International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

S.Vijay Kumar
Asst.Professor HR &OB
GITAM Inst.Of Management GITAM Univesrity India
vijays@gitam.edu

The global war against drug abuse and illicit trafficking has gained momentum
over the years. To marshal worldwide support for the control over drugs, the 26th
of June every year is devoted to the cause, known as the International Day
against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Undoubtedly, drugs can hold
individuals to ransom, triggering a negative effect on an entire family and
community. In effect, drugs can control life. The profound slogan, “Do drugs
control your life? Your community? No place for drugs"
encapsulates the resolve to fight drug abuse and illicit trafficking.

200 million people worldwide are slaves to drugs

• 162 million swear by cannabis -marihuana, hashish, THC.

• 35 million would do anything for ATS – ecstasy, methamphetamine,

amphetamine,
methcathinone.

• 16 million use opiates -opium, morphine, heroin, synthetic opiates

• 13 million use cocaine

How has the drug trade penetrated to such mammoth proportions?

Drugs have an effect on the mind and body. To support the demand for drugs,
the nexus of farmers, global drug cartels and middlemen ‘sow the seeds’, leaving
no stone unturned to perpetuate this nefarious trade. The drug racket needs to be
busted, which is what the anti-drug campaigns are constantly striving to do –
yet none other than society and individuals can help meet these objectives
.

Bust the Racket

Three multilateral drug treaties form the edifice of international drug control and
UNODC (UN Office on Drugs and Crime) initiatives. The efforts of UNODC
strive to bring control on three key facets which is drug abuse, production and
trafficking of illicit drugs. Illicit drugs are defined by the UNODC as drugs of the
type - amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), sedative hypnotics, opiates,
cannabis, and hallucinogens.

UN General Assembly, in 1998 framed a defining statement conveying the extent

of the global drug menace- it said, “Drugs destroy lives and communities, undermine
sustainable human development and generate crime. Drugs affect all sectors of society in
all countries; in particular, drug abuse affects the freedom and development of young
people, the world’s most valuable asset."

Mean Business

A recent UN report has portrayed the alarming increase in the drug smuggling
trade, especially heroin, which is smuggled into India from Pakistan. The
consumption of cocaine in Western Europe is also steadily increasing. Asia is
grappling with increasing levels of ATS use. Afghanistan, the highest producer
of opium in the world, has become a hub for illicit drug trafficking.

Another worrying trend is the trafficking of pharmaceuticals into India from

other South Asian countries. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)
has blamed the gangs from West African countries for making India a transit
point for movement of drug consignments to Europe.

Rajiv Walia, project coordinator in the Regional Office for South Asia of the UN
Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said, “Law enforcement agencies in the
north-western parts of India are seizing ever increasing quantities of heroin
originating in Afghanistan and coming via Pakistan en route to Europe. South
Asia is being targeted for cocaine trafficking, with West African gangs bringing it
here and exchanging it for heroin that they smuggle into Europe”.

Many illegally manufactured pharmaceutical preparations like buprenorphine,

codeine-based syrups, benzodiazepines are illegally trafficked from India and
smuggled into Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka. From these countries,
the illicit pharmaceutical medicines make their way to North America and
Europe.

Courier companies are being used to smuggle illicit drugs. In July 2007, two
parcels meant for Canada and South Africa containing more than 1kg of heroin
were intercepted in India.

Internet Abets Drug Trafficking

The internet has been misused for providing information, advertisement and
promotion of illegal drugs. The popularly needed drugs are
Dextropropoxyphene, Nitrazepam, Diazepam, and Buprenorphine
.
According to K.C. Verma, director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB),
traffickers in Europe and Africa are in touch with several websites in India,
known to offer pharmaceutical drugs with psychotropic substances. After the
orders are registered by clients from other countries, the Indian organizations
arrange to send the drugs by post with deceptive labels on the packets.

A report released by the International Narcotics Control Board, stated,

“Internationally controlled pharmaceutical preparations manufactured locally in
India are increasingly being diverted to some European countries and the US.
Each year the US Customs and Border Protection intercepts in the mail system
thousands of illegal parcels containing pharmaceutical preparations and marked
‘for personal use’. Most of those pharmaceutical preparations appear to have
been sold illegally over the Internet.”

Indeed, it is time to crack the whip. The UN has pressed India to strengthen its control
over illicit drug trafficking. It is also important to understand that it is not a problem
specific to a country. It is a global problem which needs a global initiative. A concerted
effort across nations is imperative to obliterate the scourge.