Updated May 16, 2005

Justice, Rule of Law and Security of the Individual
Combating the Drug Problem

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XXXVII Session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD)

The XXXVII Session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), under the chairmanship of General José Aníbal Sanz Jiminián, was held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on April 26 – 29, 2005. On this occasion, the Commission discussed the advances reached in the fight against drugs in the hemisphere.

One of the most important activities of the Commission during this session was the approval of the national and Hemispheric reports of the Third Round of Evaluation of the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM). The national reports, product of the participation of all Member States of the Organization of American States, evaluate the progress in the fight against drugs in each country for the period 2003 - 2004. These reports will be presented to the OAS General Assembly to be held in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on June, 2005. Also, considering that the MEM is a mandate of the Summit of the Americas, the approved reports will also be presented at the Fourth Summit of the Americas.

On this occasion, the Summits of the Americas Secretariat of the OAS was invited to present the issue of drugs related to the Summits of the Americas and to report on the preparations for the Fourth Summit of the Americas to take place in Mar de Plata, Argentina on November 4-5, 2005.

On the other hand, one of the issues of major expectation for this session was the presentation of the results of the Environmental and Human Health Assessment of Aerial Spray Program for Coca and Poppy in Colombia. This study, published in Colombia in April, was well received by the Commissioners.

Also, there were various presentations related to the drug Demand Reduction in its different areas such as prevention and treatment. Additionally, issues related to scholar prevention, labor prevention, and addiction treatment for law infractions were discussed in detail. Moreover, presentations on the final reports of the Group of Experts on Maritime Narcotrafficking and Money Laundering were presented to the Commission.

On the other hand, the advances and preliminary results of the national studies to measure the economic and social costs of drug consumption, issue that is also a mandate of the Summit of the Americas, and whose final results will be presented to the Leaders of the Americas in the Fourth Summit, were also presented.

Finally, the results of the evaluation of different projects implemented by CICAD, such as the International On-Line M.A. degree in Addiction Studies, the project of land property rights in Bolivia, the Andean Community Regional School of Anti-Drug Intelligence (ERCAIAD), and the project for the Institutional Strengthening of the National Drug Commissions were also presented on this occasion.

The XXXVIII Session of CICAD will take place in Santa Cruz, Bolivia in November, 2005.

 

XXXVI regular session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD)

The XXXVI regular session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) was held in Washington D.C., on December 7-9, 2004. The session included presentations on themes such as money laundering control, maritime drug trafficking, control of pharmaceutical products, control of chemical substances, hemispheric guidelines on school-based drug abuse prevention, among others.

The XXXVII regular session of CICAD will be held in Dominican Republic, on April 2005.  

For additional information, please click here to visit CICAD’s page (Spanish Only).

 

Meeting of the CICAD Group of Experts for the Control of Money Laundering 

The Meeting of the CICAD Group of Experts for the Control of Money Laundering took place on June 24 -26, 2003 in Washington DC. This meeting was organized by the Organization of American States and the Inter-American Drug Abuse Commission (CICAD). The objectives of this meeting were to discuss various issues, including: advances in the elaboration of the criminal legislation to combat terrorism financing, development of a legislative model for the blocking of goods related to terrorism, and the exercise of typologies or exams in the cases of corruption of foreigner officials. The participants of this meeting represented more than 19 countries, including: Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Peru, Uruguay, México, El Salvador, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, United States, Bolivia, Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Canada, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, and St. Kitts and Nevis.

 

Thirty Third Regular Session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD)

The thirty-third Regular Session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) took place in Washington DC, April 29 to May 2, 2003, with Member states committing to unite in an "all-out war" on drug trafficking in the Americas. CICAD had approved projects from which 14 countries stand to benefit, totaling nearly US$1 million. The meeting agreed on a set of comprehensive preventive measures, with particular emphasis on drug supply and demand reduction, as well as on combating organized crime and all forms of corruption.

For more information, please click here.

 

XXXII Regular Session of CICAD

The XXXII Regular Session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission took place in Mexico City on December 2-5, 2003.

The purpose of the meeting was to consider the work being done by groups of experts on firearms, pharmaceuticals, money laundering and demand reduction, as well as to examine progress on other specific initiatives currently under way. In addition, representatives approved the Hemispheric Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) Report, and the 34 MEM National Reports for the years 2001-2002.

For more information on this Session, hemispheric and national reports, please click here.

 

Final Meeting of the MEM Group of Experts

The Government Group of Experts of the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism met for the third and last time before the upcoming meeting of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD). The purpose of the meeting of the Group of Experts, which took place on October 7-11 in Washington DC, was to consider the final comments on national reports of OAS member states within the framework of the Drug Control Progress Evaluation. These reports are divided into National Anti-drug strategy, Demand Reduction, Supply Reduction and Control Measures.

The next step is the consideration and approval of national reports at the next meeting of CICAD on December 2-6, 2002.

 

Regional Cooperation against Drug Trafficking

On August 27-28, 2002, the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Organization of American States (OAS) sponsored the 2002 Forum on Regional Cooperation against Drug Trafficking in the Transmitting Area of the East Pacific (EPAC).  This forum included the participation of more than sixty delegates from Belize, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, as well as the United States and Colombia.  Participants analyzed several issues related to communications, intelligence, information technology, resources and joint operations.

