WORLD'S RAPIDLY GROWING PROBLEM WITH AMPHETAMINE-TYPE STIMULANTS TO BE FOCUS OF EXPERT MEETING IN VIENNA

Press Release
SOC/NAR/720

WORLD'S RAPIDLY GROWING PROBLEM WITH AMPHETAMINE-TYPE STIMULANTS TO BE FOCUS OF EXPERT MEETING IN VIENNA

VIENNA, 9 February (UN Information Service) -- The illicit manufacture, traffic and abuse of amphetamine-type stimulants -- which could well constitute the key drug-related problem of the future -- will be the focus of concern as experts from some 30 countries gather here starting Monday, 12 February, for the first of two expert meetings called for by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.

The meeting, which ends on 16 February, will be a fact-finding exercise aimed at identifying the scope, nature and magnitude of the global stimulants problem, in preparation for a second meeting, to be held later in the year, that will seek to recommend the necessary corrective responses.

A study on the licit use of amphetamine-type stimulants, as well as the developments that have led to their spread into the illicit market, has been prepared by the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, in consultation with the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). The potential of stimulants to become a problem far greater than drugs of natural origin arises from their availability, cheap price and low risk, as well as consumer preferences. The study, "Amphetamine-type Stimulants: A Global Review", will be submitted to the Commission, which will meet here from 16 to 25 April.

The authors of the study acknowledge the difficulty in estimating the actual extent of abuse at the global level, due to a lack of uniform and comparable data. It is for this reason that the meeting, called for by the Commission at its 1995 session, is regarded as holding such timely significance. Existing loopholes in the global knowledge base are hoped to be filled by the contributions of leading experts from the major countries now affected. The manufacture, abuse and trafficking of amphetamine-type stimulants appear to be spreading beyond the countries where the problem first emerged and, in some places, has bypassed heroin and cocaine abuse in overall prevalence.

Among the problems for drug control efforts is that many freely available chemical precursors serve in the manufacturing of stimulants.

- 2 - Press Release SOC/NAR/720 12 February 1996

Research and innovation in the clandestine sector has led to many new kinds of stimulants surfacing on illicit markets. The recent high-profile cases of deaths from the abuse of "Ecstasy" (methyldioxymethamphetamine) and of the use of ephedrine in professional sports attest to an as yet poorly understood problem that extends throughout many sectors of society. By bringing together specialized experts from the fields of stimulant control, regulation, enforcement and epidemiology, the meeting is intended to obtain a more detailed picture of the scope and nature of this emerging global problem.

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