HAITI - THE CARIBBEAN'S HOT SPOT FOR DRUG TRAFFICKERS

If drug control is fundamental in maintaining a healthy society and in
preventing the suffering and harm caused to individuals and society by
drug abuse and drug trafficking, then its threat to the security and
stability of Haiti presents a frightening picture.

While the International Narcotics Control Board continues to uphold
its mandate of strengthening international action against drug
production, trafficking and drug related crime and providing
information, analysis and expertise on drug issues; critics on the
other hand point to its failure in effectively policing both licit and
illicit drugs in Haiti.

Cannabis and cocaine and the likes thereof are not the only substances
classified as drugs.

The availability of analgesics for the treatment of pain on
unregulated markets in Haiti is now suffering an adverse backlash
where illicitly manufactured pharmaceutical products that contain
narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances are readily available.

Thus, the drug situation in Haiti again proves that understanding
drug-control measures are not only dependent on a society's culture,
but that drug abuse and trafficking will always be in conflict with
the respect of the rights and freedom of others and in meeting the
requirements of health, public order and the general well-being of a
democratic society.

The exceptional prospect to build a drug-free world by the
International Narcotics Con-trol Board fades in the face of mounting
concerns in Haiti.

The transshipment of cocaine, cannabis and medical and scientific
drugs continue to pose a noteworthy menace because, in a country where
more than three-quarters of the population live in wretched poverty,
compressed with the inability of the state to uphold the rule of law,
the temptation to earn easy money from the drug trade is always going
to be a threat to stability.

Moreover, natural disasters always pose new challenges to drug
prevention efforts in the Caribbean.

The magnitude of the destruction that occurred on January 12, 2010,
favors Haiti for illicit financial transactions and pervasive
corruption, as it is the practice of criminals to exploit regions
weakened by war or torn by conflict and natural disasters.

It is this dislodgment effect that now leads to the rise in demand for
both licit and illicit drugs in Haiti and an increase in drug-related
crime.

This is also where the question of a supply of powerful medicines used
in medical care comes into effect and positions a serious public
problem, because drugs for medical and scientific purposes are now
available without a prescription in Haiti.

The scale of this abuse and trafficking is staggering and it is now a
very destructive problem because dangerous drugs used for medical and
scientific purposes are counterfeited in the hands of amateurs and
find their way on the internet, proving that licit drugs used for
illicit purposes can be manufactured anywhere.

It must be remembered that we live in a society where pharmacological
explanations are sought and endorsed for problems ranging from
overweight to excessive gambling, enhanced sexual and athletic
performance and behavioral and emotional challenges.

Drugs are a quick fix to complex physical, emotional, and even social
problems and the new challenges that are emerging in Haiti has
dangerous consequences for the world at large, as a problem in one
part of the system has a disturbing and far reaching effect on the
other because there are no codes of conduct and ethical guidelines on
the correct handling of these deadly drugs.

It follows that if the goal of the United Nations International Drug
Control Program is to eliminate the illegal drug trade worldwide, then
its approach to the drug problem in Haiti yields disappointing results
because development needs security to succeed.

Responses to criminal justice and security reform, the strengthening
of state mechanisms in dealing with criminal networks, must be taken
into account as these are the factors that aid in eliminating the
destructive mission of drug abuse and trafficking.

If the International Narcotics Board is concerned with the health and
safety of human-kind then special attention must be paid to the many
actors of civil society and providers of humanitarian assistance in
addressing the drug problem in Haiti, because it is not only cannabis
and cocaine, but fentanyl, morphine and oxycodone, compounded with
pervasive corruption, poverty and high unemployment, that now
registers Haiti as the Caribbean's hot spot for drug abuse and
trafficking.

It is imperative that the InterInternational Narcotics Board implement
measures of a broader social policy app-roach to reduce the demand for
both licit and illicit drugs in Haiti. Such measures should be
wide-ranging, multifaceted, synchronized and cohesive with the social,
political and economic well-being of the Haitian people.