-breaking actions related to drugs: those carried out to secure means for purchasing drugs or those committed under the influence of drugs. Such law-breaking actions cover the use, preparation, purchase, storage, transportation, parcel mail, sale and theft of narcotic substances; attempts to force other people to use drugs and the creation of conditions conducive to such use; attempts to sow and grow drug-bearing plants; attempts to violate the established rules regulating the production, purchase, storage, control, sale, transportation or parcel mail of narcotic substances; and, drug smuggling. The law-breaking actions also cover various mercenary crimes (violent crime) that are not drug-related but are committed in order to buy drugs subsequently (theft, robbery, plunder, fraud, blackmail and others) and also violent crimes committed under the influence of drugs (e.g., hooliganism against individuals). This notion reflects the essence and the confines of the drug use and serves as a guideline for determining its scale and developing strategies against it. Yet the true scale of this phenomenon is obscured by a high degree of latent drug-induced diseases and law-breaking drug-related actions.

Narcotics and Crime:

The above-listed law-breaking actions are crimes proving an interrelation between drug abuse and crime. Drugs and crime are not only closely interrelated, but actually blend fully, and in fact, becomes what is known, as narco-crime. But to merely establish this fact is not enough. The danger drug-related crimes pose to the public surpasses the danger coming from other crimes. Drug-related crime is largely interrelated with various other kinds of crime and even merges with one of its most dangerous varieties such as organized crime. This becomes clear studying the dynamics of drug-related crimes. Central here are the drug users who represent a consumer of narcotics, and the ultimate target of drug trafficking - the sale of drugs. When people become dependent on drugs they concentrate all their efforts on getting drugs at any cost. They engage in criminal activities ranging from the cultivation of drug-bearing plants and the preparation of "stuff", to its sale.

Tendencies of Development:

The number of drug users grows in direct proportion to the rise in crimes committed under the influence of narcotics and, in the long run, to the profits earned by the drug dealers. Hence, drug dealers seek to 1) expand the drug sales; 2) increase the output of drugs or receive more of them from medical and pharmaceutical centers; and, 3) further promote criminal activities connected to drugs. The latter seems to ensure the realization of the former. A high degree of organization paves the way for expanding drug sales, increasing the output and boosting drug trafficking.

Expanding Drug Sales:

The expansion of drug sales is achieved by persuading more people to take drugs. Drug dealers set up drug pads and stores where narcotics are available. They try to advertise them in indirect ways. They make sure that more powerful drugs are continuously being developed.

In order to increase drug output drug-bearing plants are grown on remote plantations in regions with difficult access. Illegal shops and laboratories for developing new types of narcotics are set up there. Funds for increasing drug output are raised by blackmailing or bribing public officials. Drug-dealers practice violence, make threats against officials and encourage theft of large amounts of drugs.

Boosting the Level of Organization of the Illegal Drug Trafficking Business Methods to improve the level of organization include mergers of criminal groups and associations, severe disciplinary measures within criminal organizations, greater degree of cohesion among group members, conspiratorial rules, and tougher actions against those who violate the rules in such groups. Other methods are: increasing attempts to draw government officials into criminal groups, taking control of persons engaged in drug-related crimes on their own, centralizing finances and monopolizing drug prices.

According to various studies there are quite a few syndicates and cartels in the world that have divided drug trafficking regions among themselves. Activities of these groups are guided by a clear-cut system of criminal actions, such as promoting the sowing and cultivation of drug-bearing plants, the production of narcotics, their wholesale purchase, and the transportation and sales of drugs to consumers. Drug syndicates and cartels, for whom drug trafficking is the main source of income, act under the guise of legitimate companies, trying to come across as legal as possible. They have airplanes, modern weapons and the newest technology in their possession. Leaders of the criminal drug associations do their utmost to oppose the actions of law enforcement agencies. With this purpose in mind, they not only try to check police actions but make attempts, successful at times, to infiltrate police ranks. Professional criminals deploy defense measures that may prove to be so effective in challenging the worthiness of surveillance of suspects and the bugging of their phones. United into cartels and syndicates and organizationally divided into groups and associations, drug- criminals are usually aware that they remain under constant surveillance. To ensure their personal safety they resort, as a rule, to various counter-surveillance measures, thus putting well-trained police officers in a difficult position. Experience shows that criminal groups usually keep the approaches to places where narcotics are turned over under their own close watch.

