[size=+1]Designer drug bans urged by UN agency[/size]
Bans on whole classes of substances should be adopted to curb rapid spread of designer drugs, report says
Alan Travis, home affairs editor
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 March 2011 10.03 GMT
The development of designer drugs is escalating so fast that national governments need to adopt generic bans on new substances, the UN's drug agency has urged.
The International Narcotics Control Board reports that illicit opium production in Afghanistan halved during last year to 3,600 tonnes – due to a fungus affecting the poppy plants, rather than efforts of American or British troops.
The impact on heroin supplies in Britain and western Europe will be small because existing opium stocks total about 12,000 tonnes, equal to 2.5 years' worth of global demand.
The board's annual report, published on Wednesday, confirms that cocaine use is continuing to rise in Britain, where it has replaced amphetamines and ecstasy in popularity. Britain is increasingly being used as a gateway to Europe by cocaine smugglers alongside more traditional routes through Spain and the Netherlands.
The Vienna-based drugs agency also highlights the disparity in access to legal pain relief drugs in the developing and developed worlds. "Ninety per cent of the licit drugs are consumed by 10% of the world's population in the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and some European countries," said Hamid Ghodse, the board's president.
Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/mar/02/designer-drug-bans-urged-un-agency
Bans on whole classes of substances should be adopted to curb rapid spread of designer drugs, report says
Alan Travis, home affairs editor
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 2 March 2011 10.03 GMT
The development of designer drugs is escalating so fast that national governments need to adopt generic bans on new substances, the UN's drug agency has urged.
The International Narcotics Control Board reports that illicit opium production in Afghanistan halved during last year to 3,600 tonnes – due to a fungus affecting the poppy plants, rather than efforts of American or British troops.
The impact on heroin supplies in Britain and western Europe will be small because existing opium stocks total about 12,000 tonnes, equal to 2.5 years' worth of global demand.
The board's annual report, published on Wednesday, confirms that cocaine use is continuing to rise in Britain, where it has replaced amphetamines and ecstasy in popularity. Britain is increasingly being used as a gateway to Europe by cocaine smugglers alongside more traditional routes through Spain and the Netherlands.
The Vienna-based drugs agency also highlights the disparity in access to legal pain relief drugs in the developing and developed worlds. "Ninety per cent of the licit drugs are consumed by 10% of the world's population in the USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and some European countries," said Hamid Ghodse, the board's president.
Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/mar/02/designer-drug-bans-urged-un-agency
