The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is the international treaty against illicit drug manufacture and trafficking that forms the bedrock of the global drug control regime. Previous treaties had only controlled opium, coca, and derivatives such as morphine and heroin. The Single Convention, adopted in 1961, consolidated those instruments and broadened their scope to include cannabis and allow control of any drugs with similar effects to those specified in the treaty. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the World Health Organization were empowered to add, remove, and transfer drugs among the treaty's four Schedules of controlled substances. The International Narcotics Control Board was put in charge of administering controls on drug production, international trade, and dispensation. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime was delegated the Board's day-to-day work of monitoring the situation in each country and working with national authorities to ensure compliance with the Single Convention. This treaty has since been supplemented by the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, which controls LSD, ecstasy, and other mind-altering pharmaceuticals, and the Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, which strengthens provisions against money laundering and other drug-related offenses.
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