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The use of
drugs had
religious, ritual and medical
purposes and goes far afield in
time. Nevertheless, the development
in the use of these substances is a
recent phenomenon.
The
19th Century Opium War
At the end of the XIX
century, after having lost the two
"opium wars" (1840 – 1842, 1856 –
1858) which opposed great colonial
powers, China saw spread the use of
opium all over their territory, to
the point of touching the third part
of the adult male population
(approximately 25 million of
people). In 1906, Chine became
world’s opium first producer with 35
500 tons. At this point, a big part
of the population consumes opium.
The
20th Century : drug financed
conflicts
A big part of drugs
money is used for weapon purchase,
armed conflicts financing, terrorist
movements support and enslavement
contribution of world’s nations.
The
first measures
In France, the law of
poisonous substances is widely
anterior to the international
conventions because it has its
origin in the ancient poison
regulation. The first important text
is an edict adopted due to the
poisoning crimes attributed to the
Marquise of Brinvilliers, to the
Voisins and to the Vigoroux. This
edict imposed the retention of all
poisonous substances.
From the 12th of July
1916, France acquires a Control
towards prevention repression of the
ravages caused by certain drugs. The
fight against drug addiction and
drug traffic is a subject very
important in the European Union’s
work. The first international
cooperation attempt in drug control
matter took place in 1909, at the
Shanghais Opium Commission,
gathering 13 countries, including
France. This Commission took several
resolutions to erase completely
opium’s production and consume, and
allowed the first Opium
International Convention at The
Hague in 1912.
International Conventions
The 60’s saw a drug
consume aggravation with drugs like
LSD, amphetamines and cannabis. To
fight against this phenomenon,
several conventions were organized
under the UN’s aegis.
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1961: |
Narcotics
convention, brought by a
Protocol in 1972 |
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1971: |
Psychotropic
substances Convention |
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1988: |
Convention
against illicit traffic of
narcotics and psychotropic
substances. |
These conventions, that forbade all
drug production, commerce,
possession and use (except for
medical reasons) had influenced on
the national laws of the participant
countries. Nowadays, our legislation
takes their basis in the 31st
of December of 1970’s Law, several
times updated, from that date on.
Now, 160 countries
have ratified the Convention of
1961, 149 the 1971 one and 140 the
1988 one.
Certain components
are necessary for production of
narcotics. A surveillance and
control system for the transit of
these components had been placed to
avoid their utilization by
traffickers.
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