Ways to Legalize Drug Profits:

Drug dealers seek not only to build up profits from drug trafficking but to legalize them as well. To that end they engage in criminal activities where by legal and illegal operations are inextricably intertwined. The money earned from the trade in narcotics is invested into legitimate businesses or in real estate. It may also be laundered in financial transactions, such as, the purchase of shares and securities or other newly invented and constantly perfected operations. The income thus obtained allows drug dealers not only to pour more money into drug trafficking or finance more drug-related crimes but also provides for a legal coverage of drug trade, or for the participation in legal activities. Speakers at the international seminar on combating organized crime in the Russian city of Suzdal in 1992 held in accord with the resolution of the 45th session of the UN General Assembly, pointed out that "in the majority of countries, organized crime developed along two directions: participating in prohibited activities (property crimes, money laundering, illegal drug trafficking, violation of hard currency transaction rules, intimidation, prostitution, gambling, trade in weapons and antiques) and joining legal business (directly or using such parasitical means as extortion. This participation in legal economic activities is always bent for the use of illegal competition methods and may have a greater economic impact compared to the involvement in totally illegal kinds of activity). In short, criminal methods are used in both cases leading to the situation in which criminal elements form the majority of organized criminal formations.

Organized Narco-crime:

Typically, drug cartels and syndicates are highly organized. Present in the organizations are: strict and precise distribution of functions; very rigid hierarchies; internal discipline maintained by interest, authority and force; stringent conspiracy; ramified networks of groups bound by firm organizational ties; branches existing and functioning in various countries; contacts with other criminal groups (counterfeiters, smugglers, murderers etc.); the use of professional criminals; the internationalization of group members; and, the use of violence to meet the desired ends. To protect their huge profits and spheres of interest, the subjects of narco-criminals stop at nothing and employ violent means, such as the contract murders of their rivals and of law enforcement agents. The money brought by the trade in drugs is often used to finance dangerous crimes and acts of terrorism. It becomes a source, which finances subversive activities of all kinds. Profits obtained from the drug trade make it possible to finance large-scale armed operations against government forces (like in Columbia or Mexico). Profit gained from the drug trade is often compared with the profits earned by whole industries. The drug trade is regarded as the world's second largest economy. All this enables drug dealers not only to pay generously for the participation in crimes but also to set up a common financial fund, a common bank, so to speak. Narco-money is also used to exert influence on policy-making, particularly, by nominating the associates of drug dealers to key posts in the economy and politics or by bribing persons who already hold such posts and turning them into supporters of the drugs trade. These financial investments are reinforced by threats of violence against them or their close relatives (wives, children or parents). This proves convincingly that narco-crime is a well organized and well planned business incorporating the mutually inter-related criminal activities of individuals, groups, associations, syndicates and cartels with a division of mutually interrelated functions. This is the reason to regard this kind of crime as a variety of organized crime. Some researchers believe that drug profits are the economic foundation of organized crime. This can be seen in comparison of elements forming narco- and organized crimes. To get a clear understanding of the elements of the latter it is necessary to look in retrospect at the history of organized crime. While crime and drug addiction have been known to the world for at least several centuries, the existence of organized crime has been officially recognized quite recently, only in this century. Yet both national and foreign researchers date the origin of this phenomenon, in one way or another, to a much earlier period.

