ABSTRACT
International legislation to control the production and supply of harmful psychoactive drugs started with the International Opium Convention of 1912, but the first significant treaty to explicitly mention protecting or improving the health of drug users was the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961, which established the modern international legal framework for drug control. Possession for personal use of any illicit drug may be a criminal offence, a non-criminal offence, or either, depending on the drug involved. Changing the legal status of the offence is perhaps the most significant step for legislators, and this has happened in Portugal, Luxembourg, Croatia and Malta. The public health approach in the field of drugs is also embodied in the United Nations drug conventions, in particular in the option of giving 'alternatives to punishment', measures such as 'treatment, education, aftercare, rehabilitation and social reintegration'.
