Drugs and Crime

This chapter discusses the relatively little-known convention framework focusing on the traditionally connected issues of drugs and crime and the differing consequences of treaty flexibility within each domain. It begins with an overview of the evolution and expansion in scope of the international drug control regime and its structural focus on narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, and illicit traffic in both. A range of growing tensions are discussed as views of the issue area among member states diverge and systemic dissonance across the UN becomes more obvious, particularly in relation to human rights. The chapter then moves on to examine the development of the transnational organized crime and corruption regime and assessment of the conventions upon which it is based. It concludes by looking to the future with a discussion of some of the available options to address tensions within the drug control regime, including what lessons might be learned from the governance structures of their sister crime control conventions.