drug policy drug policy a drug policy is the policy regarding the control and regulation of psychoactive substances (commonly referred to as drugs), particularly those that are addictive or cause physical and mental dependence. while drug policies are generally implemented by governments, entities at all levels (from international organisations, national or local government, administrations, or private places) may have specific policies related to drugs. drug policies are usually aimed at combatting drug addiction or dependence addressing both the demand and supply of drugs, as well as mitigating the harms of drug use, and providing medical assistance and treatment. demand reduction measures include voluntary treatment, rehabilitation, substitution therapy, overdose management, alternatives to incarceration for drug related minor offenses, medical prescription of drugs, awareness campaigns, community social services, and support for families. supply side reduction involves measures such as enacting foreign policy aimed at eradicating the international cultivation of plants used to make drugs and interception of drug trafficking, fines for drug offenses, incarceration for persons convicted for drug offenses. policies that help mitigate the dangers of drug use include needle syringe programs, drug substitution programs, and free facilities for testing a drug's purity. the concept of "drugs" –a substance subject to control– varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. for example, heroin is regulated almost everywhere; substances such as khat, codeine, or alcohol are regulated in some places, but not others. most jurisdictions also regulate prescription drugs, medicinal drugs not considered dangerous but that can only be supplied to holders of a medical prescription, and sometimes drugs available without prescription but only from an approved supplier such as a pharmacy, but this is not usually described as a "drug policy". there are however some international standards as to which substances are under certain controls, in particular via the three international drug control conventions. international drug control treaties article 44 of the 1961 single convention terminated a number of previous drug control treaties. history the first international treaty to control a psychoactive substance was adopted at the brussels conference in 1890 in the context of the regulations against slave trade, and concerned alcoholic beverages. it was followed by the final act of the shanghai opium commission of 1909 which attempted to settle peace and arrange the trade in opium, after the opium wars in the 19th century. in 1912 at the first international opium conference held in the hague, the multilateral international opium convention was adopted; it ultimately got incorporated into the treaty of versailles in 1919. a number of international treaties related to drugs followed in subsequent decades: the 1925 agreement concerning the manufacture of, internal trade in and use of prepared opium (which introduced some restrictions—but no total prohibition—on the export of "indian hemp" pure extracts), the 1931 convention for limiting the manufacture and regulating the distribution of narcotic drugs and agreement for the control of opium smoking in the far east, the 1936 convention for the suppression of the illicit traffic in dangerous drugs, among others. after world war ii, a series of protocols signed at lake success brought into the mandate of the newly-created united nations these pre-war treaties which had been handled by the league of nations and the office international d'hygiène publique. finally, in 1961 the nine previous drug-control treaties in force were superseded by the 1961 single convention, which rationalized global control on drug trading and use. countries commit to "protecting the health and welfare of mankind" and to combat substance abuse and addiction. the treaty is not a self-enforcing agreement: countries have to pass their own legislation aligned with the framework of the convention. the 1961 convention was supplemented by the 1971 convention and the 1988 convention, forming the three international drug control treaties upon which other legal instruments rely. their implementation has been led by the united states, in particular after the nixon administration's declaration of "war on drugs" in 1971 and the creation of the drug enforcement administration (dea) as a u.s. federal law enforcement agency in 1973. since the early 2000s, the european union (eu) has developed several comprehensive and multidisciplinary strategies as part of its drug policy in order to prevent the diffusion of recreational drug use and abuse among the european population and raise public awareness on the adverse effects of drugs among all member states of the european union, as well as conjoined efforts with european law enforcement agencies, such as the europol and emcdda, in order to counter organized crime and illegal drug trade in europe. current treaties the core drug control treaties currently in force internationally are: the single convention on narcotic drugs, 1961 (1961 convention or single convention) composed of: the original single convention concluded at new york (united states), 30 march 1961, and its amendement, the protocol amending the single convention on narcotic drugs which was adopted in geneva (switzerland), 25 march 1972, the convention on psychotropic substances (1971 convention), concluded at vienna, 21 february 1971, and the un convention against illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances (1988 convention) concluded at vienna (austria), 20 december 1988. there are other treaties that address drugs under international control, such as: the un convention on the law of the sea (unclos), concluded on 10 december 1982 in montego bay (jamaica), the convention on the rights of the child (crc), concluded on 20 november 1989 in new york city, the international convention against doping in sport concluded in paris (france) on 19 october 2005. additionally, other pieces of international law enter into play, like the international human rights treaties protecting the right to health or the rights of indigenous peoples, and, in the case of plants considered as drug crops (coca plant, cannabis, opium poppy), treaties protecting the right to land, farmers' of peasants' rights, and treaties on plant genetic resources or traditional knowledge. former and current international drug control treaties short name full name concluded in force discontinued first (hague) opium convention 1912 international opium convention the hague 23 january 1912 1919-1946 1925 geneva opium agreement agreement concerning the manufacture