Over the last century, a worldwide system for control of drugs
of abuse has developed gradually through the adoption of a
series of international treaties. The important multilateral
conventions currently in force are the Single Convention on
Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as amended by the 1972 Protocol; the
Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971 and, adopted in
1988, the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in
Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. Each successive
treaty brought complementary regulations and advances in
international law. From the beginning, the basic aim of the
international drug control treaties has been to limit the use of
drugs to medical and scientific purposes only. A computer-based
system, Computer and Telecommunication System for International
and National Drug Control (NDS), has been designed and is
available to facilitate management and control over licit
movements of psychoactive drugs and precursor chemicals and to
enhance timeliness of information exchange at t