July 29, 2003. Copyright 2003. Graphic News. All rights reserved. UN sheds light on global narcotics abuse LONDON, July 29, Graphic News: The number of drug users worldwide has risen from one in twenty-three people last year to almost one in twenty in 2003, and illicit heroin use continues to have the most severe health consequences for drug abusers, says the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The new estimates show, once again, that the most widely abused substances worldwide are cannabis, used by around 160 million people, followed by the amphetamine-type stimulants, used by 34 million -- including eight million abusing ecstasy. Cocaine users number more than 4 million, and opiates almost 15 million -- of whom close to 10 million are taking heroin. The heaviest users of cocaine are the U.S. and Spain, 2.6 percent of population each, followed by the United Kingdom (2.0 percent) and Argentina (1.9 percent). The heaviest opiate users are Iran (2.8 percent) followed by Kyrgyzstan (2.3 percent) and Russia (2.0 percent). The total number of drug abusers is estimated by UNODC at some 200 million people, equivalent to 4.7 percent of the worldÕs population aged 15 and above. The agency points out that the latest estimate is slightly higher than the 4.3 percent of last year, primarily because more people are abusing cannabis, though estimates for other drugs are slightly higher as well. The good news is that for the second year in a row illicit coca cultivation declined in Colombia. The 37 percent reduction recorded between November 2001 and December 2002 translated into a global decline of 18 percent, leaving Peru with 20 percent of the worldÕs cocaine market and Bolivia with eight percent. The bad news is that after a steep decline in world opium and heroin production -- around 40 percent in Myanmar and Laos in 2001 -- renewed large-scale opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan pushed opium production to an estimated 4,500 tonnes, compared with 1,600 tonnes in 2001. Amphetamine-type-stimulants -- known as ATS -- are synthetic drugs that include the chemically related amphetamine, methamphetamine and ecstasy. Unlike the traditional plant-based drugs, the production of ATS starts with readily available chemicals, in easily concealed laboratories. More laboratories were detected and dismantled worldwide over the last few years than ever before, particularly in the United States, indicating that the expansion of the ATS market is continuing. UNODC reports that Europe, notably the Netherlands, Poland and Belgium, continues to be the main centre of clandestine amphetamine production. But the market is changing, with the bulk of trafficking in ATS shifting towards East and South-East Asia in recent years. North Korea seems to be emerging as a significant source for amphetamine trafficking to Japan -- the regionÕs most lucrative ATS market -- and Australia. Thailand tops the ATS abuse league (5.6 percent), followed by Australia (4.0 percent), New Zealand (3.4 percent) and Ireland (2.6 percent). In the mid-1990s, Western European countries reported around 80 percent of all ecstasy seizures. This proportion fell to around 50 percent in 2000 and 2001. Worldwide, the most widely used drug by far is cannabis, with three in ten people using the drug in Australia and Papua New Guinea, and one in five in South Africa. With drugs, as with alcohol, a minority of users tends to account for the bulk of consumption. In America, for instance, 22 percent of users account for 70 percent of use. Of EuropeÕs adults, at most 3 percent are likely to have tried cocaine; fewer than 1 percent have ever sampled heroin. At present, the markets with the big money are in the rich world, where the mark-ups between import and sales prices are highest. However, UNODOC says future growth is expected to become concentrated in developing countries and the former Soviet Union. /ENDS Source: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Global Illicit Drug Trends 2003