PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME

PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNITED NATIONS OFFICE ON DRUGS AND CRIME

Vincent McClean, New York representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, announced the launch of the year-long “Drugs:  Treatment Works” campaign at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon, highlighting the findings of the recently published United Nations World Drug Report 2004.

He said that the campaign, launched on 26 June, was intended to publicize the need for more investment in drug treatment facilities and the fact that treatment helped many drug users to turn their lives around.  There were real success stories in that regard, but also some horror stories about the lack of treatment services in many prisons, the difficulties women faced in accessing treatment, and the spread of HIV among intravenous drug users.  Worldwide, intravenous drug use was responsible for 10 per cent of HIV infections, but in some countries, it accounted for 90 per cent of infections, helping to reach a “critical mass” in the population from which AIDS would spread through sexual transmission.  More information can be found on www.unodc.org.

Expressing the hope that the World Drug Report 2004, also launched on 26 June, would inform the policy debate on illicit drugs, Mr. McClean said that cannabis was the most widely used drug in the world, followed by amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) and other drugs.  An estimated 185 million people worldwide used drugs, of whom 150 million people used cannabis and some 20 million were expected to take heroin or cocaine.  Some 13 million people worldwide were estimated to inject drugs, about two thirds of them in South and South-East Asia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and East Asia and the Pacific.  Opiates caused the most serious health problems.

Afghanistan accounted for three fourths of world opium production followed by Myanmar and the Lao People's Democratic Republic, he said.  Together the three countries produced 96 per cent of the world’s opiates and production in Afghanistan increased by 6 per cent last year.  However, there had been a downward trend in coca cultivation in 2003, with cultivation falling to its lowest level since 1999.  Compared to 1996, coca production was down 31 per cent.  Although there was some increase in yield, the area under coca cultivation was the lowest since the 1980s.  In 2002, consumption of cannabis, the most prevalent illicit drug, had increased in Africa, Asia, South America and Europe.  And the decline in ATS seizures indicated that the peak in their production might have passed.  Consumption of ATS had stabilized in Europe and North America, but increased in Asia and South America.

Answering a correspondent’s question, Mr. McClean said cocaine production was declining mainly because of efforts by the governments of producer countries like Peru, Bolivia and Colombia.  The Office on Drugs and Crime was working with them at the policy level.

Although law enforcement was crucial, it was important to offer alternative forms of livelihood to people who depended on coca cultivation, he noted, adding that that the bulk of illicit drug money was made not by farmers, but by the traffickers.  Law enforcement efforts in North America were also a major contributor to the decline of cocaine.

In response to another question, he said opium was processed into heroin in or close to the cultivation areas.  Although heroin producers had problems importing the “precursor chemicals” necessary for extracting the drug, they were generally free from law enforcement once that hurdle was cleared.  Ten kilogrammes of opium produced one kilo of heroin, thereby increasing the value-to-weight ratio and the ease of smuggling.  The Drugs and Crime Office was working with governments to control precursor chemicals, but they also had legitimate uses, such as the production of aspirin.  There were indications of successful precursor control, including the discovery of a laboratory in Myanmar that had tried to recycle the chemicals.

Non-governmental organizations did great work in the areas of prevention and treatment, he said in reply to questions by other correspondents.  They sometimes implemented Drug and Crime Office projects as they could reach out to accessible, vulnerable communities, including slum populations, HIV-infected drug users and women addicts.

He said the Office on Drugs and Crime collected statistical information in consultation with governments, supplemented by statistics gathered by its own offices as governments often did not have sufficient resources to carry out surveys.  The Office had an annual budget of about $100 million, mostly funded by voluntary contributions from major donors such as the United States, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Canada.  However, attached conditionality was often a problem of voluntary funding.

Asked about cooperation with the United States, which did a lot of research and reporting on its own, he said that United Nations-generated reports were desirable because those produced by countries often raised allegations of bias.  United Nations reporting was generally regarded as neutral and accepted by the international community.

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