Despite counter-measures, drug trade and abuse are expanding, Narcotics Board states.

Despite counter-measures, drug trade and abuse are expanding, Narcotics Board states

Abuse of drugs is spreading, the number of users is increasing and new areas of illicit drug cultivation and production have emerged, according to the 1985 Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). Despite progress over the past year in fighting the problem at national and international levels, further co-ordinated action is imperative to significantly reduce illicit supplies and drug abuse, the Board emphasizes.

A particularly "ominous development' cited in the report (E/INCB/ 1985/1), issued in January 1986, is the increasingly clear link between drug trafficking, illegal arms trade and international terrorism.

Illicit cultivation and production of drugs, according to the Board, are being financed and organized by international crime syndicates. The huge profits generated by the drug trade-- often "laundered' through legitimate enterprises--are frequently used to finance other criminal activities.

"This whole process undermines the economic and social order, spreads violence and corruption, and jeopardizes the very political stability and security of some countries', the Board declares.

Cannabis--marijuana and hashish-- remains the most widely abused drug in the world, and heroin abuse is spreading, the Board reports. The emergence and abuse of new drugs is also detailed, along with increases in the illicit production of opiates and other familiar substances.

Pointing to "even more baneful patterns' of cocaine abuse in recent years, the Board notes that cocaine is "so compellingly addictive' that it is one of the few drugs that, in studies, animals chose over food, leading to their death by starvation.

"Designer drugs'

The emergence of new and hazardous drugs of abuse is causing great anxiety in a number of countries, the INCB report indicates. In recent years, the phenomenon of "designer drugs' has posed a serious challenge to drug control efforts, particularly in the United States.

"Designer drugs' are analogues of substances controlled by national law and/or the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and its 1972 Protocol, and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic [man-made] Substances. In "designer drugs', the chemical structures of the "parent' substances are altered to produce compounds with properties and effects similar to the "parent' drugs, but which, because of slightly altered chemical make-up, do not fall within existing legal controls.

According to the INCB, a number of those analogues are very potent; some heroin-like drugs are reportedly 10 to 250 times as strong as the parent substance. Because of their high potency, as well as impurities and by-products resulting from clandestine manufacture, use of those analogues entails the high risk of serious side-effects or fatal overdoses. A substance called MPPP, which simulates the effects of morphine, has led to cases of an irreversible syndrome resembling that of Parkinson's disease.

In addition to narcotic analogues, there has been increasing use of MDMA, an hallucinogenic amphetamine, and Board reports.

Legislation currently pending in the United States would make it a crime to manufacture or distribute a "designer drug', the report says. In the meantime, emergency scheduling procedures of existing laws have been used to take action against the most dangerous and highly abused of those substances.

Positive Action

Drug abuse causes such extensive damage to individuals, families and the very "social fabric of countries' that "sustained and determined counteraction must be regarded as an absolute necessity', the INCB affirms.

More countries are giving higher priority to action against illicit drugs, the report states. Among recent activities noted in that regard:

Several countries are destroying illegally cultivated crops of cannabis, opium poppy and coca bush.

A number of countries are imposing tighter controls on chemicals and solvents used in the manufacture of narcotics, particularly heroin and cocaine.

Many Governments are taking action to expand and strengthen their enforcement capabilities. Major operations, sometimes involving several neighbouring countries, have resulted in the arrest of notorious traffickers, destruction of clandestine laboratories and airstrips, and seizure of record quantities of drugs, along with "vast sums of money' and even weapons.

Several drug dealers have been extradited under existing agreements; additional extradition agreements are being negotiated.

Penalties for dealing drugs have been increased in some countries.

On the international level, measures include a new international instrument being developed under the auspices of the United Nations to elaborate on and expand existing treaty obligations relating to drug trafficking. Particular attention is being focused on the financing of such activities and ways to confiscate traffickers' assets.

