The Tug of War Between Criminalization, Decriminalisation/Legalization- Elusive role of Drug Treaties
Mind altering substances may have been around before humans and they show no inclination to leave for the planet Mars, though humans may wish they do. Their place is firmly set in our midst. We could not eradicate them when they were a few (or rather the then identified few) and needed Mother Earth to make their presence felt, it is foolhardy to hope to eradicate them now, when mind altering chemicals are born in labs, and synthetic products are competing successfully with their natural counterparts to be a preferred choice of users. The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs 1961 and the subsequent drug conventions (1) offered a conceptual framework for Member States to enforce and address their domestic drug situation, whether it was relevant to their specific reality or not. Since then the media has been getting regular news to cover on the growing aspirations of those who believe one day the world will be free from drugs. Others who believe decriminalization/ legalisation is the o