Legal Measures to Control the Illicit Traffic of Precursor and Essential Chemicals Used in the Manufacture of Narcotic Drugs: A Case Study of Subregional Cooperation between Laos, Myanmar and Thailand
Abstract:
At the present time, traditional narcotics derived from plants tend to decrease because they need to grown in wide area of land and depend on proper weather. Whereas chemical technology of today has been more developed, the synthesis of narcotics through chemical process is not anymore difficult. Synthetic narcotics are going to substitute narcotics derived from nature. As result, the idea to control precursor and essential chemicals used in the manufacture of narcotics is initiated under the principle of No chemicals, no drugs. International measures to control precursors accepted worldwide are stipulated in the United Nations Convention against illicit Traffic in Narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, 1988 for monitoring the production, disposal, importation and exportation of 23 precursor and essential chemicals. The United Nations, Chemical action task force, European Union and organization of American States also play important roles in this regard. For the subregion of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, narcotics used to be serious problems were the ones derived from plants. However, the subregion in currently facting problem relating to illicit traffic of precursor and essential chemicals for manufacturing narcotics. This problem tends to be more serious especially with regard to amphetamine-type stimulants and herion, produced along the Laos, Myanmar and Thailands borders by transporting precursor and essential chemicals from neighboring countries, in particular China and India. It is found from the study that measures enforced by Laos, Myanmar and Thailand for controlling precursor and essential chemicals are still not harmonized and many of them are not consistent with the 1988 UN Convention. Besides, there are a number of obstacles in the law enforcement, which are in part resulted from political, economic or social factors of each country. In addition, after studying the framework of subregional cooperation between the three countries, it is found that there is no formal and clear agreement in this matter, which is necessary for creating legal basis and mechanism for solving particular problems among one another. Furthermore, in the future the three countries may consider concluding agreements with other relating countries, for example China and India.