For information only - not an official document

UNIS/NAR/1076
4 May 2010

International Narcotics Control Board Elects
Professor Hamid Ghodse of Iran as President

VIENNA, 4 May (UN Information Service) - Professor Hamid Ghodse was elected the new President of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) at the beginning of its 98th session. Professor Ghodse is an international drug control expert from Iran, Professor of Psychiatry and International Drug Policy at the University of London and the Director of the International Centre for Drug Policy at St. George's Medical School.

Professor Ghodse has been a member of the INCB since 1992 and has already served as President of the Board in the years, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005 and 2008. He has served as a director and consultant for a number of regional addiction treatment and research bodies in the United Kingdom as well as an expert and advisor for a number of international forums. He is the editor of "International Psychiatry" and member of the editorial board of several scientific periodicals on psychiatry, substance misuse and addiction. He is also the author of over 300 scientific books and papers on drug-related issues and addiction, including "Ghodse's Drugs and Addictive Behaviour: A Guide to Treatment", Fourth edition, Cambridge Unviversity Press 2010.

The Board also elected Carola Lander (Germany) as First Vice-President, Sri Suryawati (Indonesia) as Second Vice-President and Chair of the Standing Committee on Estimates and Raymond Yans (Belgium) as Rapporteur. The officers serve in their individual expert capacity and are elected for a one-year term.

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The Vienna-based Board is an independent body, established by the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs to monitor and support governments' compliance with the international drug control treaties. Its 13 members are elected by the Economic and Social Council to serve in their individual capacities for a term of five years.

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For further information, please contact:

INCB Secretariat
Telephone (+43-1) 26060-4163
Email: secretariat@incb.org
Website: www.incb.org