Who Expert Committee on Drug Dependence

This report presents the recommendations of the forty-first WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD). The ECDD is responsible for the assessment of psychoactive substances for possible scheduling under the International Drug Control Conventions. The ECDD reviews the therapeutic usefulness, the liability for abuse and dependence, and the public health and social harm of each substance. The ECDD will advise the Director-General of WHO to schedule or to amend the scheduling status of a substance. The Director-General will, as appropriate, communicate the recommendations to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who will in turn communicate the advice to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. The report summarizes the findings of the forty-first meeting at which the Committee reviewed 16 substances and made recommendations. The report also contains updates from international bodies concerned with controlled substances.