World drugs problem resistant to all attempts to curb it, says European Union

Rory Watson, writing in the British Medical Journal, says that the authors of the study maintain that despite the political impetus that the UN gave to an antidrug policy, the global drug problem has clearly not improved over the past decade.

"For some countries (mostly rich ones), the problem declined, but for others (mostly developing or transitional) it worsened, in some cases sharply and substantially," they conclude, adding, "We think that drug policy had no more than a marginal positive influence."

The report notes that although the number of cannabis users may have declined, the sudden and substantial rise in people who seek treatment suggests that consumption and harm may have increased.

Cocaine consumption has remained roughly stable, but its use has been redistributed among more countries. This led the authors to state that "given the limitations of the data, a fair judgment is that the problem became somewhat more severe."

More specifically, the report maintains that production and trafficking controls simply redistributed activities; that enforcement against local markets failed in most countries to prevent continued availability at lower prices; and that treatment did not reduce the prevalence of drug use.

Striking a slightly more positive tone, Antonio Maria Costa, the executive director of the United Nations' office on drugs and crime, told the Vienna meeting, "The world drug problem has been contained, but not solved." He urged governments to "treat drug dependence as an illness and devote more resources to prevention, treatment, and harm reduction."

However, the scale of the problem was highlighted by Namibian deputy prime minister, Libertina Amathila, who chaired the meeting and warned, "Our youth is wasting away as a result of drug misuse. Sustainable development and the security and stability of many countries are affected."

A Report on Global Illicit Drug Markets 1998-2007 is at http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/doc_centre/drugs/studies/doc_drugs_studies_en.htm.