Various stable criminal organizations used to appear and operate on territories of almost all modern states. Gangs of brigands and smugglers were at work not only on land but also at sea (sea pirates). They had in their possession caches of weapons, stocks of gold and food and, sometimes, entire fleets of pirate boats furnished with everything necessary for an attack and ready to go into combat with regular troops or ships. They thereby challenged borders and laws. Already at that time members of such gangs observed their own internal rules and traditions strictly, contrary to the ones obligatory in society. Among them there was the principle of mutual help, the recognition of the leaders' authority, the distribution of duties and spoils, as well as a system of reward and punishment. Gangsters knew exactly the kind of work they were responsible for and also knew their zones of influence (slave trade, cattle stealing, smuggling arms, narcotics, gold, diamonds, etc). They talked their own language and stuck to other conspiratorial rules. Taking hostages and bribing officials were their usual practices, very much like the actions of the present day organized crime groups.

With the passing of time, of course, these organizations kept transforming and modernizing, adjusting to changes of state borders, governments and economies. They were turning more and more into organized criminal associations that posed a serious threat to public safety, to the supremacy of the law and to other state institutions. As researchers point out, a particular danger of organized crime is that it becomes more and more arrogant, aggressive, ingenious and diverse. In the 1980s, organized crime became increasingly apparent throughout the world.

Forms of Organized Crime:

Along with traditional forms of organized crime, new forms, more diverse and greater in scale, have appeared, such as the theft and re-sale of luxury cars, electronic equipment, historical and cultural art objects, antiques, icons and church plate. Other forms include the illegal trade in human being, weapons and ammunition, strategic raw materials, non-ferrous and rare metals, drugs counterfeiting, theft and forgery of credit cards, gambling, and infiltration of legal business and world finance. An analysis of documents issued by the UN Information Center proves that the influence of various forms of organized crime spreads far beyond national borders and "transnationalize crime", so to speak. This creates a situation which "differs, both qualitatively and quantitatively, from the situation in the past and hampers the accomplishment of effective measures aiming to prevent and eliminate crime. Experts believe that the evolution of organized crime should be seen as "a process providing for a rational reorganization on the international basis of criminal enterprises using the same patterns just as it is the case for legal enterprises." This process reflects tendencies for forming a more intricate organizational structure typical of the modern society in all countries. This explains why the UN Secretary General pointed out in his speech at the 47th General Assembly session on September 28, 1992, that it was imperative to promote international cooperation and develop practical steps against organized crime in view of its negative impact on various areas of society's social, political and economic life. Though extremely topical, problems of organized crime have not yet been resolved properly by juridical theory and practice. Suffice it to say that there are still some countries where no laws on organized crime have yet been passed. There is no uniform approach to the concept of organized crime at the legislative level. The attributes and signs of this phenomenon have not yet been finalized. No attempts have yet been made to develop a comprehensive program of action against it. There are few statistics or official data on organized crime as a whole.

For example, in the former USSR the first official mention of organized crime made at the government level was on December 2, 1989, when the decision to step up the effort against organized crime was passed by the 2nd Congress of People's Deputies. However, no laws regarding organized crime have been adopted. This could not help but leave its imprint on the practical activities of law enforcement agencies in the former Union republics. There was no solid theoretical discussion of the concept of organized crime, as the scarce publications of the last few years could hardly give a complete picture of this problem.

Some published works, however, contain a number of definitions of organized crime. Some authors point to the following basic features. Criminal groups based on hierarchical order consolidate within the borders of one particular region or a country; their leaders take no part in crimes but only perform organizational, managerial and ideological functions. Government officials, including law enforcement officers, become corrupt and join criminal activities providing safety to the members of criminal associations. This association has a tendency to monopolize and expand the spheres of illegal activities, and to protect leaders from bearing any responsibility. Another group of authors believe that organized crime is a system of contacts forming naturally in the criminal surroundings which lead to the concentration and monopolization of certain kinds of criminal activities. Diversified ties between groups engaged in criminal activities are characteristic of this system.

About the Concept of Organized Crime:

Organized crime represents the consolidated criminal associations with their own norms of behavior, hierarchical ladders and finances, it is the most dangerous kind of crime that opposes and counteracts the lawful actions of the state. This definition also embraces the totality of mercenary and economic crimes committed with the help of corrupt government officials, and law enforcement agents among them, who yielded to bribery and other forms of corruption.

