Drug Trafficking and Abuse

The resolutions and decisions of the 1998 Special Session of the UN General Assembly on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS 1998) remain the primary basis for international cooperation on drug control. All aspects of the escalating drug abuse problem - cultivation, production, trafficking and consumption, as well as drug related crime - are addressed by a set of balanced measures to reduce both supply and demand. The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) is the global policy forum on drugs, whereas the Vienna-Based UN Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) designs and implements international programmes and projects. The UNDCP is part of the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP) in Vienna.

The 44th session of the CND in Vienna in March discussed preventive measures for young people. It also added additional substances to the list of those regulated by the Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and tightened control measures for several precursors like potassium permanganate. The functions of the UNDCP include providing information and support for policy decisions. It monitors the production and eradication of the illegal cultivation of coca and the opium poppy while offering alternative development projects.

For several years the UNDCP's endeavours to reduce the production of opiates (opium, morphine and heroin) have been mainly targeted on Afghanistan, where, after massive intervention, the former Taliban regime banned poppy cultivation. However, existing stocks of opium in Afghanistan and the neighbouring countries amounting to the collective European demand for several years are supposed to exist, and during the armed conflict in 2001 peasants took the opportunity to replant their most profitable crop. The UNDCP plans to open a local office in Kabul to support the efforts of the new Afghan government to deal with the situation. Other notable producing countries of opiates are Myanmar (Burma), and to a lesser extent Laos and Cambodia; cultivation is also increasing in Colombia.

Action to reduce the cultivation of cocaine, which is derived from the coca plant cultivated in the Andean region of South America, has in recent years been concentrated on Bolivia, which continued to destroy crops in 2001 and intends to abolish illegal drug cultivation entirely by 2003. Peru also succeeded in reducing its area of cultivation. In both countries providing alternative sources of income for those affected remains a major challenge to the international community. However, the situation is worsening in Colombia, which is now the world's largest producer of cocaine, with counter-measures rendered extremely difficult by the ongoing war between the government and the guerrillas.

The UNDCP also organises training courses for law enforcement officers in transit countries, and is conducting a worldwide analysis of demand with a view to identifying the most effective demand reduction measures.

On 5 December UNDCP Executive Director Pino Arlacchi, who retired at the end of the year, the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Benita Ferrero-Waldner and the Mayor of Vienna Michael Häupl conferred the UN Vienna Civil Society Award, to four laureates from Algeria, Burundi, Indonesia and Peru, for their contribution to the campaign against drug abuse, organised crime and terrorism.

After internal difficulties at UNDCP, a restructuring of organisational units, and the institution of a new forum linking financial donors and recipients was undertaken in order to enhance transparency and coordination.

The UN International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) supervises adherence to the international drug conventions. Its 13-member board consists of scientific and technical experts, including Professor Rainer Schmid of Austria. In December 2001 the INCB sent a mission to evaluate various aspects of Austria's campaign against drug trafficking and abuse. Its report was due to be finalised in the s pring of 2002.