SECRETARY-GENERAL EMPHASIZES PREVENTIVE EDUCATION IN MESSAGE FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST DRUG ABUSE
Press Release
SG/SM/6007
SOC/NAR/742
SECRETARY-GENERAL EMPHASIZES PREVENTIVE EDUCATION IN MESSAGE FOR INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST DRUG ABUSE
19960626 ADVANCE RELEASE Following is the text of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's message on the occasion of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, 26 June:On this International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, we are called to consider the global scourge of drug abuse and to reflect on the social and economic damage it causes.
Drug abuse is most frequent among young adults between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five, a time of life when men and women should be at their most productive, and most active as home-makers and builders of families. That is why the health and behaviour problems associated with drug abuse impact dramatically both on family life and on productive employment.
The links between drug abuse and delinquency or crime are indisputable. Illicit drug production and trafficking are themselves crimes. Theft is often the only means by which an addict can support an expensive habit. The quantity of illicit drugs produced exceeds demand. Violent confrontations are, therefore, becoming ever more common as traffickers and domestic gangs fight for control of local markets.
Drug consumption is costly to society, and corrodes its values. Absenteeism and erratic and unsafe behaviour at work increase production costs in industry. Billions of dollars of public money are swallowed up in the additional services society has to provide to deal with other kinds of damage. Drug consumption leads to accidents, which place additional burdens on medical and social welfare programmes. The consequences of drug abuse include criminal damage, which necessitates additional deployment of law enforcement resources. Terrorists use the drug trade to purchase arms and finance their subversive operations. The fabric of democracy is threatened by the ability of powerful criminal groups to corrupt, and even assassinate, public officials and undermine the rule of law.
- 2 - Press Release SG/SM/6007 SOC/NAR/742 21 June 1996
Illicit drugs are cheap to produce. Trafficking generates enormous profits, which are unavailable for use in the economy for the long-term public good. On the contrary, traffickers launder their ill-gotten gains through enterprises which undermine legal industries by reducing the competitiveness of local products. When a government is unable to exert control over drug money entering the country, economic instability may result, while scarce government resources may be diverted into fighting organized crime, to the detriment of the poor and the vulnerable.
In producer countries, the illicit drug trade has brought not only economic dislocation, but also considerable environmental damage following the clearing of forests, soil erosion precipitated by careless farming and the poisoning of rivers with the chemicals used for processing narcotic crops.
A key element in immunizing our communities against the spread of this disease is education. Support for preventive education, targeting children and teenagers, must, therefore, be a global priority.
Young people are our common future. If we are to reduce the burden on society as a whole caused by the scourge of drug abuse, then governments, non- governmental organizations and grass-roots communities must unite in their efforts to facilitate the healthy development of all young people everywhere, and especially the marginalized and the vulnerable. The dangerous temptation of drug use can be resisted when young people are offered opportunities for forming relationships and taking part in activities which are meaningful and challenging.
Drug abuse and illicit trafficking are a global problem. Let us all count ourselves in solidarity to defeat this common enemy and to offer young people another better option.
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