- United Nations on Psychedelics. The World Drug Report 2023 and the Renewed Interest in Psychotropics Substances - August 24, 2023
- Old Uses of Peyote in Traditional Mexican Medicine and its Inclusion in Official Pharmacopeia - July 5, 2023
- We Must Continue Calling the Cannabis Plant “Marijuana” - February 19, 2018
The psychedelic renaissance is one of the main topics of the most important report about psychoactive substances of this year. The World Drug Report published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime included a booklet about studies and trials conducted on psilocybin, MDMA, and DMT that included information on microdosing, changes in the legal status of some of these plants and substances, as well the traditional, spiritual, and non-medical uses of psychedelics.
International Drug Control
The United Nations is a broad international system made up of agencies, programs, funds, and treaties on various topics, one of which being the control of psychoactive substances.
For international drug control there are three conventions: the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, the Convention on Psychotropic Substances of 1971, and the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988. The Convention of 1971 represented a new era on drug control, which placed curiously stricter control on psychedelics than it did on depressants and stimulants.1
THE Convention of 1971 represented a new era on drug control, which placed curiously stricter control on psychedelics than it did on depressants and stimulants.
For monitoring the conventions there are several international organizations. The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is the central forum for discussing and formulating policy recommendation, including drug policies. This council established the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in 1946 to assist on the supervision of the application of the international drug control treaties. The council meets annually to consider and adopt a range of decisions and resolutions.
Additionally, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) monitors the implementation of the conventions, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has examined psychoactive substances in order to place them on different control lists. The WHO has also defined the medical disorders that are associated with drug use. Lastly, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has the mission to make the world safer from drugs, crime, corruptions, and terrorism. To generate information on the consumption and trafficking of controlled substances since 1997, it has published the World Drug Report (WDR).2
The World Drug Report 2023
The last WDR mentioned that, as of 2021, 296 million people worldwide had used a drug—cannabis being the most-used drug—and highlighted the harm of drug use disorders. Booklet Two, “Contemporary Issues,” included information related to cannabis, synthetic drugs, the Amazon Basin—where the convergence of drug crime and crimes that affect the environment pose a threat to natural and human ecosystems—and “Recent Developments Involving Psychedelics.”
The report defines psychedelics as a “diverse group of substances that induce distorted states of consciousness, perception, thinking and feeling, accompanied by different degrees of auditory or visual hallucinations.”
The report defines psychedelics as a “diverse group of substances that induce distorted states of consciousness, perception, thinking and feeling, accompanied by different degrees of auditory or visual hallucinations” and classified them in the following three categories: classic hallucinogens (LSD, DMT, psilocybin and mescaline), entactogens (MDMA), and dissociative anesthetics (phencyclidine, ketamine). It mentioned that in recent years there has been a renewed interest in the therapeutic use of some of these substances.
The WDR mentioned that the Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971) called for international control of psychedelics, most of them in Schedule 1; some exceptions were made for traditional uses, and only active compounds, such as mescaline and psilocybin, are under control, not the natural species. However, there is now evidence that prohibition of psychedelics has brought lasting and harmful consequences to Indigenous communities, including limitations on traditional uses, as well as other types of violence derived from the war on drugs and the disregard of our right to cognitive liberty, which is the right to alter our own consciousness. Some national legislations have gone so far as to specifically ban traditional plant medicines. For example, legislation in Mexico (2021) has banned endemic species—including the Lophophora williamsii, Psilocybe, Conocybe, and varieties of psychoactive mushrooms—that are used for traditional purposes.3
Related to spiritual and traditional uses, the report rightly addresses that renewed interest in psychedelics is related to an increase in tourism, cultural appropriation of traditional medicines, and a lack of recognition of sacred and traditional practices; as well as other risks that have been documented on retreats, such as sexual abuse and deficiency of preparation in facilitators.
Related to spiritual and traditional uses, the report rightly addresses that renewed interest in psychedelics is related to an increase in tourism, cultural appropriation of traditional medicines, and a lack of recognition of sacred and traditional practices.
The main topic of the report is the growing body of scientific evidence related to medically-supervised uses of psychedelics, such as studies of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy for the treatment of PTSD, depression, anxiety, drug use disorders, chronic pain, and a variety of mental health problems with DMT, psilocybin, LSD, ketamine, DMT, and 5MeO-DMT. Nevertheless, the report argued that the supervised medical use of these substances is limited to experimental trials, and that there are still increasing risks related to unsupervised self-therapy or microdosing, including psychical harms, “bad trips,” and the aggravation of preexisting conditions that may precipitate a mental illness.
The WDR is the most important document about international drug policies. Published annually, the report provides critical, updated information on consumption and supply trends of controlled substances. But let’s not forget that the WDR is published by the United Nations, which has led the drug control system. Part of the UN’s job is to emphasize the risks of substances and work to combat them. Although, human rights, access to treatment, and policies based on evidence and public health are increasingly highlighted within the annual report, the UN’s mandate to eradicate drug use and highlight security has led to consequences that are still negatively affecting the psychedelic community.
The final recommendations of the 2023 report focus on how the rapid advancement of research on psychedelics is leading to changes in the perceptions of these substances, which could encourage non-medical consumption, for which, in response, they simply propose regulations that contribute to prevent the diversion of psychedelics towards unsupervised use, following the old scheme that legitimizes some uses over others.
Art by Fernanda Cervantes.
Notes
1 McAllister, William, (2000), Drug Diplomacy in the Twentieth Century. An International History, Routledge, New York, p. 234.
2 UNODC (2023), The World Drug Report, United Nations, Vienna.
3 General Law of Health (2021), México, https://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf_mov/Ley_General_de_Salud.pdf.
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