A century of international drug control.

Abstract

A century ago, the Chinese opium epidemic spurred international action on drug control as policymakers realized that the problem was too complex for any one country to tackle in isolation. Starting with the International Opium Commission (Shanghai, 1909), Governments over time established an international consensus on the need for the regulation of psychoactive substances. Moreover, a set of normative instruments and multilateral bodies and systems were developed to help States implement and adjudicate such regulation. As a result, the three main drug control conventions, which form the foundation of the international drug control system, today enjoy near universal adherence, with more than 180 States parties. This volume presents an outline of the historical development of the modern drug control system: why and how it arose, its impact on drug production and consumption and its legacy for present and future international drug control efforts.