Organized Crime in Foreign Legislation:

In this context it is interesting to look at foreign experience in dealing with organized crime, particularly, in the field of legislation. The Italian criminal code states, for example, (article 416-2) that "the association of a mafia kind is ranked as a criminal one when its members practice the removal and intimidation of other persons in order to ensure a cover-up and observe the law of silence and thus make it possible to commit crimes, and win, directly or indirectly, posts allowing the management or control of business activities, the distribution of concessions and permits of all kinds, the signing of contracts, and communal services, as well as making illegal profits or securing illegal privileges for themselves and other persons." The American approach seems to be slightly different. While the Italian Criminal Code lists features of organized crime, American Federal Legislation (USC-par. 3781), though naming certain features of organized crime, attributes concrete actions to it, namely, "unlawful activities by members of a well-organized and disciplined association supplying illegal commodities and offering illegal services, which include but are not limited to, gambling, prostitution, usury, the spread of narcotics, racket and other unlawful actions by such organizations." Organized crime has broad opportunities for carrying out unlawful deeds but the choice of these opportunities is mainly determined by the level of expected profit, the minimum degree of possible risk of being caught and exposed and the absence of concrete victims. It is this particular factor that comes to the foreground in crimes related to narcotics whose users are not interested in reporting to the police. The specific choice of a "specialization" for this or another criminal group is a factor guaranteeing it, to a large degree, a high level of conspiracy and a free hand in committing crimes. Along with the previously mentioned "specialization" of criminal associations there also exists what is termed as an "internal specialization", i.e. the division of labor among criminal association members.

Organized Crime and Drug Related Crime: Features in Common:

These features include:

- clearly defined organizational and managerial structures with a hierarchy which ensures the protection of leaders from punishment since their actions usually remain outside the confines of the criminal code;

- uniform norms of behavior and responsibility;

- planned unlawful activities and common goals aimed at making large profits;

- a system aiming to neutralize all forms of legal control and development of counter measures;

- common finances invested in various areas of criminal activities, which are used for bribing the necessary people, providing material support to members of criminal associations and financing crimes;

- monopolization and expansion of areas of criminal activity, cooperation between criminal associations in various branches of a national economy, the introduction of commodities and services to the black market, exploitation of women through pornography, and prostitution;

- the use of legal methods to launder drug money.

In sum narcotics are a negative social phenomenon posing an extreme danger to society. This danger is expressed in such ill-effects as the destruction of people's health as a result of drug addiction, drug-related crimes, the totality of which forms an independent crime branch (narco-crime), and the ability to turn the most dangerous and well-organized part of narco-crime into a variety of organized crime.

Par. 2. Tendencies of Development

Some tendencies of development can be traced by using the statistical method, whereas others, which are not clearly evident, can be discovered by sociological studies, expert evaluations, interviews, studies of documents or by content analysis of mass media publications.

The Structure of Narco-crime:

In the structure of narco-crime, the predominant criminal actions are the illegal preparation, acquisition, storage, transportation and dissemination of narcotics by mail. The percentage of such crimes is high and is increasing all the time. It varies between 87 and 96%. Actions not with the intent to sell constitute an overwhelming share (from 96 to 99%).

On the one hand, this fact gives reason to assume that the actions listed above were taken to obtain narcotics for personal use. On the other, a conclusion can be drawn that the main efforts against the spread of illegal drug trafficking "have actually shifted towards intensifying repressive measures against drug users.

However, illegal activity with drugs and their deliberate sale is much more intensive. But for various reasons, both objective and subjective, these fall under a different legal assessment. A major factor is that it is difficult to prove that there was an intent to sell. This is compounded by subjective views of "intent to sell" in special situations and the absence of a clear-cut stand by the lawmakers. 93% of the polled narcotic officers believe that proving "intent to sell" is difficult especially since this question is of decisive importance in final judicial rulings.

Besides, 63% of the respondents charged with illegal drug operations without the aim of selling drugs, admitted that they not only had such intent but also had been engaged in these operations on a regular basis all the way up until they were arrested.

