Mudanças históricas no papel social de substâncias entorpecentes e a construção do regime internacional criminalizante

Abstract

The current international regime of control over the commerce of psychotropic substances holds a strong criminal approach and has been target of debates regarding its feasibility due to the consequences it’s been causing on different social scopes. Having the objective of enhancing that debate, this article discusses the traditional uses of the term “drug” for then analyzing the different social roles attributed to those substances in different socio-political contexts, including the unfolding of conflicts related to their commerce and use. It is equally intended to understand how the criminal regime has been built, verifying the interests and factors which have helped its consolidation in the contemporary international system. The research demonstrates that the substances under control today have been implemented to execute a range of social roles and not only as being sources of crime. Therefore, the current criminal configuration is not the only one possible and thus there is a possibility of making room to discuss over its restructuring. Furthermore, it was observed that the international criminal regime has been developed supported by the views of only one state on the matter, the United States of America, views which have had their development surrounded by prejudice and religious morals from political elites. After the establishment of the UN and the gradual consolidation of the USA as the world's hegemonic power it was possible to solidify a regime with criminal character on international level ongoing currently.