Established the primary international legal framework for controlling narcotic drugs and created the International Narcotics Control Board.
Key Facts
- Adoption year
- 1961
- Amendment year
- 1972
- Ratifying countries (as of 2022)
- 186 countries
- Governing body established
- International Narcotics Control Board
- Supplementary conventions
- 1971 Psychotropic Substances; 1988 Illicit Traffic
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Prior to 1961, international drug control was governed by a patchwork of separate treaties dating back to the early twentieth century. The United Nations sought to consolidate these agreements into a single, coherent instrument that would streamline regulation of narcotic substances and close gaps in enforcement across member states.
On 30 March 1961, the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs was concluded under United Nations auspices. It established a unified system controlling the cultivation, production, supply, trade, and transport of specified narcotics, while providing regulated frameworks for their legitimate medical and scientific use, and created the International Narcotics Control Board to oversee compliance.
The convention, amended in 1972 and ultimately ratified by 186 countries, became the cornerstone of global drug policy. It was later supplemented by the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances and the 1988 Convention Against Illicit Traffic, together forming the three-treaty legal framework that continues to govern international narcotic drug control.
Political Outcome
International treaty adopted, establishing binding controls on narcotic drugs and creating the International Narcotics Control Board; ratified by 186 countries as of 2022.
Fragmented patchwork of separate bilateral and multilateral drug control treaties
Unified single convention framework under UN oversight governing narcotic drug control globally