The Board endorsed the Secretary-General's proposal for a ministeriallevel international conference on drug abuse in 1987. Such a meeting would give countris an opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to the aims embodied in the international drug control agreements, and to elaborate general principles as a framework within which national action programmes could reinforce one another, the Board states.

Regional analysis

The Board in its 1985 report analysed the drug control situation world-wide, reporting on areas in which problems of drug abuse, illicit trafficking and uncontrolled or illicit production are most acute, as well as action taken to combat those problems.

Near and Middle East: The large quantities of opium, heroin and cannabis seized in and from the Near and Middle East indicate the existence of extensive illicit poppy cultivation and substantial heroin manufacturing capacity in those areas. Although opium is the region's traditional drug of choice, heroin abuse is rapidly escalating.

"If an effective attack is to be mounted against illicit opium production, there must first be a systematic survey of areas in which illicit poppy cultivation is believed to be taking place', the Board states. Iran told the Sub-Commission on Illicit Drug Traffic and Related Matters in the Near and Middle East it was willing to have an aerial photographic survey carried out over its territory if the necessary financial resources could be found, the Board reported.

Seizures outside Pakistan have indicated that significant amounts of opiates bound for Western Europe and North America are either originating in or passing through that country. Turkey, because of its geographical location, is also being exploited for transit trafficking. The influx of drugs into the Arabian peninsula has been termed a "deluge' by one local official, the report indicates.

Governments must emphasize identification of major traffickers and seize their assets, and curtail availability of acetic anhydride for heroin production, the Board concludes.

South Asia: India, "situated as it is between major sources of illicit drugs', has in recent years become a transit country, the INCB states. Large-scale trafficking is facilitated by smuggling networks. At a meeting in July 1985, India and Pakistan reviewed measures to curb narcotics smuggling along their common border. Sri Lanka has also become a transit point. As increasing numbers of Sri Lankans act as heroin couriers, heroin abuse in Sri Lanka is increasing dramatically.

East and South-East Asia: Some countries in East and South-East Asia are major producers and suppliers of opiates and cannabis, which are widely abused locally and channelled by traffickers to other regions, the report states. The year 1985 was marked by significant expansion of eradication activities, as well as action against traffickers in certain transit countries.

The large amount of heroin being manufactured illicitly in the region shows that "essential precursors'-- chemicals needed to manufacture the final product--continue to be available. While some countries are taking measures to prevent the diversion of those chemicals for that purpose, in other countries traffickers take advantage of the lack of effective controls.

Oceania: Traffickers are increasingly attempting to use Australia both as an illicit market and as a transshipment point for heroin destined for Europe and the United States, the Board reports. Organized crime is becoming more and more involved in the growing international trade and its financing.

Drugs most widely abused are heroin, cannabis and cocaine. Poly-drug use, involving in particular barbiturates and sedatives together with opiates, remains a major health hazard. Particularly in major cities, drug abuse is linked to a sharp increase in crime. Psychotropic substances are obtained mainly by theft from pharmacies and clinics and through forged prescriptions.

In New Zealand, there have been attempts to secretly manufacture heroin, using codeine-based tablets obtainable without a prescription; the Government has since instituted curbs on over-the-counter purchasing.

Eastern Europe: In general, drug abuse does not constitute a serious public health problem in Eastern Europe, which may be attributable, the Board states, to strict enforcement of control measures. However, because of its location between major producers and consumers of illicit drugs, the region continues to be used for transit trafficking, usually from east to west.

A Board mission visiting the area in 1985 reported that in Czechoslovakia and the German Democratic Republic, drug abuse was largely confined to limited amounts of alcohol abuse in combination with psychotropic substances. In Poland, some young people seem to be using a preparation derived from poppies cultivated within the country for licit purposes.

Customs officers in Hungary have cracked down in light of what appears to be an attempt to establish a "second Balkan route' to move heroin from the Middle East and South Asia to Western Europe.

