GENEVA, Switzerland – February 2015: WHO released the report of the thirty-sixth meeting of the Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD), which took place in Geneva, Switzerland from 16 to 20 June 2014. The ECDD’s main task is to carry out medical and scientific evaluations of the abuse liability of dependence-producing drugs falling within the terms of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. It then makes recommendations to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs on the control measures, if any, that it considers appropriate. At the June 2014 ECDD meeting, the following new psychoactive substances were critically reviewed and recommended for scheduling:

-) Schedule I of the 1961 Convention: AH-7921 (an opioid receptor agonist)
-) Schedule I of the 1971 Convention: 1,4-Butanediol (1,4-BD; already pre-reviewed 2012), 25B-NBOMe, 25C-NBOMe and 25I-NBOMe
-) Schedule II of the 1971 Convention: N-Benzylpiperazine (BZP; pre-reviewed in 2012), JWH-018, AM-2201, Mephedrone (4-MMC), 3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and Methylone (bk-MDMA)

Additionally to the 11 above-mentioned NPS, the ECDD recommended gamma-Butyrolactone (GBL; already pre-reviewed in 2012) for Schedule I of the 1971 Convention. Eleven substances were recommended for surveillance, mainly because of the current paucity of data regarding dependence, abuse and risks to public health: Tapentadol, JWH-073, UR-144, APINACA (AKB-48), RSC-4, JWH-250, 4-Methylethcathinone (4-MEC), 4-Fluoromethcathinone (Flephedrone, 4-FMC), alpha-Methyltryptamine (AMT), Methoxetamine and Methiopropamine (MPA).

For further information please see:
http://www.who.int/medicines/areas/quality_safety/36thecddmeet/en/
http://www.who.int/medicines/areas/quality_safety/TRS_991_prelayout_c.pdf?ua=1