The New York Times

Thursday, June 26, 1997

U.N. Report Says Tens Of Millions Use Illicit

by CHRISTOPHER S. WREN

United Nations, June 25 About 140 million people nearly 2.5 percent of the world's population smoke marijuana and its derivative, hashish.

At least 13 million people sniff, smoke or inject forms of cocaine. Another 8 million use heroin and 30 million pop amphetaminetype stimulants, according to the first comprehensive study of illegal drugs and their worldwide impact, released today by the United Nations..

The international business of illicit drugs generates as much as $400 billion a year in revenues, according to estimates in the World Drug Report, which was commissioned by the United Nations International Drug Control Program. That amounts to 8 percent of all international trade and is comparable to the annual turnover in textiles, accordingto the study.

The 332page report makes clear that countries acting alone are hard pressed to counter a sophisticated international criminal enterprise and the study suggests that only international cooperation can stanch the flow of illegal drugs.

"Borders are opportunities for the traffickers, while they have been limits for the national agencies," Giorgio Giacomelli, Director General of the International Drug Control Program, said in an interview.

"The problem has assumed such a global nature that it cannot be dealt with by individual countries."

According to the report, the cultivation of opium poppies has expanded to cover more than 691,060 acres, mostly in Asia, with more than 300 tons of heroin believed to be produced annually. It guessed that 1,000 tons of cocaine were refined from 300,000 tons of coca leaves grown in Peru, Colombia and Bolivia.

The report did not try to estimate total marijuana cultivation. It did say law enforcement agencies seized 3,000 tons of marijuana and 1,000 tons of marijuana resin, the base for hashish, in 1995.

Another 251 tons of cocaine, 31 tons of heroin and 13 tons of morphine, a related opiate, were seized worldwide, the report said. It put interception rates in recent years at just 10 to 15 percent for heroin and 30 percent for cocaine trafficking.

Cocaine use was higher in the Americas, especially North America, the report said, but heroin use was higher in Europe and Asia.

Less than 3 to 5 percent of the income generated from the final retail sales of plantbased drugs like heroin, cocaine and marijuana is returned to the countries where the plants are grown, the report said.

It took particular note of the widespread laundering of drug profits, which puts innocent businesses in jeopardy.