Title: The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961), The Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971), The United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988).

Summary of Provisions:

These Conventions aim to promote international cooperation to end the trade in illicit drugs. They place responsibility on national governments to prevent the "production and distribution" and "illicit traffic" (http://www.mg.co.za/mg/news/97feb2/6mar-drugs.html) of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. Measures to be taken include import and export controls, criminalisation, and inspection of production facilities.

The Conventions place restrictions on the amount of drugs that may be produced and distributed for medical or scientific use. The first Convention covers cultivated drugs while the second extends controls to synthetically produced hallucinogens, the third also covers chemical precursors.

The Conventions are overseen by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Countries are required to submit reports and estimates of licit consumption to the INCB.

Summary of Development:

International controls on narcotics have been developing since the beginning of last century, originally to control the opium trade. Several conventions were established and these were replaced by the three United Nations (UN) Conventions of 1961, 1971 and 1988.

As well as these three conventions the UN started an International Drug Abuse Control Strategy in the early 1980s and the UN General Assembly "adopted a Global Programme of Action in 1990" (http://www.unac.org/monitor/SusDev/unbodies/cnd.html).

The drugs trade remains an area of concern internationally.

Current Status:

There are 183 state parties to the three conventions.

Precursors:

These include the 1912 Hague Opium Convention, the 1925 Second International Opium Convention, the 1931 Convention for Limiting the Manufacture and Regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs, and the 1936 Convention for the Suppression of the Illicit Traffic in Dangerous Drugs.

United Nations Drugs Conventions

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Page last updated 26th March 2009.

Comments/enquiries to catherine.rhodes-2 'at' manchester.ac.uk