HAVING SEEN the observations and recommendations of the Permanent Council contained in the Annual Report of the Permanent Council to the General Assembly (AG/doc.4820/08) on the annual reports of the organs, agencies, and entities of the Organization of American States (OAS), particularly those pertaining to the 2007 Annual Report of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) (CP/doc.4285/08 corr. 1);
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT resolution AG/RES. 2343 (XXXVII-O/07), “Observations and Recommendations on the Annual Report of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission,” and other resolutions related to the topic;
CONSCIOUS of the need for continued progress in the fight against the production of illicit crops, drug trafficking, and related crimes, such as money laundering, the illegal distribution via the Internet of internationally controlled licit substances, and the diversion to illicit channels of pharmaceutical products and chemical precursors;
CONSCIOUS ALSO of the need to make greater headway in reducing the demand for illicit drugs and other psychoactive substances for pharmaceutical use;
RECOGNIZING that drug abuse is a public health problem that affects society as a whole, that the member states attach great importance to early prevention of drug abuse in the family, school, workplace, and community, including programs that strengthen values and life skills in children and youth, and that the treatment and rehabilitation of drug abusers is an essential part of national health care systems;
DEEPLY CONCERNED over the existence, in some countries, of armed groups related to drug trafficking, giving rise to situations that can destabilize the institutional order and undermine democratic governance;
RECOGNIZING the links between drug trafficking and transnational organized crime;
CONSIDERING that, with the adoption of the 34 national reports and the Hemispheric Report, the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) concluded the first phase of its Fourth Evaluation Round, 2005-2006;
NOTING WITH SATISFACTION that CICAD has strengthened its cooperation and exchange of information with all pertinent subregional, inter-American, and international bodies;
RECOGNIZING the importance of the participation of CICAD, as the representative body of the region in the fight against drugs, in the process of review of the commitments assumed at the twentieth special session of the United Nations General Assembly (XX UNGASS); and
TAKING NOTE WITH SATISFACTION of the incorporation of the Executive Secretariat of CICAD into the Secretariat for Multidimensional Security of the Organization of American States,
RESOLVES:
1. To thank the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) for its presentation to the General Assembly of its 2007 Annual Report (CP/doc.4285/08 corr. 1); and to congratulate it on the progress made in all aspects of the control of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
2. To reaffirm its commitment to the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) as an objective instrument for measuring the progress made by member states in controlling the illicit drug problem, identifying vulnerabilities and areas for improvement, and strengthening hemispheric solidarity and cooperation.
3. To recommend to member states that they strengthen their national systems for the recovery and management of assets deriving from illicit activities.
4. To instruct the CICAD Group of Experts on Alternative Development to support and make recommendations to the Commission on those matters for which its assistance might be requested.
5. To instruct the CICAD Executive Secretariat to continue to provide technical assistance, training, and support to member states in the areas of drug demand reduction, supply reduction, drug-related research and information systems, alternative development, institution-building, money-laundering control, and education, with a view to strengthening member states’ capacities in these fields, and in particular:
a. In demand reduction, support school- and community-based and workplace substance-abuse and violence-prevention programs; develop, implement, and disseminate scientific evaluation of such programs; and provide guidance on improvement of the quality of and access to drug treatment, rehabilitation, and after-care programs;
b. Promote the adoption of court-supervised treatment for drug-dependent petty offenders, in accordance with the legislation of each country;
c. Help member states strengthen their capacities to control the illicit cultivation, production, manufacture, and distribution of drugs and trafficking therein, as well as the chemicals used to produce them and the means and routes employed, with particular attention to new trends and threats such as synthetic drugs and the illegal distribution of internationally controlled licit substances via the Internet;
d. In accordance with the mandate from the Fourth Summit of the Americas, held in Mar de Plata, Argentina in November 2005, expand the research program on the cost of drugs to society to other member states, with particular emphasis on studies to estimate avoidable costs, and disseminate the results achieved thus far;
e. Support member states in their efforts to improve their drug information systems, and promote scientific research on the drug problem, particularly through the CICAD Network of Latin American Researchers (REDLA), and encourage academic institutions in the member states to support the work of the national observatories on drugs;
f. Coordinate its work with that of other international organizations, such as the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in order to harmonize procedures and avoid overlapping of activities and financing;
g. Provide technical assistance and training to member states to strengthen all fundamental aspects of their systems to respond to the drug phenomenon, including the development of specific public policies, the coordination capacity of the diverse public administrations at all government levels (national, regional, and local) and of civil society organizations in the field, modernization of legal and regulatory frameworks, and in general improvement of their technical, operational, and budgetary capacity;
h. Continue to provide member states with technical assistance and support in the area of money-laundering control, emphasizing measures to improve coordination among the various agencies involved in the process;
i. Continue, depending on the availability of specific funds for this purpose and in coordination with other areas of the General Secretariat, the technical assistance program to cooperate with the member states in the strengthening of their national systems for recovery and management of assets deriving from illicit activities;
j. Participate actively and join in the process of review of the commitments undertaken by the member states at the twentieth special session of the United Nations General Assembly (XX UNGASS), and also in meetings on the subject to be held throughout 2008, and in the high-level meeting called for in 2009; and
k. Support the strengthening and enhancement of national and municipal drug control systems, including human resources training.
6. To request the General Secretariat to report to the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth regular session on the implementation of this resolution, the execution of which shall be subject to the availability of financial resources in the program-budget of the Organization and other resources.
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