Ambassador Roberta Lajous.

Why has Mexico taken such an active role in the General Assembly Special Session on the World Drug Problem?

It was a Mexican initiative and one we are very proud of. The real trigger came during the presidential campaign of Ernesto Zedillo, who grasped just how big a problem drugs were becoming for Mexico and for the world. So he began in his foreign policy speeches to stress the need to convene a world conference on illicit drugs. That was in mid-1994. Then he was elected and took office on 1 December that year. Well, the first thing he had to face was Mexico's financial crisis - something which fortunately is now behind us.

As soon as the crisis settled, in 1995, the Mexican Foreign Ministry set about working towards arranging a summit on drugs. Unfortunately, by then, several important summits had already been organized by the United Nations, starting with the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. That was followed by others, including the Human Rights Conference in Vienna in 1993, the Population Conference in Cairo in 1994, and in 1995 the Conference on Women in Beijing and the Social Summit in Copenhagen. So, by the end of 1995, the world, and particularly the United States, was experiencing a kind of "summit fatigue". The general feeling was that it was not a very convenient time to call for another global summit-level meeting. Perhaps expectations had been raised too high. Still, Mexico remained convinced that we had to work towards a conference of world leaders, aimed mainly at the promotion of better understanding and wider cooperation in the fight against drugs.

With regards to better understanding and cooperation, and you're talking on a global level, what is the general hope of what will be coming out of the Special Session in June?

First of all, a greater awareness of the drug problem. Unfortunately, the problem has grown at a fantastic rate over the last ten years since the last international attempt here in Vienna to summarize and bring together under one convention different legal instruments designed to fight illicit drugs and prevent their spread. It's striking to see how fast drug abuse has spread to new countries, to new population groups. Also, new drugs have been developed since 1988, especially in the class of"synthetic drugs" that were just making their appearance ten years ago. So, really, what we have now is a new and different situation, but we don't have enough information on it.

I would say the first task of the Special Session would be to build better awareness of the problem and to gather better information about its nature. The second task would be to see if we have the necessary legal instruments to promote the global cooperation needed to fight this phenomenon.

Unfortunately, there is no country in the world today that can disassociate itself from the problem of drugs, be it production, transit or consumption. Moreover, it is no longer a situation where you can pinpoint which ones are producers, which are transiting and which are consumers, since more and more countries are becoming all three. Those which were traditionally producers are now becoming major consumers. Those which were consumers are now producing precursors and synthetic drugs for export; they do not have the capacity to produce plant-based drugs. And those countries which were used primarily for transit are now becoming consumers or producers themselves. So, the complexity of the drug problem has increased; its magnitude has increased; and the instruments of international cooperation meant to fight this problem have to be updated.

Ties between terrorist groups, arms traffickers, drug cartels, etc., seem to be expanding and crossing borders all over the world ...

Drugs, terrorism, arms trafficking - yes, all these illicit activities end up somehow tied to one another. Certainly, that's one of the reasons why here in Vienna we have drug control and crime prevention together, in terms of the United Nations work.

... and the problems related to drugs often seem to move from one place to another. Is it Mexico's hope for the Special Session that it will try to address various key issues as they relate to drugs on a truly global level?

Exactly, so that it can be addressed at the different stages and in the different aspects simultaneously. If you only address the problem of production in one country, it will simply move to another. If you only address one part of a very complex chain, you will not advance much. Because the money and the power of those seeking to profit from the drug trade is so large that they can very easily move shop from one place to another. If you stop the laundering of money in one country, those resources will simply shift to another. All countries would have to take serious, coordinated measures against money laundering if we are to be truly successful in this area, as just one example.

There have been ongoing efforts over the century, beginning with the 1908 Shanghai Conference, to address the issue of drugs on a global scale. there today, in your assessment, the will and interest on the part of the international community to make such an effort?

Certainly. There is the will because every country realizes that it cannot fight the problem on its own. No country is capable of getting rid of whatever symptom of the drug problem it has and, as I said, more and more countries are experiencing all of the symptoms. So, there is a greater international awareness that the interdependence in this matter is also growing: interdependence in production, in transit, in consumption and in the means that are needed to fight each stage of the problem.

Could you expand on that, with regard to Mexico's own policies on demand and supply reduction?

