02/03/2005

British top in heroin seizures, says UN report

Britain had the largest rate of heroin seizures in Europe last year, a report by UN drugs watchdog, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) found.

The report also found that the UK had the third highest number of heroin addicts in Europe in 2004.

Increased production of opium in Afghanistan was cited as a contributing factor to the alarming new figures, because this was where most of the supply coming to the UK was from. The INCB also reported that cocaine use in the UK had risen.

The INCB warned that Afghanistan was in danger of becoming a "narcotic state", following the discovery that the country had produced an estimated 4,200 tons of heroin during 2004. The drugs watchdog warned that illicit opium production had increased since the Taliban regime was overthrown by the US-led invasion in 2001 and that three-quarters of the world's heroin supply came from Afghanistan. It also warned that the country had become a major source of cannabis resin as well as a destination for illicitly trafficked psychotropic substances and precursors.

Professor Hamid Ghodse, President of the INCB, warned that Afghanistan's widespread drug problems posed "a severe threat" to the new democracy in the country – the first democratic elections were held there last October – as well as the stability and economic recovery of the country as a whole.

The INCB has called for international help in order to help tackle the problem. Last month, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw announced plans to double Britain's funding to help fight the drugs trade in Afghanistan.

He announced plans to contribute £52 million following talks with new Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

(KMcA/SP)

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