INTERNATIONAL DRUGS BODY CALLS FOR GLOBAL ACTION AS INTERNET DEALING
RISES TO 'ALARMING' LEVELS

Narcotics Board Targets Cannabis For Strong Action

Drugs Reform Group Hits Out At 'Irrational' Approach

The internet is playing an increasing and "alarming" role in the
trafficking of both illegal and unauthorised prescription drugs,
according to the body that monitors the trafficking and use of narcotics.

Chemicals used for making heroin and cocaine and a range of drugs
from methadone to amphetamines are being sold online by organisations
that hide their identities from the authorities.

The report, compiled by the International Narcotics Control Board,
paints a picture of an ever-expanding and increasingly violent drugs
market, with new trafficking routes being opened regularly. It calls
for governments to take stronger measures against drugs, in
particular cannabis. The board was criticised by drugs reform groups
last night for taking an "irrational" approach.

"Drug traffickers are among the main users of encryption for internet
messaging and by this means evade law enforcement, co-ordinate
shipments of drugs and launder money," claims the board's annual
report published today in Vienna. "A co-ordinated, global response is
needed to meet this challenge."

Criminal organisations often pose as fictitious companies in order to
acquire the chemicals they need to manufacture illicit drugs, says
the report. The chemicals used to make amphetamines, methamphetamines
and MDMA (ecstasy) are being obtained illicitly in large quantities.
Traffickers are placing orders with legitimate trading companies and
using falsified authorisations to import pharmaceuticals into
countries where controls are lax. African countries are said to have
become increasingly involved in the production and trade of such drugs.

"The internet is a major problem," said professor Hamid Ghodse, the
board's president. "That is why we started three years ago to have
contact with Interpol (on the issue). There are illicit internet
pharmacies and they do not have natural boundaries."

He said that there was evidence of such activity in the United
States, Thailand, Australia and the UK but that it was difficult for
law enforcement agencies to track down the perpetrators.

Cannabis continues to be the most widely used drug in Europe and
Britons have the highest level of experience of it, with 37% having
tried it at least once. Italy, France and Denmark have the next
highest rates of use with Bulgaria, Malta and Romania the least.
Schoolchildren aged 15-16 in the UK top the list for use of cannabis
with 44% having tried it once. France, Spain, Ireland, the Czech
Republic and Belgium are the other countries where schoolchildren
have high rates of use. The countries where there is least use among
schoolchildren are Greece, Cyprus and Romania. However, cannabis use
among all schoolchildren in England dropped from 13% to 9% between
2001 and 2007.

Ghodse said that many European countries were sending the wrong
message on cannabis, by not treating it seriously. The report
suggests that "the international community may wish to review
cannabis which, over the years, has become more potent and is
associated with an increasing number of emergency room admissions".

Afghanistan remains the world's major supplier of heroin with 92%
emanating from there. One new development had been the re-emergence
of Afghan cannabis, a major type used in the 1960s and 70s. The
report suggests that "cannabis cultivation has increased as this crop
has become more lucrative". The board urges the Afghan government to
"give priority to stopping this alarming trend and to provide farmers
with sustainable options of legitimate livelihood".

Among other findings are that Canada has beome a major producer of
ecstasy, using chemicals smuggled from China. Canadian versions of
the drug have been found in Australia and Japan. Amphetamines have
become popular in Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf. West Africa is
seen as an important transit and stockpiling area for cocaine
consignments from Latin America destined for Europe. Other
conclusions are that Colombia remains the world's largest producer of
coca leaf, despite extensive and US-funded eradication efforts, and
illicit cultivation there has increased by 27%. Colombia accounts for
55% of the total area under illicit cultivation in South America,
followed by Peru (29%) and Bolivia (16%). Latin America has seen an
increase in "date rape" drugs, according to the report.

The number of people in the US who abuse prescription drugs is now
greater than the total taking cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, ecstasy
and inhalants, said the report.

On the issue of access to controlled medicines, including morphine
and codeine, considered by the World Health Organisation to be a
human right, such drugs are virtually unavailable in more than 150
countries, according to the report.

The board was criticised last night for its approach. "The tragic
irony is that it is the board's inhumane, unjust and irrational
policing of the UN drug control system that has created or
exacerbated most of the problems outlined in its report," said Danny
Kushlick of the drug policy foundation, Transform.

"The board is complicit in gifting the illegal drug market to terror
groups, paramilitaries and organised criminals, contributing to the
political and economic destabilisation of producer and transit
countries and putting millions at risk of contracting blood-borne
viruses. The INCB and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime pose a greater
threat to global well-being than drugs themselves."