“The

 United  Nations  is  designed  to  make  possible  lasting  freedom  and  independence  for  all  its  members”  
-­‐  Harry  S.  Truman    
 

Catholic  University  of  America  

Model  United  Nations  Conference    
2014  
The  United  Nations  Office  on  Drugs  
and  Crime    
Background  Guide  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Megan  Pettini    
 
 CUMUMC   Dear Delegates,
2014  
Welcome to the 2014 Catholic University Model United Nations Conference, and most
Secretariat     especially, to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime!
 
  My name is Meghan, the chair of this year’s UNODC; I am delighted to work with you
  this year and I am also very excited for the upcoming conference. To give you a little
  background, I’m a junior undergraduate from Connecticut and am studying political
Kait  Fuhr     theory and philosophy at CUA. I spend most of my time either reading or working, but
also enjoy watching basketball and wandering around the lovely city of Washington,
Secretary  General    
DC. This is my second CUMUNC as a chair and I’m looking forward to it very much.
 
  Our two topics for this year are Methods to Counter Transnational Drug Trafficking and
  the Legalization of Narcotics. The background guides attached will give you some
  fundamental information about both of these so that you can adequately prepare for the
  forthcoming debates.
Jacqueline  Vesce    
Director-­‐General   If you have any questions as you prepare for the conference, please don’t hesitate to
  send me an email!
 
  All the very best,
 
  Meghan Pettini
Kaitlyn  Degnan     31pettini@cardinalmail.cua.edu
Director  of  
Logistics  
 
 
 
 
 
Dorle  Hellmuth    
CUA-­‐IAA  Advisor  
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Topic A: Methods to Counter Transnational Drug Trafficking

What is transnational drug trafficking and why is it an important issue?

The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) defines the term
transnational as offences having to do with more than one state as well as ones planned in one state and
executed in another. Thus, it is a very broad term. Transnational drug trafficking, involves the cultivation,
manufacture, distribution and sale of any substances subject to drug prohibition laws. Trafficking, and
organized crime in general, can be extremely difficult to prevent or stop because it is a global,

macr
oeconomic enterprise: the illicit goods may be traceable to one continent or state, trafficked to another,
and then sold in a third area. Furthermore, drug trafficking is no longer simply confined to illicit
substances, but includes those that are psychoactive, as well as an ever-growing level of prescription
drugs, and injectable drugs that are continuously contributing to HIV and AIDS throughout the world.

Where does one begin in discovering the origins of trafficked substances?

Beginning with illicit drugs, there are several regions with higher-than-average connections to them.

Heroin: world consumption is currently 340 tons, while annual seizures show 430-450 tons entering into
the global market each year. Of that amount, 380 tons of heroin and morphine is produced solely from
Afghan opium. 375 of the 380 tons produced in Afghanistan is then trafficked worldwide through the
Balkans, linking the Afghan market to Russia and Western Europe.

Cocaine: Currently, Brazil is emerging as a prominent supplier of cocaine salt and crack cocaine. Its
geographical position gives the state easy access to Africa and Europe.
North American Drug Cartels and its Effects
The greatest supplier of cocaine historically has been Columbian drug cartels, who transport the product
to Mexico or Central America, and then onward to the United States and Canada. Since 2008, cocaine
demand has been declining in North America and seems to be peaking in Europe, while supply remains
constant. However, “the targeting of markets in the developing economies of South America represents a
disturbing trend, as these countries have fewer resources to combat the negative effects cocaine can have
on health and violent crime.”1

Global heroin flows from Asian points of origin

Africa: its importance in the transnational drug industry and its vulnerability
Africa in recent years has become a key location for the trafficking of heroin and cocaine from Afghan
markets. There are an estimated 1.6 million drug users in West and Central Africa. Most recently, West
Africa, especially Nigeria, and Ethiopia, is reported by Thailand and Uganda to be an emerging
manufacturer of Amphetamine-type Stimulants (ATS) Thus, it is possible that there is a parallel flow of
drugs between East and West Africa, with heroin traveling west via Afghanistan and Pakistan, and
amphetamine going east. What does this mean for the international community? In effect, “Illicit drug
traffic may potentially undermine progress made in African countries in the area of safety, stability,
governance and socioeconomic development. Most countries in the region do not possess the required
technical and financial means to respond effectively to the problems of illicit cultivation, manufacture and
drug use.”2 Instability in one area, logically, can easily create a snowball effect throughout an entire
region.

