Vice Rector of Üsküdar University, Director of the Institute of Addiction and Forensic Sciences Prof. Dr. Sevil Atasoy, who has been a member since 2005, previously served as its president, and is currently the president of the Standing Committee on Estimates, participated in the 132nd Session of the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) held in Vienna.
In the 132nd Session, conducted in person for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, Board members, along with its secretariat comprising 42 experts working in 5 different departments, continued to monitor the compliance of the legal trade of controlled substances with international conventions for three weeks. The sufficiency of 136 narcotic and 144 psychotropic substances under control for medical and scientific purposes, including during disaster periods such as earthquakes, floods, and pandemics, the compliance of member states with current international conventions, and the completion of the 2021 world report constituted part of the agenda.
The Board, meeting with the permanent representatives of countries, to support the implementation of Articles 12 and 13 of the 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, provided information on nearly forty precursor chemicals, tools, and equipment used in illicit manufacturing, such as APA, APAAN, MAPA, acetic anhydride, and ephedrine.
In addition to member states' efforts to achieve the UN 2030 goals, the Board, while promoting legal trade on one hand, and making contacts to gather information on activities to prevent illicit use and trafficking on the other hand, exchanged views with the presidents and experts of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Customs Organization (WCO), and Interpol within this framework.
Topics on the Board's agenda included developments in Afghanistan, the impact of illicit financial flows linked to drug trafficking on economic development and security, and sanctions to be applied to those who permit cannabis (marijuana) use for non-medical purposes in violation of conventions.
The next INCB meeting will convene in Vienna during the week of January 31 – February 5, 2022, and the 2021 World Report, which includes details on Turkey's fight against supply and demand in line with the conventions, will be shared with national and international media organizations on March 10, 2022.
About INCB:
INCB is an independent and quasi-judicial body tasked with encouraging and monitoring the compliance of governments of United Nations member states with three different conventions concerning drug control. These are the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. The thirteen members of the INCB, first established in Shanghai in 1909 with the 1961 Single Convention, are elected by the Economic and Social Council for a five-year term, taking into account their expertise and experience. Sevil Atasoy is the second woman in the Board's history to have served as president, has been elected president for the 3rd time, and will serve until May 2027.