The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs was adopted in New York on 30 March 1961 and amended by a Protocol in 1972. It consolidated earlier drug control treaties into a single instrument and remains the foundation of the international drug control system, together with the Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971) and the Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988).
Core Principle
The Convention's central obligation is to limit the production, manufacture, export, import, distribution, trade, use and possession of narcotic drugs exclusively to medical and scientific purposes, while ensuring their availability for the relief of pain and suffering.
Schedules and Controls
Substances are listed in four schedules according to their dependence potential and therapeutic value, with the strictest controls applied to substances in Schedule IV. States must license manufacturers and traders, require medical prescriptions, keep records, and submit estimates and statistics to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), which monitors compliance. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs may add or remove substances from the schedules.
Treatment and Penal Provisions
States must make serious offences punishable, preferably by imprisonment, but the 1972 Protocol expressly allows treatment, education, aftercare, rehabilitation and social reintegration as alternatives or additions to punishment for persons who use drugs.
In Indonesia
Indonesia ratified the Single Convention and the 1972 Protocol by Law No. 8 of 1976, and the 1971 and 1988 Conventions by Laws No. 8 of 1996 and No. 7 of 1997. These instruments shape Law No. 35 of 2009 on Narcotics, the schedules of controlled substances, the regulation of medicines containing narcotics, and the dual approach of strict penalties for trafficking and rehabilitation for users.