June 26, 1997

M2 PRESSWIRE : The United Nations, which
has its drug control and anticrime offices here, will unveil on
Thursday, 26 June, a new World Drug Report, which is the first
comprehensive overview of worldwide trends on all aspects of the
drug problem including production, trafficking, abuse,
interdiction, rehabilitation and prevention.

Among the findings reported are the following:

In the United States and the United Kingdom, between one fifth
and one half of illicit drug use is financed by crime;

A key input for the near constant growth of the illicit drug
industry is a seemingly endless stream of willing recruits for the
most menial tasks; the availability of cheap labour ensures bigger
profits for the drug kingpins;

With an estimated total revenue of $400 billion per year,
illicit drugs represent approximately 8 per cent of total
international trade; in 1994, this figure was larger than
global trade in iron, steel and motor vehicles, and about the same
level as world trade in textiles;

The most important role of organized crime in the illicit drug
industry is to provide investment capital, which mafias and cartels
often raise from other types of crime;

The current trends in money laundering are towards increasing
professionalism and internationalization;

Environmental destruction is a serious byproduct of illicit
drug production, with cocaine and heroin processors dumping vast
quantities of toxic chemicals and waste products of the extraction
process into countless small streams and rivers or burying them
underground;

Estimated global interception rates for smuggled drugs are 10 to
15 per cent for heroin and 30 per cent for cocaine.

The report also provides a more detailed look at the drug
situations in eight selected countries: Australia, Colombia, Italy,
Pakistan, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom and the United
States.

The 332page report, richly illustrated with maps, graphs, tables
and photographs, is published by Oxford University Press. The
World Drug Report is not to be confused with the annual reports
of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), which is a
watchdog body independent of the United Nations.

The Report will be presented at a Headquarters press conference
on Wednesday, 25 June, at 11 a.m. in room S226.

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[Copyright 1997, M2 Communications]