Marks, Amber --- "Legal perspectives on drug trafficking" [2019] ELECD 2993; in Mitsilegas, Valsamis; Hufnagel, Saskia; Moiseienko, Anton (eds), "Research Handbook on Transnational Crime" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2019) 261

Book Title: Research Handbook on Transnational Crime

Editor(s): Mitsilegas, Valsamis; Hufnagel, Saskia; Moiseienko, Anton

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Section: Chapter 20

Section Title: Legal perspectives on drug trafficking

Author(s): Marks, Amber

Number of pages: 11

Abstract/Description:

The terms ‘trafficking’ and ‘personal consumption’ provide the conceptual framework for the international drug control regime but neither term is defined. Legal and policy reforms taking place at the national level in several jurisdictions now pose considerable challenges to the international legal framework for drug control and beg important questions regarding states parties’ international legal obligations. Through archival research on the proceedings of international and European bodies, comparative analysis of national laws and their enforcement, and an exploration of the theoretical literature on drug policy reform, this chapter explores the depths of ambiguity underlying the key concepts of ‘trafficking’ and ‘personal consumption’, the reasons for it and its implications. The author argues that the answer to vexed debates and political stalemates surrounding clarification of the legal parameters lies in human rights law.