It is interesting to note that in police seizures, drugs obtained from natural plants have prevailed so far. (Nearly 9/10ths). Today the amount of seized raw materials for making drugs is estimated in tens of tons and has grown more than 5 times in the last few years. This is well above even the over-estimated needs and norms of known addicts.

Specialized studies on the subject underline how difficult it is to investigate and uncover the above-mentioned crimes because of "the ingenuity of methods used to carry them out, attempts to conceal them and also because criminal behavior is multifaceted.

One should also take into account the absence of well-conceived methods, and the shortage of professionally trained personnel to uncover and investigate such crimes, especially, in the present-day conditions when there are political collisions caused by the Soviet Union's disintegration, when there are "transparent" and ill-defined borders between the former sovereign Soviet republics, when the internal affairs agencies are not well equipped technically, and when the customs and border control services are vulnerable.

The Structure of Crime and Latency:

Among the registered crimes there are none related to violations within the system of medical care of the rules of drug-making, drug acquisition, storage, keeping stock of, dispensing, transporting or sending by mail, at pharmaceutical factories or medical and bio industrial enterprises, etc. The absence of information about drug-related crimes, however, does not mean at all that there are no crimes present.

A study of the problem has shown that there is no reason to believe narcotics are safely kept out of reach of addicts. This has been confirmed by more than one-third of the polled officers of internal affairs agencies. Every second drug taker who was forced to undergo treatment, did not deny that he had received drugs from medical personnel. Similar cases of drug acquisition were noted by over 10% of persons charged with drug-related crimes, whereas 17% of people from the same group of drug abusers confessed that they used to steal drugs from hospitals, small medical centers and pharmacies. The share of other crimes in the structure of drug-related crimes total is insignificant, though they play a rather negative role in the spread of narcotics. For example, during one year, the crime of solicitation to use drugs was recorded only once or twice and 3 or 8 times the crimes involving the organization or running dens for addicts or providing premises for that purpose.

All the same just over 98% of the polled people charged with drug abuse and intent to sell drugs said they had persuaded 3 to 7 persons to start using drugs. In more than 70% of such cases, a special effort was made to invite potential "victims" to homes belonging to different persons. These people received remuneration for granting premises especially arranged for this purpose and where conditions were conducive for the use of narcotics. Practically one out of every 4 persons charged with drug abuse but without attempting to push drugs, admitted in talking to officials, that he had persuaded at least 3 or 4 persons to use drugs treating them to narcotics that he had bought or made for his own use.

What is more, 37% of the examined complaints and statements by citizens addressed to various agencies, especially, those made directly to the local police officers have remained unread, though they specifically mentioned people who had turned their homes into drug pads.

Negative Tendencies:

All these facts highlight: 1) an increase of the degree in danger posed to the public by drug-related crimes; 2) the appearance of new narcotics, giving way to diversity of drugs; 3) increase in the number of people involved in the use of narcotics through persuasion; 4) the rising level of organization of such crimes; 5) the expanding boundaries of illegal drug trafficking on the world- wide scale; 6) an increase in the number of illegal labs used to make drugs; 7) the perfection of methods used for selling drugs and an increase in the establishment of illegal and semi-legal shops intended for selling drugs; 8) the rising number of cases of illegal acquisition, including theft of narcotics from medical institutions; 9) the increase in numbers of corrupt officials involved in illegal drug trafficking; 10) the greater degree of masked laundering of money; 12) and a higher degree of latency of drug-related crimes.

The danger to the public from drug-related crimes is manifested by an increase of crimes committed for the sake of selling drugs, and, second, by the total quantity of narcotics in circulation.

The appearance new drug substances and the corresponding rise in variety of drugs is reflected in the constant growth of the List of Narcotics (narcotic substances and drug medicines both synthetic and natural) produced by the UN International Drug Control Committee.

The spreading of the cultivation of drug-bearing plants in places, which are, difficult to physically access is confirmed by the discovery of plantations sown with such plants in various regions of the world. These discoveries have been made with the help of space and aerial photography.

