Drug use coming under control, says UN
Wednesday, 22 August 2007
Frances Williams
GLOBAL efforts to combat the production and use of illicit drugs are succeeding in bringing drug abuse under control, the United Nations drugs agency said in a report published recently.
"Recent data show that the runaway train of drug addiction has slowed down," said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
"For almost all drugs - cocaine, heroin, cannabis and amphetamines - there are signs of overall stability, whether we speak of production, trafficking or consumption."
The report, which covers 2005-06, estimates that about 200m people - nearly 5.0 per cent of the world population aged 15-64 - use illegal drugs. However, it puts the number of "problem drug users", most heroin or cocaine addicts, at just 25m.
Heroin and cocaine use globally appears to have stabilised, though the report says declining cocaine consumption in the US has been offset by alarming increases in Europe. Meanwhile, cannabis production and consumption have levelled off for the first time in decades.
On the supply side there has been a steady increase in drug seizures, last year accounting for an estimated 42 per cent of global cocaine production and 26 per cent of heroin.
Despite these successes, drug trafficking remains the prime magnet for organised crime, the agency says, with a market valued at an estimated $322bn (£161bn, euro239bn) annually against $32bn for human trafficking and about $1.0bn for firearms.
The report's optimistic tone is muted by developments in Afghanistan, where a "dramatic" 50 per cent jump in opium production far outweighed the rapidly declining contribution of south-east Asia's "Golden Triangle". Production in Afghanistan, which now supplies more than 90 per cent of the world market, is concentrated in the southern provinces where the Taliban insurgency is strongest, the report notes.
Under syndication arrangement with FE
GLOBAL efforts to combat the production and use of illicit drugs are succeeding in bringing drug abuse under control, the United Nations drugs agency said in a report published recently.
"Recent data show that the runaway train of drug addiction has slowed down," said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
"For almost all drugs - cocaine, heroin, cannabis and amphetamines - there are signs of overall stability, whether we speak of production, trafficking or consumption."
The report, which covers 2005-06, estimates that about 200m people - nearly 5.0 per cent of the world population aged 15-64 - use illegal drugs. However, it puts the number of "problem drug users", most heroin or cocaine addicts, at just 25m.
Heroin and cocaine use globally appears to have stabilised, though the report says declining cocaine consumption in the US has been offset by alarming increases in Europe. Meanwhile, cannabis production and consumption have levelled off for the first time in decades.
On the supply side there has been a steady increase in drug seizures, last year accounting for an estimated 42 per cent of global cocaine production and 26 per cent of heroin.
Despite these successes, drug trafficking remains the prime magnet for organised crime, the agency says, with a market valued at an estimated $322bn (£161bn, euro239bn) annually against $32bn for human trafficking and about $1.0bn for firearms.
The report's optimistic tone is muted by developments in Afghanistan, where a "dramatic" 50 per cent jump in opium production far outweighed the rapidly declining contribution of south-east Asia's "Golden Triangle". Production in Afghanistan, which now supplies more than 90 per cent of the world market, is concentrated in the southern provinces where the Taliban insurgency is strongest, the report notes.
Under syndication arrangement with FE