Abstract: The World Drug Report presents comprehensive information on the illicit drug situation. It provides detailed estimates and trends on production, trafficking and consumption in the opium/heroin, coca/cocaine, cannabis and amphetamine-type stimulants markets. This year, for the first time, the World Drug Report includes special feature sections on the quality of drug data available to UNODC, trends in drug use among young people and police-recorded drug offences. It also discusses one the most formidable unintended consequences of drug control – the black market for drugs – and how the international community best can tackle it.

Abstract: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) today issued its Report 2010. “This Report shows how health, security and justice are the antidotes to drugs, crime and terrorism,” said UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa. The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, during an official visit to Austria, said: “The UNODC 2010 Report showcases the extraordinary task accomplished by this small office. This is further proof of how Vienna has become a hub for human security issues, and how the UN can deliver assistance in the field to save people from the misery of drugs and crime.” The Report covers the full range of UNODC’s work around the world: promoting drug treatment and alternative development; improving criminal justice; strengthening integrity; and reducing vulnerability to crime. Its descriptive chapters are brought to life by photos and personal accounts, like those of a trafficking survivor, a prison employee, a cacao farmer, and a recovering drug addict. The Report also explains how UNODC carries out its renowned research, including its growing capacity in scientific and forensic services. The Report concludes by offering a blunt assessment of UNODC’s resource requirements: “currently, resources available are minute compared to the gigantic menace that we face,” said Mr. Costa. One of the main themes throughout the Report is the threat posed by organized crime. The issue is high on the international agenda. Organized crime has been debated in the Security Council several times over the past six months, it will be the focus of the Twelfth UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice that will take place in Salvador, Brazil next week (12-19 April), as well as the fifth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN (Palermo) Convention against Transnational Organized Crime to be held in Vienna this October. “2010 – which is the 10th anniversary of the Palermo Convention – should be the year for strengthening the international response to organized crime,” said Mr. Costa. “There is plenty of bad news about drugs and crime. This Report shows that these threats can be addressed in a way that has wider benefits for society, namely improving health, security and justice for all,” said Mr. Costa. The UNODC 2010 Report is available in hard copy and on the UNODC website: www.unodc.org