Embargo: 11:00 CET, 28 February 2012

Annual Report 2011dedicated to the Centennial of the International

Opium Convention of the Hague of 1912

Social cohesion and illegal drugs

• Youth of marginalized communities need protection from drug abuse

• Recommendations:

– Prevention, treatment and rehabilitation services

– Addressing symbols and promoting positive role models

– Community rehabilitation and policing

– Educational and employment opportunities

Bolivia’s denunciation of the Convention on Narcotic Drugs

• Bolivia denounced the 1961 Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 2011 and announced its intention to re-accede with a formal reservation regarding coca leaf, in particular coca leaf chewing

• Coca leaf is a narcotic drug, subject to strict control measures

• Possible repercussions in other countries

• Contrary to fundamental objective and spirit of Convention

• Board committed to ongoing dialogue with Bolivia

Illegal Internet pharmacies

• Drugs increasingly ordered via illegal Internet pharmacies

• Over half of the medicines are counterfeit!

• Young audiences targeted via social media • Board: close illegal Internet pharmacies and seize

substances illicitly ordered

More "designer" chemicals in illicit drug manufacture

• Non-scheduled chemicals increasingly used by criminals to bypass existing control systems

• Increasing use of “designer” precursors or pre-precursors • Expanded control measures in some countries • Board: use PEN Online system to limit access

Africa

• Cocaine trafficked from South America through Africa, especially West Africa, into Europe. Increasing use of shipping containers and commercial aircraft by traffickers

• Increasing flow of heroin into Africa through East Africa leading to increased drug abuse

• Morocco remains a major producer of cannabis resin, destined mainly for Europe and North Africa, but cultivation has decreased significantly

• New threat - smuggling of amphetamine-type stimulants from Africa into other regions

• Diversion of precursor chemicals continues, especially in East and West Africa. Diverted and counterfeit drugs available on unregulated markets pose a serious public health problem

• Cannabis remains the most widely abused drug

Central America and the Caribbean

• Continues to be a major transit area for drugs trafficked from South America to North America

• Escalation of drug-related violence, especially in the so-called “Northern Triangle” (El Salvador, Guatemala and the Honduras) and Jamaica

• 90 % of the cocaine in the United States is trafficked via Mexico. Drugs smuggled into Central America mainly by sea and increasingly by light aircraft

• Cocaine abuse is above the global average• Cocaine main substance causing drug-related death

North America

• World's largest illicit drug market• Continuing high levels of illicit drug production,

manufacture, trade and consumption• Cannabis still the most widely produced illicit drug in

this region• Highest annual drug-related mortality rate in the world• Prescription drug abuse is a significant problem

– Now fastest growing drug problem in the United States

• Drug-related violence continues to be widespread in Mexico, despite the Government’s determined action

South America

• Area of illicit coca bush cultivation decreased by 6% percent• Global seizures of cocaine stable, but the location has

shifted to South America, now accounting for over half of global seizures

• Cannabis remains the primary drug of abuse in South America

• Cocaine abuse higher than global average • Cocaine most frequently cited substance causing drug-

related death

East and South-East Asia

• Illicit opium poppy cultivation and opium production continued to increase in Myanmar and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic

• Large-scale illicit trafficking in methamphetamine• Abuse of methamphetamine increasing in many countries• Illicit trafficking in and growing abuse of ketamine, a

substance not under international control, is a prominent problem

• Limited drug treatment services and shortage of qualified health-care professionals restrict development of programmes for prevention and treatment of drug abuse

South Asia

• Increasing problems with abuse of prescription drugs and over-the-counter pharmaceutical preparations containing narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances– Often obtained through pharmacies that do not respect

prescription requirements or through illegal Internet pharmacies

• Ongoing illicit manufacture and trafficking of amphetamine-type stimulants and their precursors

• Rising levels of injecting drug abuse contributing to an increase in HIV and hepatitis C infection rates

West Asia

• Region remains epicentre of illicit opium poppy cultivation, with significant increases in opium production in 2011

• High levels of abuse of opiates in West Asia• Drug seizures have increased for most controlled drugs• Increase in legitimate imports of precursors ephedrine and

pseudoephedrine – Board urges Governments to review their annual legitimate

requirements

• 10 tons of amphetamines seized in the Middle East, mainly in Saudi Arabia

Europe• Cannabis use increased in some countries• Illicit cultivation of cannabis increased dramatically in Western

and Central Europe, mainly indoors and on an industrial scale • Some countries tolerate indoor cultivation for personal use,

which is not in compliance with the Conventions • Stable but high level of cocaine abuse • Increased cocaine trafficking into Europe via North Africa• Heroin the biggest drug problem in Europe, in terms of

morbidity and mortality• Signs that methamphetamine is replacing amphetamine in

northern part of Europe• Increasing variety of drugs of abuse, including substances

not under international control

Oceania

• Low rate of accession to the international drug control treaties among Pacific Island States

• Countries not parties to all of the Conventions are increasingly becoming destinations or trans-shipment areas for trafficking of drugs and precursors

• Trafficking of cocaine into Australia is an emerging issue

• Organised criminal groups are actively involved in drug trafficking in Oceania