ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the means by which the international drug control system attains the goal of limiting drugs to medical and scientific purposes. It tackles these complex issues by adopting a four-step approach. In the first step, it is shown in concreto how the system aims to control the licit drug supply chain destined for medical and scientific drug use. In the second step, the suppressive provisions of the UN Drug Conventions will be displayed. The third step investigates whether the demand-related obligations allow for a human rights-conforming treatment of addiction and non-medical drug use. The fourth and final step examines the claimed overstrain of so-called 'drug-producing' and 'drug-transit' States. Providing for human rights-conforming measures against illicit drug trafficking requires implementation of the obligations arising from the UN Drug Conventions in light of the simultaneously applicable human rights obligations. The axiom of equating treatment of illicit drug use with its very termination is challenged by the harm-reduction approach.