The fact that the ever-larger number of people use narcotics is manifested in the rising figure of medical patients using drugs and recreational drug users. The growing number of drug patients is registered by statistics and the rise in numbers of recreational drug users is evident from opinion polls among experts (medics at outpatient clinics for addicts and law enforcement officers who specialize in combating drug-related crimes).

The greater degree of organization in drug-related crimes is manifested by the growth of criminal groups and associations, in the setting up of syndicates and cartels, in the toughening of discipline within syndicates and cartels and in the rising cohesion of their members and the coordination of their actions. Tougher methods of pressure are exerted on members violating the rules of conduct within groups. Criminal groups, associations, syndicates, and cartels are also placed under control along with the people who commit drug related crimes on their own.

The expanding boundaries of illegal drug trafficking on the international scale are evident in the fact that drugs are smuggled into practically all the countries of the world. This smuggling includes attempts to carry drug consignments through the customs and across national borders of a number of countries by various means and by different kinds of transportation. This has been established by controlling deliveries of narcotics and by polling experts (law-enforcement and customs officers).

Law-enforcement agencies in various countries discovered the rise in the number of drug-making labs and new methods of selling and circulating drugs. Shops that were camouflaged as book or perfume stores have been seized.

Corruption – as a Way to Protect Drug Dealers:

Growing number of corrupt officials, aspiring for higher posts tend to improve methods to protect persons taking part in illegal drug trafficking. Polled experts and narcotic squad police officers, admitted that over the last few years, there was a rise in the number of requests to them by high ranking officials suggesting that criminal responsibility be lifted from persons involved in drug deals and against whom suits had been filed.

Ever more sophisticated methods to legalize the money from drug trafficking is manifested by laundering such money which makes it difficult, impossible at times, to trace its primary source. At present one can speak of the three major methods. First, cash is put into financial institutions or into retail trade and is immediately converted into foreign currencies or transferred abroad. Second, there is a stratification of the money, i.e. increasing the number of transactions that are often carried out in several countries to obscure the source of the illegally earned money. And, third, illegal earnings are integrated into investments in economic operations with the aim of making the money look legal.

The polled experts, and the narcotic police squad officers explained the increased latency of drug-related crimes by the following examples. There is mutual interest in keeping crimes a secret both among drug-pushers and addicts; none of them have any desire to cooperate with the law-enforcement agencies. There are special mutually beneficial and inter-dependent relations between users and suppliers of narcotics. This kind of relationship requires thorough secrecy due to the fear of criminal punishment for both users and suppliers. Small wonder that the addicts taken to hospitals, often in critical conditions, dangerous to their life and health, do not reveal, as a rule, the source of getting drugs. And this silence is due not to some sort of moral principles, honor, duty or solidarity but rather, in most cases, to the fear of losing the already established drug source or to the fear of being victimized for revealing the source. Also much is yet to be done to develop proper legal, personnel, tactical, material and technical programs that are effective in combating drug trade. There is the obvious need to find a way to expose latent drug-related crimes. For without realizing the actual state of affairs with drug-related crimes, adequate measures of combating them will remain insufficient.

Chapter II. System and Classification of Measures to Overcome Drug Abuse

Par. 1. System of Measures to Overcome Drug Abuse

Drug abuse is a socially dangerous and complicated phenomenon. Narco-crime, particularly, should be countered by a rigid system of measures.

These combine numerous and diversified steps having social, legal, criminological, economic, ecological, organizational and international aspects. The word system is understood as "a whole consisting of parts, a combination; ...a great number of elements bearing a relation to each other, connected with each other, forming a sort of integrity or unity.

The system of measures for overcoming drug abuse is comprised of many steps bearing relation to each other.

System of Measures to Overcome Drug Abuse:

The diversity of such measures, their relationships and contacts can be illustrated by law practices, law-making and law enforcement, as well as by the crime prevention theories both on domestic and international scales. For example, a comprehensive inter-disciplinary action program to prevent the spread of drug addiction submitted for discussion at the international antidrug conference in Vienna in July 1987 contained more than 400 articles and recommendations to governments and organizations as to how this negative phenomenon should be overcome.

