Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 24 (IANS) While the global market for cocaine, cannabis and heroin has declined or remained stable, the production and abuse of new synthetic drugs has increased, the UN World Drug Report 2011 said.

Ahead of Sunday’s International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, a UN statement quoting the report said: “Although there was a sharp decline in opium production and a modest reduction in coca cultivation, overall, the manufacture of heroin and cocaine was still significant.”

The report was released Thursday at the UN headquarters.

“Globally, some 210 million people, or 4.8 percent of the population aged 15-64, took illicit substances at least once in the previous year. Overall drug use, including problem drug use, (0.6 per cent of the population aged 15-64) remained stable,” the report said.

“However, demand soared for substances not under international control such as piperazine and cathinone. The effects of cannabis are also being mimicked by synthetic cannabinoids, or ’spice’,” it added.

The report added that while the global opium poppy cultivation increased slightly last year over 2009, opium production in Afghanistan decreased. Myanmar saw a slight increase in the same.

Cannabis remains by far the most widely produced and consumed illicit substance globally, although data on cannabis are limited, the report said.

“Drugs cause some 200,000 deaths a year. Since people with serious drug problems provide the bulk of drug demand, treating this problem is one of the best ways of shrinking the market,” Yury Fedotov, executive director of the United Nations on Office Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said.