The WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence (ECDD) met in Geneva from 28 to 31 March 2006. It recommended that dronabinol (THC) should be rescheduled from Schedule II to the less restrictive Schedule III of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances of the United Nations. This recommendation will be made to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND), which may accept or reject this recommendation.

Dronabinol is the international non-proprietary name (INN) for THC, a natural cannabinoid in the cannabis plant, which is mainly responsible for its psychological and most of its therapeutic effects. Dronabinol was included in Schedule I of the 1971 Convention at the time of its adoption. It was rescheduled to Schedule II by the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in 1991.

According to the ECDD the abuse of dronabinol is currently rare and there have been very few specific reports of its occurrence. Dronabinol preparations have been used in several countries in the treatment of nausea and vomiting associated with cancer chemotherapy and in the treatment of anorexia associated with weight loss in patients with AIDS. It has also been indicated in the treatment of chronic pain and neurological disorders.

The ECDD report on its 2006 meeting is available at: http://www.who.int/entity/medicines/areas/quality_safety/WHO_TRS_942.pdf

(Source: Information by ECDD of 29 January 2007)