Banner of CND: United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, policymaking body of the United Nations system with prime responsibility
for drug-related matters
International Drug Control Conventions
The Commission on Narcotic Drugs is mandated to decide on the scope of control of substances
under the three International Drug Control Conventions, namely:
the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol;
the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971; and
the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988.
States parties to these conventions are required to ensure that the respective mandatory control
measures are applied to substances listed in the schedules for the 1961
Convention, the schedules of the 1971 Convention and the tables for the 1988 Convention which are annexed to these conventions.
During its sessions, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs decides on proposals to add substances to, or to transfer or delete
substances from the schedules/tables. The schedules/tables entail different levels of control measures.
This publication provides an introduction to this treaty-based function of the Commission. The
first part focuses on the scheduling procedure, which is divided into the processes involved before, during and after the
voting on the scheduling recommendations. The second part explores the control regimes of the schedules of the 1961 and 1971
Conventions and the tables of the 1988 Convention.
The Secretariat has created an online course on the normative functions of the Commission
on Narcotic Drugs under the three international drug control conventions. The course “Introduction to Scheduling” is targeting
Member States’ delegates involved in the work of the Commission, as well as all other stakeholders interested in the CND and
the international drug control system.
The texts of the 1961 Convention, 1971 Convention and 1988 Convention are available as an e-book
for download. The revised schedules of narcotic drugs, schedules of psychotropic substances and tables of precursors are issued
separately. Additionally, the commentaries and the official records for the three international drug control conventions have
been made available online.
Overview over the scheduling decisions that have been taken by the CND since 1961, including
links to the preparatory documents and the decisions themselves.
In 2019, WHO recommended the rescheduling of cannabis and cannabis-related substances. On
2 December 2020, the Commission took action on these recommendations.