of, internal trade in and use of prepared opium geneva 11 february 1925 1926-1946 second (geneva) opium convention 1925 international opium convention geneva 19 february 1925 1928-1946 limitation convention convention for limiting the manufacture and regulating the distribution of narcotic drugs geneva 13 july 1931 1933-1946 bangkok agreement agreement for the control of opium smoking in the far east bangkok 27 november 1931 1937-1946 suppression convention convention for the suppression of the illicit traffic in dangerous drugs geneva 26 june 1936 1939-1946 lake success protocol protocol amending the agreements, conventions and protocols on narcotic drugs concluded at the hague on 23 january 1912, at geneva on 11 february 1925 and 19 february 1925, and 13 july 1931, at bangkok on 27 november 1931 and at geneva on 26 june 1936 lake success 11 december 1946 1946-1968 paris protocol protocol bringing under international control drugs outside the scope of the convention of 13 july 1931 for limiting the manufacture and regulating the distribution of narcotic drugs paris 19 november 1948 1946-1968 1953 protocol protocol for limiting and regulating the cultivation of the poppy plant, the production of, international and wholesale trade in, and use of opium new york 23 june 1953 1963-? single convention single convention on narcotic drugs, 1961 new york 30 march 1961 1968-1975 current 1971 convention convention on psychotropic substances vienna 21 february 1971 1976-present single convention as amended single convention on narcotic drugs, 1961 as amended by the protocol amending the single convention on narcotic drugs geneva 25 march 1972 1975-present 1988 convention united nations convention against illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances vienna 20 december 1988 1990-present treaty-mandated organizations there are four bodies mandated under the international drug control conventions (1961, 1971 and 1988): the commission on narcotic drugs (cnd), a subsidiary body of the united nations ecosoc, the cnd is acting as a conference of the parties to the three core conventions, the un secretary-general, whose mandate is de facto carried on by the united nations office on drugs and crime (unodc), the world health organization (who), in charge of the scientific review of substances for inclusion under, changes in, or withdrawal from control (scheduling assessment), the international narcotics control board (incb), the treaty-body monitoring implementation and collecting statistical data. drug policy by country australia australian drug laws are criminal laws and mostly exist at the state and territory level, not the federal, and are therefore different, which means an analysis of trends and laws for australia is complicated. the federal jurisdiction has enforcement powers over national borders. in october 2016, australia legislated for some medicinal use cannabis. bolivia like colombia, the bolivian government signed onto the atpa in 1991 and called for the forced eradication of the coca plant in the 1990s and early 2000s. until 2004, the government allowed each residential family to grow 1600m2 of coca crop, enough to provide the family with a monthly minimum wage. in 2005, bolivia saw another reformist movement. the leader of a coca grower group, evo morales, was elected president in 2005. morales ended any u.s. backed war on drugs. president morales opposed the decriminalization of drugs but saw the coca crop as an important piece of indigenous history and a pillar of the community because of the traditional use of chewing coca leaves. in 2009, the bolivian constitution backed the legalization and industrialization of coca products. bolivia first proposed an amendment to the single convention on narcotic drugs in 2009. after its failure, bolivia left the convention and re-accessed with a reservation for coca leaf in its natural form. colombia coca plant under president ronald reagan, the united states declared war on drugs in the late 1980s; the colombian drug lords were widely viewed as the root of the cocaine issue in america. in the 1990s, colombia was home to the world's two largest drug cartels: the cali cartel and the medellín cartel. it became colombia's priority, as well as the priority of the other countries in the andean region, to extinguish the cartels and drug trafficking from the region. in 1999, under president andrés pastrana, colombia passed plan colombia. plan colombia funded the andean region's fight against the drug cartels and drug trafficking. with the implementation of plan colombia, the colombian government aimed to destroy the coca crop. this prohibitionist regime has had controversial results, especially on human rights. colombia has seen a significant decrease in coca cultivation. in 2001, there were 362,000 acres of coca crop in colombia; by 2011, fewer than 130,000 acres remained. however, farmers who cultivated the coca crop for uses other than for the creation of cocaine, such as the traditional use of chewing coca leaves, became impoverished. since 1994, consumption of drugs has been decriminalized. however, possession and trafficking of drugs are still illegal. in 2014, colombia further eased its prohibitionist stance on the coca crop by ceasing aerial fumigation of the coca crop and creating programs for addicts. president juan manuel santos (2010–2018), has called for the revision of latin american drug policy, and was open to talks about legalization. ecuador narco submarine seized in ecuador in the mid-1980s, under president león febres-cordero, ecuador adopted the prohibitionist drug policy recommended by the united states. by cooperating with the united states, ecuador received tariff exemptions from the united states. in february 1990, the united states held the cartagena drug summit, in the hopes of continuing progress on the war on drugs. three of the four countries in the andean region were invited to the summit: peru, colombia and bolivia, with the notable absence of ecuador. two of those three countries—colombia and bolivia—joined the andean trade preference act, later called the andean trade promotion and drug eradication act, in 1992. ecuador, along with peru, would eventually join the atpa in 1993. the act united the region in the war on drugs as well as stimulated their economies with tariff exemptions. in 1991, president rodrigo borja cevallos passed law 108, a law that decriminalized drug use, while continuing to prosecute drug possession. in reality, law 108 set a trap that snared many citizens. citizens confused the legality of use with the illegality of carrying drugs on their person. this led to a large increase in prison populations, as 100% of drug crimes were