Drug as a Health Issue

Position Paper

WHO (Advanced)

Topic: Drug as a Health Issue

Country: Japan – Jennifer Park

Background:

Over the decades, drugs have been the leading causes of health issues and crime rates globally. Countries have made a multitude of attempts to halt drug abuse trends among young people by educating them about its hazards, and to strictly control groups engaged in illicit traffic, which consist of organized crime groups and foreign carriers, by implementing effective and efficient action against the increasingly sophisticated sales of illicit drugs. Others have tried to eliminate the problem by interdicting smuggling at borders and promoting international cooperation, including support for measures in illicit drug production areas. Many countries today are supporting the rehabilitation of drug-intoxicated people and preventing them from relapsing into drug abuse. However, growing popularity of drugs among younger generations and the increasing demands and profits in the drug industry has only exacerbated the issue and the ways countries have been approaching these solutions have become ineffective. Countries must take a further step into preventing the harmful affects of such substances by implementing new policies and stimulating international involvement in the crisis.

Past UN Action and Policy:

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has carried out many awareness campaigns and projects to prevent drug abuse in families, schools, and the workplace. They have called for funds and joint agreements between many countries to combat transnational organized crime regarding narcotic trafficking by informing potential consumers in younger generations of the dangers and funding the NGOs taking action in areas where drug abuse is most frequent, especially developing countries where alternative medical technology is not as prevalent and vaccines and medicine are often expired or defective due to poor distribution regulations. The UNODC has played a significant role in offering alternative sources of income for laborers in the drug cultivation industries in third-world countries.

Country Policy and Solutions:

An outlier in many global trends, Japan has never experienced the same rates of drug use as other wealthy, industrialized countries. The United Nations estimated that drug use in Japan is about a third of the global average. Japan has the toughest drug laws in the developed world. Its Pharmaceutical Affairs Law bans the production and sale of 68 types of drugs and has a zero-tolerance policy. Some products that are available over the counter as cold and flu remedies, including medical technology, are banned and possession of even small amounts of drugs is punishable by lengthy imprisonment and heavy fines. Japanese physicians can prescribe similar, but not identical, substitutes for over-the-counter drugs available in other countries. Some foreigners with known prior drug charges in their home country may be denied entrance into the country and foreigners caught with drugs for the first time are most often deported. Exports and black markets are monitored relentlessly in an effort to track drug crime syndicates. There are low levels of drug use, cultivation, production, and drug flow/transit in Japan, attributed to harsh penalties, rigorous border control, constant surveillance, and a long cultural opposition to drugs in society where cultural conformity is valued. Japan’s Drug Abuse Prevention Centre plans and develops effective publicity materials suited for the general public and certain target groups in a variety of media. The Center invites specialists in psychiatry, addiction, psychology, etc., awareness campaigners, and other events, which spread knowledge about, drug abuse. The Center cooperates with the national, prefectural, and local governments and relevant organizations by supplying awareness campaign improvement materials, by introducing and dispatching specialists, by securing space, by offering grants for scientific research, and by providing domestic and overseas information. Training sessions are carried out to educate advisers on how to promote educational activities in regional communities. They are also carried out for drug addiction counselors and for advisers on how to promote preventive education against drug abuse. Surveys and research are conducted and analyzed for domestic and foreign drug abuse statistics. In addition to participating proactively in international meetings of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Japan contributes to the United Nations International Drug Control Program (UNDCP) Fund of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to provide assistance to developing countries, particularly in Asia. Despite the restrictions, drugs are allowed for medicinal purposes, and tight regulations have minimized drug abuse. In this way, Japan has been able to maintain a balance between medical advancement and security. Therefore, the delegation of Japan urges the United Nations to follow through on the same methods.

●Counter-Narcotics Assistance

In addition to participating proactively in international meetings of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs, Japan contributes to the United Nations International Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) Fund of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to provide assistance to developing countries, particularly in Asia. In FY2012, Japan used a contribution of $810,000 to the UNDCP Fund for projects including monitoring the illegal production of poppies (plants grown as ingredients for the drug opium) in Myanmar and synthetic drugs throughout Southeast Asia and other areas. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs underscores the importance of measures against new psychoactive substances (NPS)* known as law-evading drugs, which has recently become a social issue in Japan as well. It has obtained broad support from the international community, and has been implementing related projects through the UNODC. Japan also contributed $5.55 million to the UNDCP Fund in March 2013 to support anti-drug measures, border control, and alternative development in Afghanistan and neighboring countries. Additionally, through the United Nations Asian and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders (UNAFEI) Japan supported the training for treatment of drug offenders.

1) The Center plans and develops effective posters, pamphlets, leaflets, panels, and other materials to raise awareness, according to publicity targets, and supplies these materials to relevant cooperating organizations which conduct awareness-raising activities. 
2) The Center produces audio-visual materials (16 mm films and video tapes) which suit each target groups, such as youth, adults drug dependents, and leaders of awareness campaigns, and distributes them to relevant cooperating organizations. 
3) The Center places publicity materials for the general public in a variety of media, such as magazine and columns, railway station ad boards, hanging ad space in trains, and newspaper ad columns. 
4) The Center invites specialists in psychiatry, addiction, psychology, etc., awareness campaigners, and other events which spread knowledge about drug abuse.