Quote:
"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."
--

International Drugs Body Calls For Global Action As Internet Dealing
Rises to 'Alarming' Levels
Duncan Campbell
The Guardian
19 February 2009
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."
--