The Observatory on drugs was originally created in 2000 and is a part of the statistic, information and research unit of CICAD. It operates at a hemispheric level to provide comparative information on drug abuse throughout the Americas.

The National Observatory on Drugs is an integral component of the Secretariat and its primary function is to provide reliable objective and up-to-date information so that the NDC and its partner agencies can better understand and design policies and programs that addresses the drug trend on island at all levels. For this to be achieved, a Drug Information Network (DIN) must be created so that the island’s stakeholders can regularly input reliable data for it to be analyzed.