U.N. REPORT WARNS OF COUNTERFEIT DRUG DANGERS

The Vienna, Austria-based U.N. International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has issued a report warning of the unregulated sales of both controlled and counterfeit drugs.

The report warns that unofficial drug sales, due to a lack of standards, result in substandard and even lethal medications going to unsuspecting customers. The drugs sold on the black market are often stolen from legitimate healthcare centers or retailers, illicitly manufactured or sold illegally on the internet.

To combat this problem, the INCB urges countries to adopt at least one of the three main drug control treaties — the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (as amended by the 1972 Protocol), the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances and the 1988 Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances — as well to as implement effective policies to combat the production and sale of counterfeit drugs.