The 1925 Geneva Opium Convention established the first international statistical controls on narcotics and introduced global oversight of cannabis extracts.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 19 February 1925
- Also known as
- Geneva Opium Convention
- Predecessor treaty
- 1912 Hague Opium Convention
- Oversight body created
- Permanent Central Opium Board
- Substances regulated
- Opium, morphine, cocaine, cannabis extracts
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Earlier drug control efforts, particularly the 1912 Hague Opium Convention, had established foundational international restrictions on narcotics but lacked robust enforcement mechanisms and statistical monitoring, leaving significant gaps in the global control of opium, morphine, cocaine, and cannabis-derived substances.
Signed at Geneva on 19 February 1925, the Second International Opium Convention updated the 1912 Hague framework by introducing a statistical control system supervised by the newly created Permanent Central Opium Board, tightening legal measures on key narcotics, and placing cannabis extracts and tinctures under formal international control for the first time.
The convention established a precedent for institutionalised, data-driven international drug regulation under League of Nations auspices, laying groundwork for subsequent multilateral narcotics treaties and the modern international drug control system overseen today by the United Nations.
Political Outcome
International treaty entered into force, establishing the Permanent Central Opium Board and a statistical monitoring regime for narcotics including cannabis extracts.
Fragmented national drug regulations with limited international oversight under the 1912 Hague Convention
Centralised international statistical control system supervised by the Permanent Central Opium Board linked to the League of Nations