Well, for example, Mexico has had for many, many years a very effective policy for the elimination of both marijuana and opium poppy cultivation - marijuana and heroin being the main drugs we have produced over the years. But as with every other country, we have also seen increasing consumption on the part of the population and, although it may not be as alarming or as big a problem as some other countries unfortunately experience, still we have developed very consistent and very widespread demand reduction policies targetedat various affected groups, according to age, sex, social strata, activity, etc. Pino Arlacchi [Executive Director, United Nations International Drug Control Programme] visited Mexico in December, where I accompanied him to our Ministry of Health, which is responsible for our demand reduction policies. He was impressed by the consistency and quality of these policies. And certainly in the session we had here in Vienna last year, some of our Mexican experts were very helpful in bringing to the meeting what experience and lessons they have in this field.

Are some of Mexico's experiences applicable also in other parts of the world?

Yes, certainly. For instance, in our case, as a result of our social structure, we always deal with the problem of drugs as it relates to the whole family. We think the whole family has to be involved. In Mexico, families are very tight, very close - but it's obviously not the only country in the world where this is true. Many countries are like this.

We've recently seen steps taken to strengthen regional drug efforts, perhaps in recognition of the fact that no one country can solve the problem alone, as you've already mentioned. Such efforts are being undertaken in Central Asia, the Baltic States, in Africa. What about efforts in the Americas?

We have a special commission to fight drugs in the Organization of American States; it's called Commision Interamericana para el Control del Abuso de Drogas, or CICAD. And we have been very successful in dealing with drug-related crime regionally. We have been able to work very well together because of the similarity of the problems that countries in the region face. Last year, one of its great successes was the signing by all countries of the Americas - from Canada to Chile - of an agreement to fight illegal arms trafficking. It was a very important victory in the war against drugs.

You have spoken of Mexico's successes infighting drugs. Still, there are a lot of people out there who feel that this so-called "war on drugs" - however one terms it - is not winnable. It is a matter of human nature, of the mechanism of addiction, of the law of supply and demand and, therefore, it is impossible to "win".

This attitude exists, but is a very dangerous one. We really have to launch a strong effort now; otherwise, we may eventually come to a point where the "war on drugs" will be lost. Fortunately, we are not there yet. We can still take action, and now's the time to do it. All our experience shows that when Governments put themselves into gear to reduce production, reduce traffic and reduce demand, they actually do produce results. It's just that we have to have the political will to do it, and that's what we're trying to achieve through this Special Session of the General Assembly - to boost the morale and will of Governments to fight drugs. It can be done, it should be done, it's a moral war we can't afford to lose.

Fact: Mexico's efforts in strengthening drug trafficking authorities led to the arrest of ever 11,000 persons between September 1996 and August 1997 and to the seizure of nearly 24 tonnes of cocaine in 1996.

RELATED ARTICLE: On the Most Important Issues at the Special Session

There are certainly some themes which have been considered since the days of the Shanghai Conference, but there are also some very new ones that are being approached in new ways. One of the most innovative of these is the issue of demand reduction. Last year, I happened to chair the intergovernmental working group on demand reduction, which produced a document about to be considered by the PrepCom(*) and eventually by the Special Session.

[* The Commission on Narcotic Drugs acts as Preparatory Committee for the Special Session. The Commission subsequently met in Vienna from 16 to 20 March 1998 and recommended the adoption of the General Assembly of that document: the draft "Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction."]

The draft Declaration on drug demand reduction is a very significant document in which, for the first time, all countries not only would agree that they have to fight production in those countries where such things exist, but also that they have to fight consumption. It is not a problem that exists in the abstract; it is one that has become a real social problem which Governments have to address, in one way or another.

During the intergovernmental working group's meeting, there was a very effective and interesting exchange of information and views, both on how different countries deal with this problem and which methods have been the most successful, and on creating a consensus of policies that should be adopted by countries in order to reduce demand. Internationally, the problem of illicit drugs has traditionally been seen as one of production - the "guilty" countries were those that produced. But now there is a clear tendency to look at both ends of the problem. Of course, production has to be fought and every effort has to be made to reduce or abolish it, but at the same time we know that the problem is also one of supply and demand. So, realistically, something has to be done also at the other end - the demand side. I feel it's a very important development that greater awareness and consciousness about this issue has taken root in the last several years. And you can see this in the number of Heads of State of Government who are committing themselves to attend the Special Session, which, while not called a summit, will be one in reality - and hopefully will foster a global consciousness of the problem.

Ms. Lajous is Mexico's Ambassador to Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia and Croatia, and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Vienna. She has published widely on international affairs, and is a columnist for Reforma, a leading daily in Mexico City. Her most important work is a book on the Foreign Policy of Porfirio Diaz (1876-1910), published by the Mexican Senate in 1990.