1998 special session on drugs recommended: upsurge in abuse of stimulants.

• Position: 33rd session of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs

A special session of the General Assembly, in 1998, on new strategies to combat the illicit production, sale, traffic, distribution and demand of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances has been recommended by the thirty-ninth session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (Vienna, 16-25 April). That will also be the subject of the high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council's upcoming 1996 session.

Under the Commission's proposal, the three-day special session would propose new strategies and measures to address the problem of illicit drugs, including measures to increase international cooperation in the application of drug control laws, reduce the illicit demand for drugs, prevent money laundering, and strengthen the fight against drug-related organized crime and the illicit arms trade.

Calling the decision "particularly important", Executive Director Giorgio Giacomelli of the UN Drug Control Programme (UNDCP), in closing remarks to the Commission, said that "the consensus which had been established would provide a very good basis for the Programme to begin planning and preparing for that session, so that it would serve as another milestone in international cooperation in combating the drug threat".

During its eight-day session, the Commission adopted a total of 16 texts relating to such areas as the abuse of synthetic drugs, demand reduction, drug-related crime, ensuring supplies of opiates for medical and scientific purposes, preventive measures aimed at youth, and anti-money laundering measures.

The 5-member Commission, a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council, is the UN system's main policy-making organ for international drug control.

Synthetic drugs

Voicing "deep concern" at the economic and social consequences of a rapid global upsurge in the trafficking and use of amphetamine-type stimulants, the Commission, in another measure, called for tighter controls on chemicals used in the manufacture of synthetic drugs. A draft resolution, for adoption by the Economic and Social Council, would urge government regulation and close monitoring of the import and export of the "precursor" chemicals used in the production of so-called "designer drugs" such as "ecstasy", as well as of a number of other stimulants.

The report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) for 1995, released on 28 February, stated that the diversion of precursors from licit channels into the illicit production of drugs "is, almost...