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Has the US just called for unilateral interpretation of multilateral obligations?
It would be unfortunate to see established rules of international law become collateral damage in the fallout of the end of the war on drugs
Rick Lines and Damon BarrettThursday, December 18, 2014
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These are interesting times for drug law reform, which, as it gathers pace, is asking important questions of international law. A UN General Assembly Special Session on Drugs is set for 2016 just as national reforms are challenging international treaties that form the bedrock of a global prohibition regime that has dominated since the turn of the twentieth century. States parties to the three UN drug control conventions must now confront the legal and political dilemmas this creates. This is the situation in which the US now finds itself following cannabis reforms in various states that are at odds with these treaties. -
The 'Fifth Stage' of Drug Control
International Law, Dynamic Interpretation and Human Rights
Rick Lines (University of Essex)
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Writing in 1996, Norbert Gilmore noted that ‘little has been written about drug use and human rights. Human rights are rarely mentioned expressly in drug literature and drug use is rarely mentioned in human rights literature.’ [1] Almost twenty years later, the literature examining drug control issues through the lens of international human rights law has grown, but the total body of peer reviewed commentary and analysis in this area would barely rank the issue as a footnote in the broader human rights lexicon. -
Into the breach: Drugs, control, and violating bad laws in good ways
Rick LinesThursday, November 27, 2014
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An October statement on drug control from the US State Department has prompted much comment and speculation at home and abroad. Delivered by Ambassador William Brownfield, the ‘Brownfield Doctrine’, as it has been named by some commentators, lays out a four pillar approach the United States will follow in matters of international drug control. -
Fatal attraction: Brownfield's flexibility doctrine and global drug policy reform
Martin Jelsma Dave Bewley-Taylor Damon BarrettTuesday, November 18, 2014
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State-level cannabis reforms, which gathered steam this month, have exposed the inability of the United States to abide by the terms of the legal bedrock of the global drug control system; the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. This is something that should force a much-needed conversation about reform to long- standing international agreements. But while ostensibly 'welcoming' the international drug policy reform debate, it is a conversation the US federal government actually wishes to avoid. -
Pushing treaty limits?
Encourage policy makers to rule treaty reform in as an option, rather than presumptively ruling it out
Wells C. BennettMonday, October 20, 2014
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Suppose the United States government helps to negotiate, and subsequently champions, certain framework treaties – ones justly viewed as imposing significant constraints on all signatories. Down the road, the United States occasionally even calls out counterparties for their looser policy innovations, when the latter push the outer boundaries of what’s permitted under the treaties; a treaty-created monitoring body does likewise in its annual reporting. This pattern essentially holds year in and year out and from one presidential administration to the next. -
Colombia, more than three decades of toxic sprayings. Enough!
Amira ArmentaFriday, 26 September 2014
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It is unfortunate that 35 years after the first chemical spraying in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, we are still writing about aerial sprayings in Colombia, demanding the current government – how many governments have not happened since! – to definitely defer an ecocide and incompetent policy. Throughout these years we have seen increasing national and international voices opposing the spraying of coca with the herbicide Roundup (glyphosate). -
Preparing for the 2016 UNGASS on drugs
An opportunity we can’t afford to miss
Nazlee Maghsoudi (IDPC)Thursday, July 31, 2014
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The United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs in 2016 is intended to provide states with the opportunity to openly debate the future of international drug policies. An event at UN headquarters in New York discussed precisely what preparations are necessary to make sure the UNGASS accomplishes this objective. -
Brazil discusses medical cannabis at international symposium
Vera da Ros (Rede Brasileira de Redução de Danos e Direitos Humanos - REDUC)Wednesday, July 16, 2014
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The IV Symposium on Medicinal Cannabis in Brazil focused on patients who need treatment via medicinal cannabis and its components. Today, these patients struggle with access to such treatment, mainly due to bureaucracy. The event undoubtedly generated attitudes in favor of medical marijuana in the country. However, and unfortunately, less than 10 days after the event ended, National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) postponed a vote for the reclassification of cannabis. -
Mexico legislators consider regulating marijuana to protect human rights
Zara SnappMonday, July 14, 2014
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In Mexico, since 2006 a public security strategy has been implemented based on militarization, which has prioritized the use of force – including lethal force – based on the presumption of national security above principles of the safety of citizens. Involvement of armed forces as the central axis for Mexico’s security strategy has sparked serious concerns, particularly pertaining to obligations regarding human rights. -
Reforming the global drug-control system: The stakes for Washington
Washington's new narrative defends the integrity of the UN drug control conventions, while allowing more flexible interpretations
Martin JelsmaFriday, June 27, 2014
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The extent to which the ongoing drug-control reforms across the Americas are pushing the boundaries of the global legal framework laid down in three UN drug-control conventions has become a delicate issue. The decriminalization of possession for personal use in several Latin American countries and the establishment of a supervised injection room in Vancouver, Canada have already triggered protracted legal disputes with the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), the quasi-judicial organ for the conventions’ implementation.
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