When narcotic drugs abuse increased in Germany at the end of the 1960's, the legal situation with regard to drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking was still subject to the Opium Act of 1929. Therefore, a new Narcotics Act [1] (German: "Betäubungsmittelgesetz") was adopted in 1971. It was based on the so-called Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 as well as on the draft of the new Convention of 1971 on Psychotropic Substances. The standard term "narcotics" used in the text below comprises all narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances within the meaning of the aforementioned international drug conventions.