The Colombian Vice President, Francisco Santos, opened the two-day meeting, calling all countries to push for international cooperation in the area of drug trafficking with “real political will.”

 

Progress Report on Implementing Anti-Drug Recommendations 2001

The OAS Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) released its first report on the progress made in carrying out anti-drug recommendations from the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM), on January 30, 2002.  The report concludes that the countries of the Americas have made “a significant effort” to take steps recommended in the first round of the evaluation process, but in some cases they have encountered obstacles due to a lack of technical and financial resources.

The report includes a hemispheric overview and a country-by-country assessment based on some 400 recommendations made a year ago in the first evaluation round. The Hemispheric overview shows progress in a number of areas, including the development of national anti-drug plans, the ability of countries to measure land under illicit cultivation and the adoption of measures against money laundering.  Several countries have also signed treaties to combat corruption and firearms trafficking, and international cooperation against drugs has improved.

Under the MEM process, CICAD conducts full evaluations every other year, with progress reports issued in alternate years. In April, CICAD will begin compiling new data for a second round of full evaluations, based on MEM questionnaires that the countries are in the process of completing. It will issue the next complete evaluation reports, covering the years 2001-2002, in January 2003.

For further information about the progress report please click here.

 

Second Special Session of CICAD

The Second Special Session of Government Experts Group was held on January 18-20, 2002, in Washington DC. Dr. Mildred Camero, Permanent Representative of Venezuela and Chairman of CICAD, and Dr. Eduardo Ibarrola Nicolin, Pincipal Representative of Mexico and Vice Chairman of CICAD inaugurated the Session. Ambassador Luigi Einaudi, Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, also spoke briefly.

In this Session the draft National and Hemispheric Reports of the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism on Implementation of Recommendations from the First Round of Evaluation 1999-2000 were presented, considered and approved.

For further information please click here.

 

XXX Regular Session of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD)                 

On November 12-15, 2001, the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) held its XXX Regular Session in Caracas, Venezuela.  At the meeting, participants identified next steps in addressing the mobility of the different manifestations of the drug problem and considered the status of Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) reports on the implementation of recommendations made at the First Round of Evaluations.  The meeting served, as well, as a forum to analyze the status of implementation of the Inter-American Convention Against Illicit Production and Traffic of Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and other related materials through the Model Regulations of CICAD.  Finally, participants received presentations by various CICAD Expert Groups, on such issues as Money Laundering, Demand Reduction and Chemicals, among others.  To see more information on this meeting, including its Draft Agenda and the Schedule of Activities for the 4-day meeting, please click here.

 

Meeting of Group of Experts on Chemicals (Pharmaceutical Products)

In order to examine the issue of the control of pharmaceutical products, a Group of Experts on Chemicals met on August 13-15, 2001, in Washington, DC. Participants at the meeting included experts from 17 OAS Member States and the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). As part of their analysis of the control of pharmaceutical products, participants made presentations on their national systems in this area. Moreover, results from the questionnaire, "The Framework for the Control of Pharmaceutical Substances at Hemispheric Level," were presented and discussed by the countries. Finally, these experts worked to identify the major problems existing at the national and international levels regarding the control of pharmaceutical products, citing inadequate and out-of-date legislation, deficiencies of national control systems and an inconsistent application of those systems at the international level as some of these. In response to these problems, the experts made recommendations to CICAD and to the countries on how to improve control of these products. Click here for more information on this meeting.

 

Meeting of Experts on Demand Reduction (CICAD)

A meeting of Experts on Demand Reduction took place on August 8-10, 2001, in Montego Bay, Jamaica. This meeting, which was hosted by the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), included the participation of various experts from OAS Member States as well as European speakers and observers. Participants analyzed existing practices and new developments in the treatment of addictions to several substances. They also offered presentations on the latest advances in the treatment of drug dependency and made recommendations to be implemented by governments and organizations linked to the issue.  For more information on this meeting, please click here.

 

VI International Meeting of the Pilot Nursing Project for Latin America

In response to a mandate from the Third Summit of the Americas, a commitment was made during the closing of the VI International Meeting of the Pilot Nursing Project for Latin America in the Promotion of Health, Prevention and Treatment for the Use and Abuse of Drugs and Social Reintegration," celebrated on June 29, 2001. By way of this commitment, professional nurses with advanced knowledge in science, technology and the Internet agreed to confront the drug problem from a human and integral perspective. Nursing leaders and representatives from ten Latin American universities agreed to collaborate on this commitment.

 

XXIX Regular Session of CICAD, Washington, DC

The Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) concluded a four-day Regular Session on June 1, 2001, where Member States considered and approved additional indicators designed to perfect the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM). The MEM is an instrument that assesses each country's progress in its efforts to fight narcotrafficking. During the meeting, Member States also analyzed the displacement of illicit crops, follow-up to MEM recommendations and country reports for the second round of evaluations. For more information on this meeting, please click here.

Updated May 16, 2005

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