The UN international program for combating drugs for the years 1994 and 1995, 1995 and 1996 comprises 298 projects featuring various aspects, directions and measures for checking the spread of drugs. 216 out of them were carried through in 1994 and 1995 and the implementation of the remaining 82 projects is underway. The total dollar amount of resources mobilized for the fulfillment of these projects is estimated at US$ 484,397,800. The sum was allocated by the UN International Antidrug Program's Fund.

The Concept of the Russian Federation government's policy on drug control, endorsed by decision No 5494 of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation on July 22nd 1993, incorporates quite a few antidrug measures from those developed by the world community and registered by international conventions and in other documents. This Concept emphasizes the measures that have been tested and are successfully utilized.

Since the system of measures against drug abuse is too complicated the discussion of its contents is related, firstly, to the general characterization of its components and, secondly, to the classification of these measures in their relation to each other.

Basic Aspects of Measures to Overcome Drug Abuse:

The measures against drug abuse have some social, legal, criminological, medical, biological, political, economic, ecological, organizational and international aspects. Although these aspects have different spheres of application, they still remain interrelated. For example, measures for curing drug addicts have medical, social and legal aspects to them; measures for combating drug-related crimes have legal, criminological, social and other aspects; measures for combating money laundering have legal, social, economic, international and other aspects and so on. So, each particular aspect can be discussed only in abstract terms. This approach to the definition and description of aspects makes it possible to give a full characterization of the system of measures against drug abuse.

Social Dimension:

The social dimension is the cornerstone of all other aspects. All the antidrug measures are permeated with it. There is a correlation between the social aspect and each of the other aspects. It is either a general element in relation to something specific such as medical measures, or the whole of something, which represents a part such as criminological measures. It can also be a content when the other represents a form, as in legal measures. In short, the social aspect can be regarded as a common for all antidrug measures. Additionally there are legal measures for making those involved in drug-related crimes answerable for their actions and for intensifying the customs' control over the shipment of drugs across borders.

Legal Dimension:

The legal aspect of the measures under consideration can be seen as a totality of legal norms including international conventions against drugs and determining the degree of a judicial responsibility for them, mainly, criminal and administrative; secondly, regulating various legal relationships arising from drug use, thirdly, ensuring a compulsory treatment for drug addicts who try to avoid it and, fourthly, referring to these or other substances as narcotics.

Criminological Dimension:

The criminological aspect comprises measures aiming to overcome narco-crime, as a totality of drug-related crimes. These measures aim to study, analyze and sum up the structure and dynamics of these crimes and their latency. In addition, they aim to establish the causal complex of the given crime and determine the content, nature and direction of actions aimed at removing or neutralizing the causes conducive to the commitment of drug-related crimes. Thirdly, they aim to disclose and fix typical features, traits and qualities of an individual guilty of committing this or that crime. Lastly, they aim to develop methods for preventing drug-related crimes.

Medical Dimension:

The medical (biological) aspect involves the improvement of narcological aid and methods for curing drug addicts, the need to increase the level of professional medical training for those engaged in treating addicts and persons taking drugs without a doctor's prescription and the development of new medicines and medical equipment for treating addicts.

Political Dimension:

The political aspect involves combating narco-business, which tries to undermine the foundations of state power, weaken the entire machinery of state and diminish the nation's trust in the government.

Some juridical works make it a point that organized crime opposes legal actions of top government bodies not only by committing crimes but also by bending administration officials to the will of criminal associations so that they could protect criminal activities.

The resistance of narco-business to government lawful actions can result in attempts to undermine the foundations of state and in the re-orientation and distortion of any country's policy. So, central to the political aspect of measures against narco-business is blocking the influence of drug dealers on the national policy by barring nomination of corrupt officials to key posts in the government.

Economic Dimension:

There are two facets- retrospective and perspective of the economic aspect of measures against drug abuse. The retrospective facet, on the one hand, involves direct expenses of the state to combat narcotics, and, on the other, the lost benefits to citizens as a result of the spread of drug addiction.

