Publisher's Synopsis
This book records the recommendations of a committee commissioned to assess data on selected psychoactive substances and issue advice on the need for their control under existing international treaties. Recommendations for control balance data on the therapeutic utility of a drug against experimental evidence of its abuse potential and direct evidence of actual cases of abuse and reports of illicit traffic.;The report opens with an evaluation of data on 34 benzodiazepines, currently controlled under the international treaties, with the aim of determining whether some of these substances should be considered for rescheduling. On the basis of trends in the pattern of abuse and reports of illicit traffic, the report concludes that 19 of these substances are appropriately controlled, and that a further 13 should be monitored continuously so as to determine whether critical review to consider their possible descheduling would be required. Of all the benzodiazepines reviewed, diazepam and flunitrazepam were singled out as showing a continuing higher incidence of abuse and association with illicit activities.;The report also assesses three additional benzodiazepines (brotizolam, etizolam, and quazepam), concluding that none of these substances would require international control at this stage.
