Annual Report 2011: Addressing Illegal Drugs and Promoting Social Cohesion

1. Annual Report 2011 dedicated to the Centennial of the International Opium Convention of the Hague of 1912 Embargo: 11:00 CET, 28 February 2012

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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