News In Brief

UN drug panel OKs curbs on drugs for tranquilizers

The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs approved international controls Tuesday on a wide range of drugs used in making the world's most commonly consumed tranquilizers.

The substances will now be scheduled under international drug control treaties, subjecting their movement to rigorous monitoring and their medical distribution to prescription.

Pharmaceutical companies from all over the world lobbied concertedly before the vote to limit the controls, which they believe could harm their business interests.

The commission voted at a special session to schedule 33 substances. The vote was taken on a substance-by-substance basis, with some items approved only by a very thin voting margin.