On its 50th meeting held in Vienna from 12-16 March 2007 the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) of the UN decided against a rescheduling of dronabinol (THC), the main active principle of cannabis, from Schedule II to Schedule III of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, as it was proposed by the Expert Committee of the World Health Organisation (WHO) at its meeting in 2006.

The WHO stated that the substance has a moderate therapeutic usefulness and as a result of continuing clinical research, its medical use is likely to increase. It found that Schedule III is more appropriate and that its present listing in Schedule II is outdated. The WHO estimated the abuse risk for dronabinol to be very low. However, in the notification process of the CND meeting several countries and in particular the US were strongly opposed to rescheduling. In addition, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) of the UN spoke out against the WHO recommendation in its 2006 Annual Report and at the CND plenary. According to the Board, there have been reports of its abuse in a country in which it is prescribed most, meaning the US. However, the US in its extensive written comments to the WHO on dronabinol had mentioned only "low levels of diversion and abuse".

In the oral statements only two out of 15 speakers expressed themselves in favour of the proposed rescheduling. Several speakers questioned the scientific basis of the recommendation. The lack of support was a remarkable difference with the written replies the WHO had received in past months, where 11 out of 13 countries had made clear they had no objections to the proposed rescheduling. Canada was at least honest in its rejection, commending the WHO for its "excellent expert advice", the validity of which they did not question, but making clear that for other considerations the government could not support rescheduling because it "may send a confusing message with regard to the risks associated to cannabis use".

More information on the debate on dronabinol at the CND 2007 Meeting is available in a report by the International Drug Policy Consortium at: http://www.idpc.info/docs/IDPC_Report_5.pdf

(Source: IDPC Report of the CND Meeting of March 2007)