The Child and Drugs; Article 33 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and Iranian Law

Article 33 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is the point in which two different legal systems meet, namely Human Rights System and the Narcotics order. According to this article for which no country has made a reservation, States parties shall take all appropriate measures to protect children from the illicit use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, and to prevent the use of children in the illicit production and trafficking of such substances. Each and every word of this statement is subject to various readings and interpretations: The question is to find specific instances from which the child should be protected and whether the governments are only obliged to take prevention actions or have to cover children already engaged with the issue. Furthermore, the conditions under which governments’ actions take place should be elaborated. Besides analyzing the aforementioned article, this study tries to clarify its reflection on our law especially Children and Adolescents Protection Code. The research is conducted based on the descriptive-analytical methodology with the help of the available library sources as well as considering the general principles of the CRC and its Committee’s statements and conclude children shall be protected of any prohibited substances in the relevant international treaties. States are obliged to take all appropriate measures in order to prevent, treat and rehabilitate children affected by drugs.