At the Madrid Airport, the pc that a friend lent me stopped working. It was kind of funny, I mean, travelling was an exciting concept, and maybe that poor machine couldn’t handle that kind of stress. Not only was this my very first trip to Europe, the purpose for travelling was exciting in and of itself: attending the 55th meeting of the United Nations (UN) Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND). What is that, you ask? That is the place were international drug policy is made at the highest level. The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is the document that endures as the cornerstone of global drug policy, and was adopted by all UN members. In the local context this can be a major obstacle to reform national drug policies, the reason being that many times national governments are afraid: if they reform their own drug policy in any way outside the parameters of the Single Convention they could be banned from the international agreements made in the UN. This is not an unfounded fear, as recent history has shown us in the case of Bolivia and their attempt to endorse the Single Convention with a reserve concern on coca leaf for cultural use. Simply put, the UN is where real decisions are made.