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Cannabis is attracting more users--UN report The spread of narcotics abuse appears to be slowing, but the world's favorite drug, cannabis, is attracting more users, the United Nations said Friday.
In its annual World Drug Report, the United Nations estimated 185 million people around the world -- about 3 percent of the global population -- used drugs at least once during the 12 months before the survey was conducted.
"The spread of drug abuse may be losing momentum," said the report, issued in Moscow to coincide with a visit by the head of the U.N. drug watchdog.
"There is a notable exception however: consumption of cannabis ... appears to be spreading at an accelerated pace."
Better border monitoring might have helped reduce the spread of narcotics. The World Customs Organization said in Brussels the amount of illegal drugs stopped by customs officers rose by nearly 15 percent from 2002 to 2003, with seizures of cocaine and ecstasy hitting record levels.
It said more than 7 tons of heroin were seized in 2003 and 355 ton of cannabis resin, the highest quantity for three years. Only 74 tons of herbal cannabis was seized, the lowest in three years.
"2003 was a record year for cocaine seizures by customs, peaking at 64 tons worldwide," the Brussels-based group said in a report released to coincide with an annual meeting.
"This equates to a 35 percent increase over 2002. Almost 87 percent of the cocaine seizures reported were made in western Europe," it added.
The report said cocaine use in North America had stabilized.
"The annual prevalence of cocaine use in the USA was 2.5 percent of the population aged 12 and above in 2002," the report said.
About 150 million people use cannabis, which according to the WCO originates mostly from Morocco. Many countries have considered making it legally available for medicinal purposes.
ENCOURAGING DROP
Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, said the drop in heroin and cocaine use was encouraging, but warned cannabis was still a dangerous drug.
"Some people call it a soft drug -- I think this is very, very wrong," he told a conference on the eve of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.
"But still, it is not the killer -- the killer is, of course, heroin."
There are 9 million heroin users in a world market heavily dependent on Afghanistan, which produces three-quarters of the world's illegal opium.
"The fate of the world heroin market will largely depend on what happens in that country," the report said.
It added opium poppy cultivation dropped 6 percent in 2003, equivalent to a potential heroin production of 480 tons. Cultivation was 40 percent lower than in the early 1990s. Heroin abuse is declining in Western Europe and the number of drug-related deaths -- mostly associated with heroin -- fell by 20 percent from 2000 to 2002. Europe's biggest heroin market is Russia, with about a million users. Costa said there were about 250,000 drug-related deaths a year worldwide, compared with 5 million tobacco-related and 2.5 million attributable to alcohol. The report put the number of cocaine users worldwide at 13 million. Costa said production, which tumbled 11 percent from 2002 and 2003, was at its lowest level since 1989. |
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