The International Standards for the Treatment of Drug Use Disorders, developed by UNODC and WHO, provide guidance for countries to strengthen evidence-based, ethical and effective treatment systems. They are designed for policymakers, health professionals and service providers, offering a framework to improve the organisation, delivery and quality of care for people living with drug use disorders. The Standards outline essential components of treatment, emphasising approaches that mirror the care of other chronic health conditions, and highlight the importance of progressive quality...

Psychoactive substances are regulated under three key United Nations conventions, agreed by Member States to safeguard public health and prevent illegal drug production:

• 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs – focused on substances such as cannabis, cocaine and opium.

• 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances – introduced controls on newer psychoactive drugs, including amphetamine-type stimulants (e.g. MDMA), barbiturates, benzodiazepines and hallucinogens like LSD.

• 1988 Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances – targeted the...

The 2024 Feedback Survey gathered valuable insights from users of the UN Toolkit on Synthetic Drugs. Running from January to December 2024, it assessed user experiences, explored how Toolkit resources are applied, and identified areas for growth.

This year saw record participation, with 323 respondents from 63 countries—a small but meaningful share of the Toolkit’s 300,000+ unique users. Increased response rates were driven by targeted engagement, including early access to new modules, multilingual outreach, interactive demonstrations, and direct communication with the Toolkit team.

Building...

Similar to controlled narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, precursors and chemicals often appear under a wide range of names in commerce and technical literature. This makes the work of national and international drug control authorities more complex. To support these efforts, a series of multilingual dictionaries have been developed.

The first multilingual list of controlled substances was published in 1958, focusing only on narcotic drugs. In 1983, the first edition of the Multilingual Dictionary of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances under International Control (MLD) was...