The authors begin their analysis by explaining that although alcohol was the first psychoactive substance to be subject to international control, it was also the first psychoactive substance to be removed from international control. Evidence suggests that in our increasingly global world, national level controls over alcohol have been considerably weakened. International trade agreements have significantly contributed to the weakening of alcohol trade controls. The main argument is that the provisions of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) could be readily adapted to provide for international trade controls over alcohol. The authors further contend that the discussion in the World Health Assembly about the need for an international convention on alcohol is itself likely to have a positive effect on alcohol control since evidence indicates that public discourse and debate over policy is as important to implementing change as the policy itself. The implementation of an alcohol convention will also likely have concrete and significant effects on legal international trade and markets that deal in psychoactive substances. As illustration, the author shows how the international drug control conventions were not particularly effective in suppressing the sale of illegal drugs but did have significant impacts on the licit pharmaceutical trade, particularly in terms of global barbiturate use. Thus, while the primary purpose of an alcohol convention would be to solve problems regarding cross border trade, the strongest impact of such conventions may be felt at the national and sub-national levels. References