CHAVEZ BEGINS NEW TERM WITH ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CHALLENGES

Drug Control in the Americas: Some Progress, Many Hurdles

Both the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (UNODCCP) recently released reports about the success of drug control efforts in the Americas.

According to UN statistics, world production of coca leaf and manufacture of cocaine declined by 20% between 1992 and 1999. In the latter year, world cocaine production still equaled 765 metric tons, but the amount of land dedicated to coca cultivation was 14% less than in 1990.

The report found that, despite government efforts to curtail cocaine production, Colombia was the world's largest producer of this drug, accounting for 80% of the world's total. Colombian production grew in part because of the decline in coca cultivation in neighboring Peru and Bolivia. According to Klaus Nyholm, the UNODCCP's representative for Colombia and Ecuador, drug traffickers have found the war in Colombia to be a convenient cover for their business. The link between drugs and unrest is not limited to Colombia, however; "the two other large drug producers, Afghanistan and Burma, are also experiencing armed conflict," Nyholm pointed out,. "Colombia has been strong in repressing drug production," he concluded, "but it is weak in preventing their consumption and promoting alternative development."

The OAS report, prepared by the organization's Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD), was part of the first round of evaluations under the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM). It covered 1999 and 2000, with statistics updated through October.

CICAD found that Latin America has resisted the international tendency to draw artificial distinctions between producer, user and transit countries. "Drug use rates have risen in those formerly considered producer countries, while the so-called user countries have recognized that they are also affected by the other manifestations of the problem in their respective territories," the report noted. It went on to identify the following trends:

An increase in the demand for drugs in the majority of the countries of the hemisphere, including those traditionally considered production or transit zones.
Greater internal consumption of drugs in producer or transit countries, whether because of the application of effective measures of control and interdiction to cut transit routes or as a new form of payment in kind within the illegal drug industry.
A new tendency among intermediaries and traffickers to sell drugs to local residents, especially children, adolescents and other vulnerable groups, thereby increasing local supply. This has contributed to the violence and criminality associated with drugs.
A drop in the average age of first-time drug users in countries where comparative drug abuse studies have been conducted, and significant increase in the numbers of first-time users.
The expansion of other illegal crops, especially opium poppies, as well as an increase in production potentials, the volume of illicit drugs and their purity.
A proportional increase in the area under coca cultivation in Colombia, although the total number of hectares under cultivation in the region remained stable at an estimated 200,000 in 1999-2000.
Increased use of arms-trafficking routes to transport illegal drugs.

Despite these disturbing trends, the report found some progress. The countries of the hemisphere have made advances in the adoption of money-laundering legislation, national enforcement and cooperative agreements. Much of this progress is due to the establishment of an international legal framework based on principles of international law and shared responsibility, both at the UN and the hemispheric level. CICAD identified the Caribbean as the area that has made the least progress in terms of drug control, and recommended that all countries in the region adopt the UN Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction.

The report argued that the best results have been obtained in those countries that address all aspects of the drug problem. The most successful policies include "comprehensive strategies that include both the full range of enforcement measures as well as demand reduction and, where appropriate, alternative development," CICAD concluded. One can only assume that such programs would be even more successful if they were supported by a commitment on the part of all countries in the region expressed in coherent national and international drug control policies.