Against WHO advice, China pushing for ketamine scheduling

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Against WHO advice, China pushing for ketamine scheduling

6 February 2015

A controversial proposal to restrict the availability of ketamine internationally has surfaced in the preliminary meetings ahead of the upcoming Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) meeting in March.

The latest push has come from China who want the drug placed in Schedule I of the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances. This is the most restrictive category for substances under which they are deemed to have no medical use.

In a statement at the CND Intersessional on January 29, China argued that, "According to the [International Narcotics Control Board] INCB report in 2013, ketamine is the most widely abused non-controlled substance in Asia ... Illicit ketamine production and use in China has created major political and health problems."

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