De-emphasising the Single Convention

The Lessons of Drug Control History
John Collins
Global Policy Journal Blog
Tuesday, October 11, 2011

There is a tendency within the civil society groups and academic writings that look at international drug control to focus heavily on the UN Single Convention of 1961. In many ways this is understandable and correct. It is the legal keystone for the international system and the basis for subsequent treaties. However, an over emphasis on the Single Convention may also serve to blur the deep historical forces at work within the system, as well as the actual nature of the 1961 Convention itself.