The United Nations' World Drug Report reveals the changing trends in global drug consumption and the important role of government policies in tackling the issue, reports Sahar El-Bahr The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) indicated in its World Drug Report (WDR) that some 200 million people, or five per cent of the global population aged 15-64, have used illicit drugs at least once in the last 12 months. This figure includes people from almost every country. A larger amount of people are involved in the production and trafficking of illicit drugs and still more are touched by the devastating social and economic costs of this problem. Partially a consequence of its pervasiveness and partially a consequence of the illicit and hidden nature of the problem, reliable analysis and statistics on the production, trafficking and use of illicit drugs are rare. UNODC's 2006 WDR indicated that global opium production decreased five per cent in 2005, whereas cocaine production was generally stable. Seizures of both drugs, especially cocaine, reached record highs. Consumption of cannabis, the most widely used illicit drug, continued to increase while the market for amphetamine-type stimulants stabilized. Africa is growing in importance for trans-shipments of cocaine and heroin to Europe. Executive director of the UNODC, Antonio Maria Costa, pointed out that trends in the global drugs market were moving in the right direction but that governments needed to step up their efforts to reduce both supply and demand. "Drug control is working and the world drug problem is being contained," he said. "This is true whether we look over the long term or even just over the past few years. Humanity has entered the 21st century with much lower levels of drug cultivation and drug addiction than 100 years earlier. Even more importantly, in the past few years, worldwide efforts to reduce the threat posed by illicit drugs have halted a quarter century-long rise in drug abuse that, if left unchecked, could have become a global pandemic." Costa praised Laos saying that, "Laos has made spectacular progress which has not received the attention it deserves." According to the WDR Laos -- which until the mid-1990s was the third largest illicit opium producer in the world -- slashed opium cultivation by 72 per cent in 2005 and is on the verge of becoming opium-free. However, the UNODC's report stressed three main weaknesses in the global drug control situation: heroin supply in Afghanistan, cocaine demand in Europe and global supply and demand of cannabis. In Afghanistan, the world's largest opium producer, the area under opium poppy cultivation declined 21 per cent to 104,000 hectares in 2005, the first such decline since 2001. "Afghanistan's drug situation remains vulnerable to reversal because of mass poverty, lack of security and the fact that the authorities have inadequate control over its territory," Costa warned, adding that, "this could happen as early as 2006 despite large-scale eradication of opium crops this spring." However, the WDR marked some encouraging trends on the coca/cocaine market. Coca cultivation and cocaine production were broadly stable while seizures of cocaine rose to new highs. Global cocaine use declined slightly. Demand for cocaine is rising in Western Europe to alarming levels. "I urge European Union governments not to ignore this peril. 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," Costa complains. As for Amphetamine-Type Stimulants (ATS), after years of continuously increasing consumption in the 1990s, the market is finally stabilising -- reflecting improved law enforcement and better precursor control. Statistics revealed that some 25 million people used amphetamines at least once in 2004, while some 10 million used ecstasy. Total ATS production was estimated at 480 tonnes in 2005, which is lower than the peak in 2000. The report showed that the US authorities again dismantled the largest number of illegal methamphetamine laboratories -- over 17,000 in 2004, which is more than 90 per cent of the global total. While abuse of methamphetamine remained stable or declined among high school students in the US over the last few years, treatment demand for methamphetamine abuse in the United States has grown dramatically. However, the 2006 WDR devotes special attention to cannabis, the world's most abused illicit drug. Cannabis was used at least once in 2004 by an estimated 162 million people -- equivalent to some four per cent of the global population aged 15-64. Consumption has continued to increase. Costa warned that cannabis was now considerably more potent than a few decades ago, adding that it was a mistake to dismiss it as a "soft" and relatively harmless drug. Evidence that cannabis use can cause serious mental illness is mounting. "Today, the harmful characteristics of cannabis are no longer that different from those of other plant-based drugs such as cocaine and heroin," Costa underlined. It was also noted that national policies on cannabis are volatile, sometimes changing from one year to the next. With cannabis-related health problems increasing, it is fundamentally wrong for countries to make cannabis control dependent on which party is in government. Policy reversals leave young people confused as to just how dangerous cannabis actually is. The cannabis pandemic, like other challenges to public health, requires consensus and a consistent commitment across the political spectrum and by society at large. "After so many years of drug control experience, we now know that a coherent, long-term strategy can reduce drug supply, demand and trafficking. If this does not happen, it will be because some nations fail to take the drug issue sufficiently seriously and pursue inadequate policies. Many countries have the drug problem they deserve," Costa concluded.
