Press Conference on Annual Report of International Narcotics Control Board

 

Marketing deadly designer drugs online under innocuous names like “ivory wave” bath salts or plant food, drug dealers were turning hefty profits by selling to young people worldwide — a practice which the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) was working hard to end — one of its members said during a Headquarters news conference today.

“They’re readily available and they’re very powerful,” said Melvyn Levitsky, Professor of International Policy and Practice at the University of Michigan and current INCB member, of those drugs, as he presented the annual report of the 13‑member Board, which monitors implementation of the United Nations three drug control conventions.

The drugs, which are killing people in countries in regions from Europe to South-East Asia, are produced by altering the molecular structure of illegal substances to create legal products that have the same stimulating effect as cocaine, methamphetamine and ecstasy, he explained.  Governments had tried to address that by banning entire categories of drugs, and INCB had urged them to adopt other national control measures to prevent trafficking and abuse.  But the manufacturers circumvented the law by slightly modifying each drug’s structure, making it difficult for Governments to keep pace with the changes, he said.

“We are encouraging countries, as some have done in the past, to have sort of a generic scheduling of these drugs so that they don’t have to ban a drug each time a molecule is changed,” Mr. Levitsky said.  In Europe, 16 new designer drugs were being monitored; in Japan, the number was as high as 51.

The true purpose of those so-called “herbal essence” substances was not a secret in the “smart shop” retail outlets where they were sold, or online, where people could readily purchase them as well as find a description of their pharmacological effects and instructions on how to make them, he said. 

INCB, he said, was also concerned about the rising use of synthetic drugs like “Spice” and “K2”, which mimicked the effects of marijuana and could be purchased at illegal online pharmacies with phoney prescriptions.  Also worrying was the “creeping normalization” of so-called medical marijuana, which was spurring addictive or hard-core use of marijuana.  He also cited concern over the growing abuse, particularly in the United States, of prescription drugs — an increasingly lucrative market for the traffickers.  Worldwide, some 200 million people were abusing drugs.

Those and other concerns are highlighted in the INCB annual report, he said.  The 141-page document discussed the connection between drugs and corruption, drawing attention to the particular vulnerability to drug-related corruption of developing countries and societies in post-conflict situations.  If left unchecked, it warned, the situation could destabilize economies, political systems and civil society, and eventually threaten peace and stability.

The report recommended strategies for Governments to curb the menace by enforcing drug control laws, cracking down on corrupt judges and better protecting “whistle blowers”.  It also listed action by INCB to implement the international drug-control treaties and gives an analysis of regional trends.

For example, in Europe, cocaine use was on the rise, while African countries like the Gambia and Equatorial Guinea increasingly were used by drug traffickers as jump-off points to ship cocaine to European consumers.  In South-East Asia, production and use of amphetamines was increasing; in South Asia, more and more illegal Internet pharmacies were popping up, notably in India and Bangladesh.

Also according to the report’s findings, income from drugs shipped through Central America, a main transit point for South American drugs destined for North American markets, exceeded the gross domestic product (GDP) of Central American countries.  In South America, cocaine production patterns were changing, marked by a drop in Colombia, a rise in Bolivia and Peru, and the recent discovery of new cocaine labs in neighbouring Argentina, Venezuela and Chile.  Meanwhile, in Mexico, drug-related violence was rising as traffickers fought for control over the shrinking market for cocaine in the United States.

Asked about the Bolivian Government’s request to remove the ban on coca chewing from the United Nations Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, he said INCB’s purpose was to implement that treaty and it had made it clear to Bolivian officials that coca chewing was illegal under the Convention.  He said INCB was concerned about coca growth in general and exports of cocaine from Bolivia.

Asked how authorities in Brazil and other South American countries could stamp out drug-related corruption, he said Governments first must assess the situation, recognize corruption as a crime and socio-political ill, and have the political will to root it out by creating independent police units or processes in the justice ministries to address it.  Properly training law enforcement officials and paying them adequate salaries could help stamp out corruption.

As for whether a drop in cocaine prices had caused the decrease in cocaine consumption in the United States, he attributed the trend in part to the rise in the use of designer and prescription drugs, as well as shifts in illegal drug markets, but said it was difficult to pinpoint the cause with certainty.  “The methods shift, the means shift; the drug cartels are very adaptable and flexible,” he said.  “It’s a never-ending struggle.”   The World Bank estimated that global gross criminal income tops $1 trillion annually, much of it from the illegal drug trade.

As to whether decriminalizing drug use was the solution, he said all countries had an obligation to criminalize possession of drugs.  They were all duty-bound to commit to prevention, education, law enforcement and treatment — all crucial tools for eradicating drugs.

Concerning the link between merchants of designer drugs and traditional suppliers of illegal drugs, Mr. Levitsky said designer drugs largely were sold by online pharmacies that were not linked to large drug cartels.  The problem was that while some online pharmacies had been shut down, their owners could set up shop on another site within a matter of minutes.

Asked if the Canadian Government was losing its battle against drugs because of its high level of export to the United States of marijuana and cocaine, he said the Canadian Government and Royal Mounted Police had done a good job with border control, but added that drug trafficking was a difficult, relentless problem.

As to whether Mexico’s war on drugs, which had already led to the deaths of an estimated 30,000 people, was hopeless, he said the struggle was a difficult but brave one that the Mexican Government and people had deemed worthwhile.

Concerning the number of HIV/AIDS infections in the Russian Federation due to injecting drug use, he said the percentage of new cases in that regard had dropped.  INCB was concerned about the prevalence and use in the Russian Federation of inexpensive heroine produced in Afghanistan.  Regional organizations had been set up in nations of the former Soviet Union to address that.   

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For information media • not an official record