Direct expenses include sizeable resources taken out from the state budget to set up and maintain various medical and educational centers for handicapped children, including those who inherited health problems from their parents suffering from drug addiction. In addition this includes expenses to support internal affairs agencies, customs officers engaged in combating the proliferation of drugs, production of special equipment for identifying drugs, as well as production of medicines for drug users. Finally, the direct expenses are used to promote international cooperation in joint antidrug actions with the United Nations Organization, Interpol and other international agencies and carry out research in the field of medicine, psychiatry, psychology and law, and to conduct an antidrug education.

The cost to society is revealed in an increase in the number of physically handicapped and mentally retarded people, victims of narcotics. In the long run this leads to a curtailment of society's physical and intellectual potential as a whole, such as lower standards in education and labor productivity. This, in turn, causes a reduction in the amount of material and other benefits produced by society and of resources for various government-run programs. There is also an increase in the number of cases of accidents in industry and, as a consequence the increasing failure to meet the output targets.

It is therefore essential to develop economic levers to oppose narco-business, including the money laundering. This has been poorly done so far, as no economic measures for combating narcotics have been developed and applied in practice. These tasks require an independent study by economists and lawyers.

Ecological Dimension:

The ecological dimension of measures against drug abuse is linked to the legal regulation that puts restrictions on the preservation and dissemination of drug-bearing plants. This amounts to a ban on their cultivation and destruction of the fields without any damage to the environment. The cultivation of such plants is expected to be limited to specially allotted areas where drug-bearing plants can be sown for medical purposes only.

International Dimention:

The international dimention of measures against drug abuse is manifested in various legislative, and law enforcement measures at the international level.

In sum, this system of measures covers a totality of numerous, diverse, complementary and carefully outlined programs that have social, legal, criminological, medical, economic, ecological, organizational and international dimensions.

Par. 2. Classification of Measures to Overcome Drug Abuse

The essence of the system of measures to overcome drug abuse can be understood by their classification in view of the diversity of these measures. By establishing their different categories and distributing them into various groups, this classification would make it possible to give each measure its own niche, to define its boundaries and its relationship to other measures. This classification makes it possible to determine the degree of each measure's significance and its priority in terms of its practical implementation.

It is important to group them by contents, form, level, subject of application, and type. As for legal measures, they should be grouped in accordance with different branches of law.

The Content of Measures to Overcome Drug Abuse:

The measures to overcome drug abuse carried out by the UN Commission on Drugs of the UN Economic and Social Council, by the UN International Committee on Drug Control and by other international agencies can be grouped into the following categories: analytical, organizational, training and educational, research, technical, medical, economic, financial, international law, preventive, monitoring, legislative, and criminal.

Analytical component is needed in order to be able to make use of a complex system of collecting and assessing data about drug abuse, to evaluate the extent of the illegal use of drugs in different countries worldwide, and to make data available on the seizure of large quantities of narcotics to interested parties.

Organizational component of measures is aimed at setting up international agencies to control drugs and to combat drug trade; assisting countries in developing national policies on such control; supporting projects, promoting national law enforcement agencies; defining direction of programs and ensuring the organizational backing of such programs; estimating the amount of illegal cultivation of drug-bearing plants in areas difficult and dangerous to access. Governmental measures should include adoption and fulfillment of national programs to overcome drug abuse by forming special law-enforcement, medical and other institutions, as well as special services and squads to combat drug trade; taking stock of lands used to cultivate drug-bearing plants; arranging control over the production, storage, consumption, an shipments of drugs, especially across national borders, as well as over the actions for pharmaceutical and medical centers.

The training and educational component includes educating specialists in law-enforcement agencies, mass media, narcological centers, and social services.

The research component aims to define and analyze data on drug abuse, to work out recommendations for overcoming it, to set up and run special research labs, and to find new ways of ending drug addiction.

The technical component includes identifying drugs, designing equipment for special labs, developing remote control devices to spot fields of drug-bearing crops.

The medical component of measures is: to promote a system of rehabilitative treatment for drug users; to choose appropriate curative programs; and work on methods to reduce the spread of infectious diseases among drug users