The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) was established in 1968 as the monitoring body for the implementation of the United Nations international drug control conventions. Tensions have arisen about the way the INCB performs its duties and about its legal interpretation of the conventions which many feel goes beyond its mandate.
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INCB Watch
The objective of INCB Watch is to promote the transparency and accountability of the International Narcotics Control Board, by publishing news, publications and commentary about its activities. -
IDPC response to the 2015 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board
International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC)
September 2016
The Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB or Board) for 2015 is, like the broader international drug policy debate, coloured by what was then the approaching United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on the world drug problem of April 2016. A number of key themes are reflected in the Report, including the abolition of the death penalty for drug-related offences; the defence of the international drug control conventions, and the availability of controlled drugs for medical and scientific uses. This might be summarised in what the President terms in his Foreword ‘the right way in drug policy’.
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Download the report (PDF) -
The other opioid crisis – people in poor countries can’t get the pain medication they need
The INCB worried that too many opioid prescriptions could lead to abuse
The Conversation (US)
Friday, March 25, 2016
Hospitals in the U.S. and Europe routinely prescribe opioids for chronic cancer pain, end-of-life palliative care and some forms of acute pain, like bone fractures, sickle cell crises and burns. But patients with these conditions in much of Asia, Africa and Latin America often receive painkillers no stronger than acetaminophen. Many factors play into this crisis, but I would argue that the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), an independent monitoring agency established by the U.N., is a fundamental cause of untreated pain in Asia, Africa and Latin America. -
IDPC response to the 2014 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board
International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC)
October 2015
The advent of regulated cannabis markets in Uruguay and some US states over the past few years has constituted a profound shock to the international drug control regime, with the differing views representing a fragmentation of the drug control regime. This has been largely met with a collective denial, not only in relation to cannabis but to Novel Psychoactive Substances (NPS), the internet, access to essential medicines, the centrality of health and human rights in drug control, and the fast-approaching 2016 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) on drugs.
READ MORE...Download the report (PDF - outside link) -
Dr. Lochan Naidoo - A frank conversation about drugs
International Doctors for Healthier Drug Policies (IDHDP)
Monday, March 30, 2015
The President of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), Dr Lochan Naidoo, became a member of International Doctors for Healthier Drug Policies (IDHDP) while attending CND 2015 in Vienna and calls his colleagues to assume a core role in drug policy, which should be considered a health issue. -
UN drugs body warns US states and Uruguay over cannabis legalisation
International Narcotics Control Board report says US and Uruguay are breaking drug treaties and warns of huge rise in abuse of ADHD treatment Ritalin
The Guardian (UK)
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
The United Nations has renewed its warnings to Uruguay and the US states of Colorado and Washington that their cannabis legalisation policies fail to comply with the international drug treaties. The annual report from the UN’s International Narcotics Control Board, which is responsible for policing the drug treaties, said it would send a high-level mission to Uruguay, which became the first country to legalise the production, distribution, sale and consumption of cannabis for recreational purposes.
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IDPC response to the 2013 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board
International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC)
August 2014
The publication of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) Report for 2013 took place in the context of major shifts in the drug policy landscape. Uruguay became the world’s first country to legally regulate the market for recreational cannabis, while the US states of Washington and Colorado also began the process of establishing structures for regulating their domestic cannabis markets. These measures represent a seismic shift for the international drug control system and the three treaties that underpin it.
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INCB speaks out against death penalty
The Board does not decide whether cannabis should be downgraded in the schedules
Martin JelsmaWednesday, March 5, 2014
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UN’s International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) unprecedented condemnation of the use of death penalty for drug-related offences is welcome if long overdue. The bigger question is whether INCB’s consideration of human rights can be extended into a proper human rights and evidence-based examination of UN’s entire drug control regime. -
Time for UN to open up dialogue on drug policy reform and end counter-productive blame-game
Press release by TNI/GDPO
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
As the UN International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) launches its annual report on Tuesday, 4 March, amidst an unprecedented crisis in the international drug control regime, leading drug policy reform experts have called on the INCB and related UN institutions to urgently open up a constructive dialogue on international drug policy reform.
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INCB vs Uruguay: the art of diplomacy
INCB President Yans disqualified himself and should consider stepping down
Martin JelsmaTuesday, December 17, 2013
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International tensions over Uruguay’s decision to regulate the cannabis market reached new levels when Raymond Yans, president of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), accused Uruguay of negligence with regard to public health concerns, deliberately blocking dialogue attempts and having a "pirate attitude" towards the UN conventions. President Mujica reacted angrily, declaring that someone should "tell that guy to stop lying," while Milton Romani, ambassador to the Organisation of American States (OAS), said that Yans "should consider resigning because this is not how you treat sovereign states."
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