Thaindian News

New Delhi, Feb 19 (ANI): According to an annual report of the International Narcotics Control Board, rising opium cultivation in Afghanistan has successfully been curbed by 19 per cent this year. Member of Central Board of Excise and Customs J K Batra disclosed this while releasing the 2008 annual report of International Narcotics Control Board in New Delhi on Thursday. Batra who is overseeing measures to check narcotics and anti-smuggling operations in India noted that despite the shrinking cultivation areas of opium poppy in Afghanistan, the country still is a source for over 90 per cent of illicit opium in the world. Drug abuse is a serious concern in Afghanistan where a wide range of social ills, including organised mafia, corruption and drug abuse have erupted due the opium trade. A recent survey data from several South Asian countries indicates that the HIV transmission rate is very high among persons who take drugs by injection. In India, the prevalence of HIV infection caused by injecting drug users in 2006 was estimated at a national average of 8.71 per cent, compared with 0.36 per cent in the general adult population. ” Sometimes we win (agencies) and sometimes they win (drug smugglers) but the present situation is almost under control and the International bodies also agree that the enforcement agencies of India are performing well in bringing the situation under control,” said Batra. The INCB report 2008 concludes with the critical note that the International drug control system has stood the test of time but it is not perfect. It has therefore suggested the Governments around the world to adopt a constructive approach to overcome obstacles rather than seeking individual solutions that may undermine the coherence and integrity of the whole system. The International Narcotics Control Board is an independent and Quasi Judicial control organ, established by a treaty, for monitoring the implementation of the International drug control treaties. (ANI)