Stronger international response to drug problem needed, UN Board states.

Drug-related violence is escalating around the world, threatening political institutions and economies, warned the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) in its annual report for 1990.

The overall situation worldwide remained grave, INCB President Betty Gough told the Commission on Narcotic Drugs on 3 May, as she presented the report. The danger was all the more lethal because of the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections through intravenous drug abuse and the increasing number of children born to abuser mothers, she said.

Recalling the drug-related murders of presidential candidates in Colombia and Peru in recent years, the Board reported that democratic institutions in both countries have been virtually under siege as a result of the drug problem.

Drug trafficking organizations are well financed and heavily armed and have become more innovative and better organized, the Board reported. Links continue to be forged among drug traffickers, terrorist groups and criminal organizations within countries and regions, as well as internationally.

The Board cited information indicating that during 1990 trafficking organizations in South America and Western Europe might have been using each others' routes in a joint venture to smuggle cocaine to Europe and heroin to North America.

Seizure data show that such linkages were also being established between South-East Asian traffickers and criminal organizations elsewhere. "The current abundant supply of heroin makes this development particularly ominous", the Board stated. The international community must respond to drug traffickers in an even more forceful, comprehensive and innovative manner, the Board said. Action should target all elements of the drug chain, from curbing demand and reinforcing extradition measures to blocking access of traffickers to arms, airplanes and precursor chemicals and promoting and marketing alternative crops.

Regional reports

The report also reviewed international drug control efforts in 1990 and offered a region-by-region analysis of the situation.

Africa had been used as a heroin transit point from South West Asia to Europe and North America. Cannabis was widely available and cocaine trafficking increased. Millions of psychotropic substance tablets continued to be diverted to Africa, endangering public health. In many cases, consumers obtained them from street markets. The European and Asian manufacturing and exporting countries concerned "bear a large measure of the responsibility for this development", the Board stated.

In South-East Asia, illicit opium production remained around the same high levels in the 1989/1990 growing season-some 2,000 tonnes. Heroin trafficking significantly increased across China's southern borders to Macao and Hong Kong. Methamphetamine abuse continued in Japan, where cocaine seizures had surged from 13 kilograms in 1989 to 70 kilograms in the first half of 1990, indicating "an ominous development" there. The bulk of the opiate production in the region continued to emanate from Myanmar. Heroin abuse in Thailand had been compounded by the associated rapid spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), thought to cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).

In Oceania, an influx of South East Asian heroin into Australia did not augur well for demand reduction efforts. Between 90,000 and 130,000 abusers were estimated to be injecting drugs, making it hard to control the spread of HIV infection. New Zealand was being used as a trans-shipment point in drug trafficking.

In South Asia, eradication of illicit poppy cultivation was carried out in northeast and southern India, where transit of heroin and cannabis resin from the Near and Middle East to Europe appeared to have slackened. Heroin abuse was on the rise in Bombay, New Delhi, Calcutta and Madras. Drug abuse was also on the rise in Bangladesh, with increased heroin and cannabis traffic. There were an estimated 20,000 drug abusers in Nepal and 30,000 to 40,000 in Sri Lanka.

In the Near and Middle East, opiates and cannabis resin continued to be seized in large quantities. Opium production in Afghanistan had risen to 580 tonnes in 1989, compared with 120 tonnes in 1976. The Government was coordinating an anti-drug campaign at the highest level. In Iran, some convicted traffickers faced the death penalty. Strict Government policies had led to a five-fold increase in the price of heroin. Nevertheless, opium and heroin continued to be smuggled into the country. Of the estimated 2.5 million drug abusers in Pakistan, more than I million were reported to be heroin abusers. A new enforcement unit-the Elite Forces-was set up in 1990 to crack down on major traffickers. Although opium was produced in Turkey, the country was a heroin-traffic point to Europe.

In Europe, no significant spread of cocaine "crack" abuse appears to have taken place, although South American cocaine, mostly from Colombia, was being trafficked into the continent in ever increasing quantities. It was felt that the opening up of Central and Eastern European countries could make them more vulnerable to abuse and illicit traffic. In the Soviet Union, for example, the number of drug abusers had almost doubled over the last five years, to an estimated 140,000. Cooperation among European countries to fight drugs had intensified in 1990.

In North America, cannabis remained the primary drug of abuse in most of Canada. In the United States, drug abuse continued to be widespread. Authorities saw it as a grave domestic problem and attacking it was a high national priority. Drug-related violence had reached unprecedented levels in many urban centres. Drug abuse was costing the country more than $60 billion a year, six times more than in 1984. Intravenous drug abuse was a major source of new AIDS cases.

In Latin America, the current year has been crucial in the fight to suppress drug trafficking. South American Governments vigorously implemented national anti-drug legislation and stepped up regional and international cooperation. Cocaine seizures were more numerous than in any previous year. Major traffickers were captured, jailed and, in some instances, extradited to face trial. Nevertheless, cocaine production increased and coca bush cultivation extended to remote zones of the Amazon.

The Caribbean's coastline and numerous islands continue to provide transshipment points for cocaine and cannabis to North America.