UNITED | E |
Economic and Social Council | |
Distr. 1223rd Meeting | |
CND Res.45/6. | Measures to promote the exchange of information on new patterns of drug use and on substances consumed |
The Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Recalling the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol,25 in particular article 38, concerning measures against the abuse of drugs, and article 38 bis, concerning agreements on regional centres for scientific research and education to combat the problems resulting from the illicit use of and traffic in drugs, Recalling also its resolution 44/14, in which it invited States and relevant regional organizations to foster the exchange of information on new patterns of drug use and on substances consumed, Recalling further the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction,26 in which all States were urged to assess the causes and consequences of the misuse of all substances, Re-emphasizing the need to improve knowledge about drug abuse and dependence in order to increase the impact of drug control policies and to strengthen the effectiveness of prevention policies, Taking into consideration the recommendations of the conference on synthetic drugs organized by the European Union and the United Nations International Drug Control Programme in Brussels on 19 November 2001, which dealt with the need, in addition to developing an early warning system, to increase knowledge about drugs, drawing on a variety of disciplines and scientific research programmes, Taking note of the consensus reached by technical experts at a meeting organized in Lisbon in January 2000 by the United Nations International Drug Control Programme and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction concerning the development of universally compatible epidemiological indicators of drug use, 1. Urges States to prepare a list of certified physical and/or juridical persons or laboratories capable of conducting analytical, toxicological, pharmacological and bio-psychological evaluations and who may be consulted in their national territory, indicating, where appropriate, their area of activity, and to foster the development of such expertise; 2. Encourages States to consult such persons in order to obtain specialized information on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances; 3. Invites States to develop expertise in epidemiology for the purpose of collecting and evaluating cases involving abuse of and dependence on psychoactive substances in accordance with the guidelines established by the World Health Organization for its review of dependence-producing psychoactive substances for international control, as a complement to the core indicators in part II of the annual reports questionnaire of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme; 4. Encourages States to involve the pharmaceutical industry, following the example of pharmacovigilance, in the expansion of knowledge about the potential for abuse of and dependence on psychoactive substances; 5. Stresses the need for cooperation among States in order to disseminate specialized information through international bodies such as the World Health Organization and the United Nations International Drug Control Programme and to make their expertise available to competent regional bodies; 6. Invites the United Nations International Drug Control Programme and the World Health Organization, to the extent that available voluntary contributions permit, to convene a meeting of experts, selected on the basis of equitable geographical distribution, to establish guidelines applicable to the recording of cases of drug abuse and dependence, which would include:
7. Also invites the United Nations International Drug Control Programme and the World Health Organization to continue to use those data and to highlight regional particularities by consolidating the national and regional databanks that already exist, with a view to improving the assessment of the potential of abuse and dependence of psychoactive substances and the knowledge of that subject. 1223rd meeting 25/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 976, No. 14152. 26/ General Assembly resolution 54/132. |