The delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany acknowledges the massive impact that drug use and the international drug trade have on all nations. The international drug trade is an extremely serious and rapidly growing problem. The leading drug used is cannabis, with 188 million users. Internationally, opium, which is another drug, seizures reached a new record in 2003.[1] Over 13.3% of young Germans have used cannabis, usually grown in Morocco, a growing problem in Germany. Recognizing this, the German government has implemented several programs to decrease drug supply and demand. Foremost among these is the National Strategy on Drug and Addiction Policy, implemented in 2012. Its primary methods are prevention, counseling, harm reduction, and supply reduction.[2] Additionally, Crystal methamphetamine produced in Czechia is consistently smuggled in through Germany’s southern border. Seizures of this drug have occurred as far west as Saarland, a small state by the French border.[3]
Taking this into account, the delegation of Germany believes that the reduction of the drug trade should begin with reducing demand via programs aimed at young adults. This should be coupled with forcing large drug producers like Morocco to crack down on the drug trade, at risk of sanctions. With unstable drug-producing countries, such as Afghanistan, existing troops and forces should attempt to cause greater disability and slowed production to drug production facilities. Recognizing that counseling is highly effective at reducing addiction and drug use, greater counseling programs should be implemented to reduce demand. As an incentive for counseling, drug offenders or traders could have a choice between serving their full sentences in prison or serving a reduced sentence with a period of mandatory counseling. The cost of spending the full time in prison could be used to pay for this education, which would drastically reduce demand for illegal drugs. What should be another core tenet is a focus on more liberal drug use laws, as strict laws have been shown to change the demographic involved in the drug trade to criminals, leading to criminal gangs and violence. The present seriousness of the solution is partially because of the stricter drug laws in response to the criminal problems caused by these laws, showing their negative effect. Strict, prohibitive laws also result in massive expenditures of money for an effort that is mostly futile anyway, because the stricter the law is, the harder it is to enforce. [5] In combination with the above programs, increased awareness programs among border guards and citizens in the most prone regions to drug trade could increase apprehension of distributors and buyers.
[1] WORLD DRUG REPORT 2019 (SET OF 5 BOOKLETS). UNITED NATIONS, 2019.
[2] Luyken, Jörg. “10 Things You Should Know about Illegal Drug Use in Germany.” The Local, The Local, 25 July 2017, https://www.thelocal.de/20170725/10-things-you-should-know-about-illegal-drugs-in-germany.
[3] “Germany Country Drug Report 2017.” European Monitering Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, European Monitering Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2017, http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/system/files/publications/4528/TD0416906ENN.pdf.
[4] Luyken, Jörg. “10 Things You Should Know about Illegal Drug Use in Germany.” The Local, The Local, 25 July 2017, https://www.thelocal.de/20170725/10-things-you-should-know-about-illegal-drugs-in-germany.
[5] Hudak, John. “UNGASS and the Consequences of International Drug Policy.” Brookings, Brookings Instituition, 29 July 2016, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2016/04/07/ungass-and-the-consequences-of-international-drug-policy/.
- Jameson Gerrits
