Article 33: Protection from Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances

Abstract

This chapter explores the meaning of a child’s right to protection from narcotic drugs and pyschotropic substances under article 33 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It carefully explores the scope and nature of the obligations imposed upon state parties under this unique provision. It argues that for measures to be ‘appropriate’ for the purposes of article 33, they must be rights compliant and effective. Moreover, the protectionist concerns that underlie article 33 are not to be understood through a traditional welfarist lens in which children are to remain silent while adults save them from the harms of drugs. A rights-based approach still demands that adults protect children from illicit drugs but not in ways that deny children recognition of their evolving capacities and insights into the measures to protect them from the harms associated with drug use or involvement in the drug trade.

Keywords: international law, children's rights, illicit drugs

JEL Classification: K00, K33