NEXT GLOBAL REPORT OF INCB TO FOCUS ON HISTORY AND FUTURE CHALLENGES OF DRUG CONTROL
Press Release
SOC/NAR/788
NEXT GLOBAL REPORT OF INCB TO FOCUS ON HISTORY AND FUTURE CHALLENGES OF DRUG CONTROL
19981105 Major Issues Include the World Wide Web and Prescription of DrugsVIENNA, 4 November (UN Information Service) -- The past, present and future of international drug control will be examined by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) during its current session, which begins here tomorrow. The topic was chosen by the Board for special emphasis in its next annual report, to come out in early 1999.
After examining the unprecedented events of this century in the field of drug control, the Board will identify challenges for the future of international drug control and give recommendations on how to meet them in the report. Major issues at the start of the new millennium include the misuse of emerging technologies, such as the World Wide Web, in spreading drug abuse, as well as ensuring that the prescription of mind-altering medicines, especially those containing internationally controlled substances, are in line with sound medical practices.
The forthcoming report will also review world drug abuse and trafficking, as well as measures taken by governments throughout the world to combat these problems. In that context, the Board recommends actions to be taken nationally and internationally to improve controls.
The Board has examined progress made, as well as problems faced, by governments in following international drug treaties during its missions over the past year. Since its last report, the Board has sent missions to Argentina, Belize, Bangladesh, Côte d'Ivoire, Cyprus, Gabon, Georgia, India, Israel (including, in particular, the Palestinian Autonomous Areas), Myanmar, the Netherlands, Suriname and the United States. Technical visits were made to Brazil, the Russian Federation, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
The current session of the Board coincides with the European Conference on Drug Prevention and Drug Policy from 4 to 5 November in Vienna, where Hamid Ghodse, President of the Board, will address participants on key issues about drug demand reduction.
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The Board is an independent body established by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs to monitor governments' compliance with the international drug control treaties. Its 13 members are elected by the Economic and Social Council to serve in their individual capacities, and its meetings are held in private.
The 12 members of the Board are: Edouard Armenakovich Babayan (Russian Federation), Chinmay Chakrabarty (India), Nelia P. Cores-Maramba (Philippines), Jacques Franquet (France), Hamid Ghodse (Iran), Dil Jan Khan (Pakistan), Antonio Lourenço Martins (Portugal), Mohamed Mansour (Egypt), Herbert S. Okun (United States), Alfredo Pemjean (Chile), Oskar Schroeder (Germany) and Elba Torres Graterol (Venezuela). The thirteenth seat is vacant.
The current session -- the Board's sixty-fifth -- runs through 19 November.
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