Abstract: The World Drug Report presents the most comprehensive statistical view of today’s illicit drug situation. This year’s edition reports signs of long-term containment of the global problem. However, the overall trend masks contrasting regional situations, which the report examines in detail. For instance, while an impressive multi-year reduction in opium poppy cultivation continued in South-East Asia, Afghanistan recorded a large increase in 2006. More interceptions of cocaine and heroin shipments across the world have played an important part in stabilizing the market. However, as we witness successes in some areas, challenges appear in others. Although drug abuse levels are stabilizing globally, countries along major and new trafficking routes, such as those now going through Africa, may face increasing levels of drug consumption. The World Drug Report 2007 also discusses a possible method to better assess and monitor the role played by organized crime in transnational drug trafficking.

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. The drug problem is being contained but there are warning signs that the stabilisation which has occurred over the last few years could be in danger. Notable amongst these is the increase in both opium poppy and coca cultivation in 2007, some growth in consumption in developing countries and some development of new trafficking patterns. There have also been encouraging contractions in some of the main consumer markets. This year, almost one hundred years since the Shanghai Opium Commission in 1909, the Report presents an historical review of the development of the international drug control system.

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

Abstract: In 2009, the United Nations Member States decided to make further and decisive progress, within a decade, in controlling illicit drug supply and demand. Many illicit drug markets have reached global dimensions and require control strategies on a comparable scale. In that context, there is a need to better understand these transnational markets and the manner in which they operate. This year’s World Drug Report is a contribution towards that objective. It opens with an analytical discussion of three key transnational drug markets: the markets for heroin, cocaine and amphetamine-type stimulants. The market discussion is followed by a presentation of statistical trends for all major drug categories. The latest information on drug production, seizures and consumption is presented. Finally, there is a discussion on the relationship between drug trafficking and instability.