5. International cooperation to address global public health harms caused by novel psychoactive substances while protecting access to medicines

The international drug control conventions, namely the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic substances are a set of international treaties established by countries to monitor and control the manufacture, trade, and distribution of psychoactive substances. Unlike many national control measures that may permit generic classification of novel psychoactive substances (NPS), the international drug control conventions require individual substances to be listed for international control. This is to prevent diversion, abuse, and other harms to health caused by psychoactive substances while ensuring that access to controlled medicines is not inhibited. The World Health Organization (WHO) holds a unique mandate within the international drug control system to advise the drug policymaking body of the UN, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, of the health effects of NPS and other psychoactive substances assessed by WHO, and subsequently their appropriate level of international control.

The WHO fulfils its mandate to the international drug control treaties through its Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD), an independent scientific advisory group that evaluates psychoactive substances on their abuse potential, dependence potential, and harms to health. WHO carries out an annual data collection exercise amongst all UN Member States to gather information on specific NPS that have been brought to the attention of WHO with supporting information that these drugs are being clandestinely manufactured and pose a threat to public health.

In the past 10 years, more than 75 NPS have been placed under international control based on advice provided by WHO, thereby enabling a coordinated global approach in detecting and reporting NPS that have documented harms to health.

The international drug control conventions provide an important mandate to WHO to assess the harms to health caused by NPS and make recommendations about their international regulation to prevent abuse, dependence, deaths due to overdose, and other harms to health while also preventing or minimizing disruption to psychoactive medicines that have proven therapeutic use.