Western Europe: A variety of drugs continues to be readily available and abused, and trafficking operates throughout the region, the report states. Cocaine consumption grew in 1985. Although heroin abuse seems to have declined in a few countries, there has been a rapid escalation in the United Kingdom.

Cannabis continues to be the most widely abused drug; there has been a resurgence of amphetamine abuse in some countries. Moreover, there is a growing tendency to multi-drug use, frequently in combination with alcohol.

The percentage of youth experimenting with drugs may be decreasing, some authorities believe. The average age of hard-core addicts, particularly heroin addicts, seems to be rising. The rate of cannabis abuse seems to have stabilized in some countries and has decreased in others.

Most illicit drugs in the region are routed from the Middle East, South-East Asia, Africa and South America, although local refining operations have been detected and there is some domestic cannabis cultivation. Psychotropic substances originate mainly within the region.

North America: Drug abuse and trafficking remain serious problems in North America, according to the INCB. Cannabis continues to be the most widely abused drug, but cocaine is plentiful and its abuse is increasing. In Canada, there are "ample quantities' of high quality heroin on the illicit market; in the United States, heroin use decreased slightly in 1984.

In 1985, the First Lady of the United States sponsored two First Ladies' Conferences on Drug Abuse attended by the wives of Heads of State or Government.

Authorities in Mexico took steps to substantially reduce illicit traffic in locally produced cannabis and heroin, and to stem transit traffic in cocaine.

Latin America and the Caribbean: The destabilizing and otherwise negative effects of illicit drug production and trafficking are becoming increasingly evident in the region, the report states. Huge profits generated by such activities tend to undermine legitimate economies and political institutions. Trafficking syndicates are highly organized and often linked to arms smuggling and terrorism. Traffickers take full advantage of free ports and insufficiently strict banking controls in certain nations.

Rapidly escalating abuse, particularly of cocaine and coca paste, sometimes mixed with cannabis, continues to pose a serious threat. Although coca bush cultivation is expanding, in some areas authorities are destroying crops, and wide-scale eradication methods are being developed.

The emergence of new areas of illicit cultivation underscores the need for concerted action, the Board declares. Intensive counter-offensives are being pursued nationally, regionally and interregionally. The Andean countries are developing a multilateral agreement against drug trafficking. Anti-narcotic campaigns in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela have brought positive results. Colombia's strong action against traffickers has led many to shift their operations to Brazil and other countries in the region.

An INCB mission visiting Ecuador in March 1985 expressed great concern about the ready availability--to both local laboratories and traffickers from Bolivia, Colombia and Peru--of essential chemicals used in the illicit manufacture of cocaine. The Ecuadorian Government is reportedly studying control measures.

Africa: Evidence of spreading drug abuse is mounting, with traffickers taking advantage of inadequate controls in many countries. The region is a source of cannabis, abused locally and sold abroad. Certain countries, particularly Nigeria, have been used as transit points for heroin, trafficked mainly from the Middle East and South Asia and destined for Western Europe and North America.

In some countries cannabis abuse is combined with the consumption of khat, a stimulant that is chewed or brewed in tea. Cultivated mainly in Ethiopia and Kenya, khat is not under international control, and is shipped to other countries of the subregion and parts of the Arabian peninsula.

Traffickers are also trying to establish Africa as a major illicit market and transit point for psychotropic substances, shipped in quantities (often consigned to fictitious companies) far in excess of countries' legitimate needs. Cocaine traffic has also begun.

Far East: China's accession to certain international drug agreements is viewed by the Board as a "most welcome development' making the international control system for narcotic drugs virtually universal.

Although some transit trafficking in narcotic drugs takes place, a strict and comprehensive system of drug controls has been in effect in China for many years, and cases of abuse are exceedingly rare. There is limited abuse of certain psychotropic substances, usually as an aftermath of medical treatment, the report states.

Photo: Harvesting poppies in Thailand.

Photo: Thailand's Government has co-operated in establishing crop replacement programmes to eradicate the opium trade.