The ratification of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1971 and its transposition into national legislation in the Federal Republic of Germany.

The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, as amended by the 1972 Protocol Amending the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961, and the Convention on Psychotropic Substances 1971 have been implemented in the Federal Republic of Germany as follows: (a) No distinction is made between narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances; all substances which are controlled and non-exempted preparations containing such substances fall under the legal designation of "narcotic drugs"; (b) The same control measures as for narcotic drugs apply to all substances in Schedules II, III and IV of the 1971 Convention, i.e. control of manufacture, trade, import and distribution; (c) Under the new Narcotics Act of the Federal Republic of Germany, which entered into force on 1 January 1982, preparations containing substances listed in Schedules II and III of the 1971 Convention are subject to the same full control measures, including mandatory special prescriptions, with the exception of approximately 50 preparations from substances in Schedule III of the 1971 Convention. These 50 preparations are also subject to import, export and transit controls under the Narcotics Act; (d) The approximately 50 preparations containing substances in Schedule III of the 1971 Convention, as well as all preparations containing substances in Schedule IV of this Convention (about 340), are treated as "exempted preparations" under the Narcotics Act. These preparations, however, may only be dispensed under medical prescription which is in conformity with the provisions of article 9, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the 1971 Convention; (e) Within the meaning of the Narcotics Act, the term "exempted preparations" denotes that no mandatory special prescriptions are required for these preparations but only the normal medical prescriptions. A number of regulations of the Narcotics Act apply to these exempted preparations, including: (i) Licence of manufacture; (ii) Records of dispensing of exempted preparations by the manufacturer to the first acquirer; (iii) Import, export and transit regulations for the exempted preparations containing substances listed in Schedule III (Schedule III B in the Narcotics Act); (iv) Export bans for countries which have prohibited import.