CM/Res.797 (XXXV)
RESOLUTION ON THE CONTROL OF ABUSE OF NARCOTIC DRUGS AND OF PSYCHOTROPIC SUBSTANCES AND
THEIR ILLICIT TRAFFIC IN AFRICA
The Council of Ministers of the Organization of Africa Unity meeting in its Thirty- fifth Ordinary Session in Freetown, Sierra Leone, from 18 to 28 June, 1980,
Having examined Document CM/1058 (XXXV),
Recalling ECOSOC Res.2065 (LXII) of 1977 and the recommendations of the Dakar and Lagos meetings,
Noting with concern the extension of drug abuse to groups and areas previously un- affected in Africa, and the increase in illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances,
Concerned also about the fact that Africa is fast becoming an important transit area for the drug traffic,
Conscious of the threat to human health, life and dignity and to the social, political and economic stability posed by the continuous abuse of narcotic drugs and of psychotropic substances,
Recognizing that the majority of the African countries have neither the technical nor the financial means to exercise control over illicit traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances:
INVITES Member States to communicate to the OAU Secretariat in Addis Ababa, when requested to do so, any relevant information about drug abuse and drug trafficking in their respective countries;
RECOMMENDS:
the holding of a meeting of experts at the continental level in close collaboration with the Division of Narcotic Drugs of the UN Secretariat, the International Narcotics Control Board, the UN Fund for Drug Abuse Control, with the other UN Bodies, Specializing Agencies and international organizations being in the field of drug abuse control. The meeting of the experts is to be followed shortly after by a meeting of policy-makers of the various Ministries concerned;
the establishment of a specialized commission on narcotic drugs for Africa;
APPEALS to Member States to work in close collaboration with one another and with the relevant UN Secretariats to achieve the desired goal;
ALSO APPEALS to developed countries and to the International Financial Institutions to provide assistance to African countries to equip themselves to fight drug abuse;
URGES Member States to ratify or to accede to:
The 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as attended by the 1972 Protocol;
The 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances which constitute the cornerstones of the International Drug Control System.