Drug abuse: a social and economic threat.

The dimensions of drug abuse are so enormous that Governments around the world have launched unparalleled counter-offensives against trafficking. But some countries' toleration of so-called "soft" drugs in efforts to contain "hard" ones has led to an increase in abuse of both.

The report paints a picture of drug abuse spreading rapidly on an international basis. Health hazards are being aggravated by multiple use of opiates, cocaine, cannabis and a variety of psychotropic substances (man-made drugs), as well as by the "increasingly perilous means" by which they are taken. Illegal drug production and trafficking financed by organized crime is so pervasive that the economies of entire countries "are disrupted, legal institutions menaced and the very security of some States threatened."

Whenever illicit cultivation, production and trafficking occur, the report observes, "abuse among local populations nearly always ensues. This accounts for the spread of drug abuse geographically beyond the few countries which were once the main centres of such abuse. The fact is that very few countries now remain unaffected."

In Western Europe, the number of addicts, even among the very young, is rising dramatically. Heroin seizures for 1983 were 1.6 tons--up 40 per cent over 1982--while cannabis seizures increased by one third, to an all-time high of 112 tons. The growing abuse of cocaine in the region was demonstrated by the fact that more than a ton was confiscated in 1983, compared with less than a kilo 15 years ago.

Statistics for the first seven months of 1984 showed that some 70 per cent of the heroin seized in Western Europe and more than half of that in North America came from the Near and Middle East. In addition, local demand by the more than 1 million opium and heroin addicts in Iran and Pakistan alone is estimated to total 500-800 tons of opium annually. Size and frequency of seizures from the region continue to increase, with interceptions now being made in transit countries previously unaffected.

Despite this trend, INCB points out the incongruity that, with the exception of Pakistan, no other country in the region has reported any significant illegal opium-poppy farming. While three-and-a-half tons of heroin, more than a ton of morphine and 35 tons of opium were seized in its eastern border provinces, Iranian authorities, for examples, state that no opium cultivation exists in the country. The Board has, therefore, urged countries concerned to "accord high priority to assessing realistically the situation concerning illegal supply".

India was becoming a major transit country for opiates and cannabis destined for other parts of the world, with New Delhi and Bombay the most important exit points, the report said.

Further east, a resurgence in opium production has taken place in Thailand. While the 18,000 hectares under poppy cultivation in the 1960s had been reduced by two thirds by 1980, the 1983-1984 crop season reversed this decline with some 6,000 hectares under cultivation--a 38 per cent increase over the previous season.

Enforcement Efforts

The world-wide spread of narcotics abuse has generated an unprecedented response from Governments in efforts to counter the drug trade, exemplified by measures being initiated in Latin America. Increased bilateral, regional and interregional co-operation has led to record drug seizures, confiscation of traffickers' immense financial assets and destruction of many clandestine laboratories.

In Latin America, uncontrolled coca-bush cultivation has invaded entire regions of Peru and Bolivia, involving large numbers of farmers. Last year, however, the Bolivian Government committed itself to a five-year programme to reduce coca production. In Peru, eradication of coca leaf growing began in 1983, with nearly 900 hectares done away with by the middle of last year. Concerned about a possible linke between traffickers and armed unrest in the country, the Government has intensified enforcement with numerous arrests and seizures, as well as the destruction of 28 clandestine airstrips in one sweep.

In Colombia, the fight against illegal drugs has gained momentum, with the first eight months of 1984 market by impressive progress, including a world record of 10 tons of cocaine and coca paste seized in a single raid, the arrest of 2,500 persons on drug charges and eradication of more than 8 million cannabis plants and 34 million coca plants.

Cashing in on the depressed economic situation of tribal groups in the Amazon basin, traffickers have encouraged them to cultivate sizeable quantities of coca leaf, transforming Brazil from a transit country into a producer of cocaine. Satellite surveillance, however, has allowed narcotics police to undertake several eradication operations in the Upper Amazon area.

Lack of adequate drug control and enforcement has given traffickers a considerable advantage in a number of African countries, putting the continent, in the report's words, "at great risk". Drug abuse and smuggling are gaining ground, with diversion of psychotropic substances from licit medical use featured prominently. Despite the fact that only two African countries require more than a kilo of psychotropics annually, two orders for a ton of the sedative methaqualone would have reached one country last year under false documents had the Board not helped to prevent their export from Western Europe.

Cannabis is also posing a growing threat in Africa, with Morocco and certain West African nations sbeing centres for illegal cultivation. Seizure reports reveal that nationals of some West African countries, notably Nigeria, are serving as couriers for heroin traffic to North America and Western Europe.

Authorities in many countries affected by drugs are putting new emphasis on prevention as well as treatment and rehabilitation of addicts. Coupled with a programme to eradicate cannabis growing, education and changing attitudes in the United States, for instance, have led to a decline in its use among secondary school seniors for the fifth successive year.

Despite this determination, the report warns of a tendency towards permissiveness. "Circles in some countries are still under the erroneous assumption that permitting unrestricted use of so-called 'soft' drugs, regarded by them as less harmful, would permit better control of other drugs they deem more perilous to health. Indeed, the reverse seems to have occurred."

Chemical Supplies

The Board noted that regions in which abuse of heroin and cocaine is escalating are themselves the sources of chemicals essential for illegal manufacture of these narcotics in countries where poppies and coca leaf are grown.

"In view of the increase in detection of clandestine laboratories in many parts of the world, it is necessary to elaborate and carry out urgently, nationally and internationally, measures to monitor the movement of precursors and essential chemicals", the report said.

Although many Governments have increased penalties for trafficking, the Board referred to "numerous instances in which offenders, even major traffickers, are given relatively light sentences. The result is that drug traffickers, apprehended after lengthy and effective enforcement action, are free to resume their criminal careers."

Recalling the provisions of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances, the report concluded by reminding State Parties of their obligation to control all drugs under international restrictions. "Real and lasting progress depends on strong commitments by Governments, the establishment of priorities and the allocation of adequate resources by national authorities, since they and they alone are able to take appropriate measures within their respective jurisdictions."

The report will be considered by the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs at its thirty-first session in Vienna, 11-20 February.