Injectable Drugs and the Health Risks

The Near and Middle East have the highest numbers of individuals with HIV due to injecting drugs, most
notably in Pakistan (37.0 percent) and Iran (15.1 percent). About 30 percent of the global population of
those living with drug-caused HIV live in Eastern and Southeastern Europe. An additional concern is
                                                                                                               
1
UNODC Cocaine Report
2
UNODC World Drug Report 2013.
injected drug-caused Hepatitis C, which impacts 51.0 percent of the entire population of injectable drug
users; thus, 7.2 million people who use these kinds of substances also have this condition. The greatest
concentration of those affected by Hepatitis C live in East and Southeast Asia, Eastern and Southeastern
Europe, and North America.

Emerging Substances in the Transnational Market

NPS
New psychoactive substances (NPS) are defined as “substances of abuse, either in a pure form or a
preparation, that are not controlled by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs or the 1971
Convention on Psychotropic Substances, but which may pose a public health threat. In this context, the
term ‘new’ does not necessarily refer to new inventions but to substances that have recently become
available.”3 However, NPS are not controlled at the international level, but are legislated upon by
individual governments. Of 80 countries who were given a questionnaire regarding NPS use, 70 percent
responded in the affirmative, with 33 of those countries located in Europe. 15 of 32 countries cited Asia
and Southeast Asia as the regions of origin for NPS.

Based on the brief outline of transnational drug trafficking, consider the following:

1. Given that NPS is quickly emerging as a great threat to individual states, but is not under
international restriction, what action can and ought to be taken to prevent its further expansion in
the trafficking market?
2. West Africa’s stability is seriously affected by its position in the transnational drug trade: will
greater intervention by the United Nations benefit the region or simply intensify the problem?
3. Heroin and cocaine cartels in North America continue to be a problem as the substances cross US
borders and into Canada; however, although the use of these two drugs has decreased in recent
years, the trade is still affecting the stability of already unstable South American countries. What
can be done?
                                                                                                               
3
UNODC World Drug Report 2013  
Topic B: The Legalization of Narcotics

What does ‘narcotics’ specifically refer to?

The 1961 United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs created restrictions on the cultivation of
opium poppy, coca bush, cannabis plant and their products. Control is exerted over 119 narcotics which
are typically natural products, including morphine, heroin, opium and its derivatives, as well as
synthetics, such as pethidine, methadone, or cannabis. The purpose of the 1961 Convention is to “limit
the production, manufacture, export, import, distribution and stocks of, trade in and use and possession of
the con-trolled drugs so that they are used exclusively for medical and scientific purposes.”4

Current Efforts to Legalize Narcotics

The most recent breach of the Convention of 1961’s defining of international law in regards to narcotic
drugs has come from Uruguay in 2013. The Uruguan government legalized the production, sale and
consumption of cannabis for non-medical purposes, which directly contradicts the very Single
Convention to which they were a party. Why did Uruguay make what appears to be a very misguided
decision? It claims that this legislation is intended to reduce crime. However, the government has failed to
recognize key effects of narcotic legalization within its own borders, as cannabis is “an addictive
substance with serious consequences for people’s health. In particular, the use and abuse of cannabis by
young people can seriously affect their development.”5

The Benefits of Legalizing Narcotics

Worldwide, the sale of illicit drugs yields more than $320 billion per year. The United States of America
stands as the country with the highest illegal drug use despite domestic laws aimed at reducing or
eliminating the drug problem. However, if illicit narcotics were legalized and thus taxable, the United
States would gain an additional $47 billion, and the numbers in prisons across the state would decrease
dramatically.

Cannabis Production

According to the UNODC World Drug Report of 2013, cannabis is and has been the most widely used
illicit substance. A minor increase in cannabis users to 3.9 percent of the population from ages 15-64
shows its growing emergence worldwide. Production of this narcotic has increased throughout all of the
Americas, especially in the United States, and South America saw the rate of cannabis seizures increase
by 46 percent. The seizure of cannabis herb has increased in Europe, while cannabis resin has decreased,
which indicates that domestically-grown cannabis may be replacing that which is imported from states
like Morocco. Interestingly, the production of resin in its main producing countries, Morocco and
Afghanistan, has declined. While trafficking of narcotics is certainly widespread, this data reveals that
domestically grown substances are on the rise.

                                                                                                               
4  International  Narcotics  Control  Board  
5  International  Narcotics  Control  Board,  United  Nations  Informative  Service    
Based on the brief outline of narcotic legalization, consider the following:

Is the control over international narcotic production truly beneficial, or has it had the reverse affect that
was intended by the Single Convention and various resolutions since then?

Does the United Nations have a moral responsibility to continue this ‘war on drugs’ for the sake of the
health of the global population, or is drug use a personal choice that should be decided upon by individual
states?

Uruguay’s decision to ignore the Single Convention is a blatant rejection of a precedence that has existed
for decades; will further dialogue with this state see improvements, or does this signal a breakdown of the
international understanding of drug crime?

What, if any, are the implications of individual states’ legalization of narcotics such as cannabis to the
global problem of international drug trafficking?