The War on Drugs

Drug precursors are chemical substances used to manufacture illicit drugs. Drug precursors can be extremely dangerous if they are diverted from the illicit channels for the illicit manufacturing of drugs. Drugs use and drugs dealing pose a big problem for various government agencies on the grounds of the number of drug overdose death and drug related homicides is increasing. This happens in spite of the fact that governments spend more and more money to solve the drug problem. Some people believe that the fight against drugs has failed because governments focus on controlling the problem through laws and punishments, rather than through drug education and treatment. They call for the legalization of drugs arguing that the current drug laws do more harm than good. They think that the high cost of illegal drugs and the enormous amounts of money to be made from drug dealing encourage more serious crime – for example many drug users turn to stealing to support their habit. Those who oppose legalization respond that if drugs were legalized drug use and addiction will skyrocket. They add that prohibition of drugs is an invasion of individual rights. Finally, there are those who feel that the problem of widespread drug abuse and crime can only be solved when the government attacks the root causes of the problem: poverty, racism and inequality. They propose that the government should deal with the factors that cause the problem by providing employment for all, increasing the minimum wage, improving health care for the poor, offering paid family leave, and providing affordable housing.

It should be understood, that what represents enormous danger for users means huge profits for the drug business. Fighting precursor diversion is therefore an absolute necessity.

European Customs Legislation in relation to Drugs.

Different types of administrations are involved in drug precursor control. They are Health, Police and Customs.

Drugs, ecstasy in particular, is a major source of concern for the European Union. About 3 million people have used it recently, according to the report of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drugs Addiction. Ecstasy poses a problem not only on grounds of its danger to health. The EU used to be one of the world’s leading manufacturers and exporters of drugs. Today this is still the case, but the EU has also become an importer of precursors, especially those that are generally not produced locally and must be brought into the EU. This situation requires special attention from the EU Customs. Therefore a new set of regulations had been adopted which came into force in 2005. These regulations aim at:

1) monitoring of trade in drug precursors between the EU and countries outside the Union.

2) monitoring of trade within the EU

3) establishing necessary procedures regarding licensing and rules concerning the monitoring of trade.

Cooperation between the EU and other countries plays a very significant role in preventing relevant

chemicals from being used in the illicit manufacture of ecstasy and other dangerous drugs.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30