Drug Control

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27 June 2006
Afghan Opium Cultivation, Cannabis Use Top Illicit Drug Problems

By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent

United Nations -- Opium cultivation in Afghanistan and the growth of cannabis use are the two dark spots in an otherwise positive report on the worldwide fight against drug abuse and illicit trafficking, according to a U.N. report released June 26 in Washington.

The 2006 World Drug Report, issued on the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking said that nations have succeeded in containing both the supply and demand for three of the four basic narcotic drugs -- heroin, cocaine, and amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) -- but the fourth drug, cannabis, is "out of control," said Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Cannabis is erroneously considered "a light drug," Costa said at a press conference on the release of the report.   It is a serious problem because it is "a gate-opener for everything else."

Cannabis is not just a gateway, but a "dead end" for many people who then go one to use other drugs and use a variety of drugs, added John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control.   He said that in the United States, the majority of people treated for dependency or abuse of illegal drugs are dependent on cannabis -- or marijuana, as it is called in the United States.

In the United States, at least 5 million 12- to 17-year-olds have used marijuana at least once in their lives, and 20 percent -- or 1 million   -- have gone on to become dependent or an abuser, Walters said.

Cannabis is cultivated on a commercial basis in only four areas:   Morocco, Afghanistan, the Sinai and the Bekaa Valley, Costa said.     But supplies are "out of control" because "it's a weed, it grows everywhere," especially throughout Africa.

Costa also warned that cannabis is now considerably more potent than a few decades ago.   Evidence is mounting that cannabis can cause serious mental illness, he said.   "Today the harmful characteristics of cannabis are no longer that different from those of other plant-based drugs such as cocaine and heroin," he said.

Nevertheless, the World Drug Report shows that "the world working together has successfully contained the drug problem in many dimensions," Costa said.

DECLINE IN WORLDWIDE OPIUM CULTIVATION CITED

The UNODC executive director called the decline in opium cultivation worldwide "magnificent."   Between 2004 and 2005 there was a 23 percent drop in cultivation in large part due to declines in the so-called Golden Triangle area of Asia.   The exception is Afghanistan, which is currently the major producer of opium.   However, in 2005 opium poppy cultivation decreased for the first time since 2001, with the area under cultivation down by 21 percent.

Curbing the Afghan opium trade "requires a broad-based comprehensive effort that includes robust eradication and interdiction programs, alternative economic development and livelihoods, a strengthened justice sector and a public outreach campaign" as an international effort, said Anne Patterson, U.S. assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs.   (See related article.)

The report "reminds us that we have developed a strong international consensus that the drug trade threatens all nations and it is our mutual responsibility to combat drug cultivation, trafficking, and abuse," Patterson said.

Heroin use has increased throughout Russia, the Far East and South Asia. There has been a significant increase in Africa because traffickers are using African routes to get heroin into Europe and are paying for services in drugs that are then sold on the local market, according to the report.

COCA CULTIVATION

Coca cultivation is another success story, Costa said.   The decline started about six years ago and is down 28 percent overall, mostly due to a 50 percent decline in cultivation in Colombia.

However, he warned that cocaine demand is rising to alarming levels in Western Europe, and he urged the European Union not to ignore the danger.   "Too many professional, educated Europeans use cocaine, often denying their addiction, and drug abuse by celebrities is often presented uncritically by the media, leaving young people confused and vulnerable," he said.

The report said that there are signs that drug use has stabilized with the total number of drug users worldwide now at some 200 million, or about 5 percent of the population between the ages of 15 and 64.

"Overall, this is a good news story; 95 percent of the world's population doesn't use drugs," said Karen Tandy, administrator of the U.S.   Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Two challenges for the DEA, she said, are methamphetamine and Afghan opium.

The DEA is working with other countries to stop the flow of precursor chemicals and has been successful in several major cases.  For example, a partnership with Panama, Mexico and Hong Kong was able to stop the flow of precursor chemicals to Mexico.   In another instance, targeting chemical suppliers out of Canada resulted in the shutting down of the vast majority of methamphetamine super labs in the U.S., Tandy said.

"The world must take note of the movement of chemicals and the methamphetamine issue" and share more information, she said.

The 2006 World Drug Report is available at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Web site.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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