In response to the further worsening of the drug situation, Members of the German Bundestag and the Federal Government soon afterwards submitted various initiatives for a complete revision of the narcotics law. These initiatives evolved into a body of reforms that included a completely new "Act to Regulate the Trade in Narcotics" (Narcotics Act - BtMG) that was passed almost unanimously by the German Bundestag on 28th July 1981 and entered into force on 1st January 1982. It is the central German law governing narcotics although it has been amended several times meanwhile (see below).