As described in the handbook, the international drug trade has influenced the
growth of several other issues. Despite the efforts of United Nations programs such as
the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, or perhaps because of those efforts, the global
markets for the main types of illicit drugs have remained stable. The market for
cannabis, which had been continually expanding in previous years, has finally stabilized.
However, the production of heroine has continued to rise, especially in Afghanistan.
While the consumption of heroine internationally does not seem to have climbed, the
situation concerns officials who believe that a surge in production may inevitably lead to
an increase in consumption.
An important factor in the international drug trade has always been production.
The UNODC has begun a crop monitoring program, which has been aimed at monitoring
“the extent and evolution of illicit drugs” in the major countries of production. According
to the World Drug Report, 92 percent of the world’s opium comes from poppy fields in
Afghanistan, which saw a massive increase in production in 2006. Seventy percent of the
cannabis supply in Europe is cultivated in Morocco, but UNODC and government
monitors have reported a decline in production in the past few years. However, cannabis
is grown throughout the world, so real crop cultivation cannot even be accurately
estimated. The monitoring of drug crop growth is an important step to knowing the
extent of the international drug trade. But it should be noted that drug crop cultivation,
which is measured in land used to produce the plants, does not directly correlate to the
amount of drugs being produced. Crop yields are highly flexible, and decreasing
cultivation does not necessarily mean declines in drug production or usage.
The international drug trade has promoted the use of many different types of
drugs throughout the world. Of the world’s drug users, about 13 million people inject
drugs and, of these, 4 million are infected with HIV. Each year, ten percent of new
HIV infections globally are attributed to injecting users. In Eastern Europe and Central
Asia, injecting drug users account for 80 percent of all HIV infections. The re-use and
sharing of injection needles is a danger for injecting drug users globally.
A large portion of the international population, some 200 million people, use
drugs each year. This is an immense industry that naturally draws the interest of
international organized crime groups. The illicit sale of drugs can generate massive
amounts of money very quickly. In 2007, wholesale prices for one kilogram of opium
ranged from 18,240 $US in the Netherlands to 69,192 $US in Finland. Street prices
from 2005 for a single gram of opiates ranged from 0.10 $US in Afghanistan, where
opiates are grown and are commonly used, to 40.30 $US in Canada. International
crime organizations can easily utilize money that their drug trade brings in for other
purposes, such as terrorism, human trafficking, arms trafficking, smuggling of migrants
and money laundering.
The information in the UNODC’s World Drug Report often comes from state
governments. These countries report the wholesale and street prices of drugs, drug
seizures by the state, and treatment demands to the UNODC, which then synthesizes
this information into its annual report. From this information it is easy to see that
regions of the world have specific drug preferences. In 2005, Asia, much of Europe,
and the Middle East were dominated by opiate use. Australia and the majority of
African nations saw treatments demands for cannabis use above all other substances.
Cannabis use was also prevalent in North America and several South American
countries. More than cannabis in South America, however, was a high frequency of
cocaine use. Cocaine was only slightly higher in usage than cannabis in North
America, primarily in Canada and Mexico. Amphetamine use was present, but not
extraordinary, on every continent. It appears that each region of the world favors
certain drugs above others.
The illicit drug trade capitalizes on the fact that many people feel the need to
escape their present conditions and use drugs in order to accomplish this goal.
However, while attempting to escape, many people inadvertently support organized
crime and spread HIV infections. The conventions and treaties that have been passed
previously by the United Nations have worked to reduce the prevalence of the illicit
drug trade, but currently have only succeeded in stabilizing the present drug cultivation
levels. It seems appropriate for the Advanced General Assembly of the 2008 Model
United Nations Program to address this important issue and work to ratify a resolution
that will be more effective at curbing the international drug trade.
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http://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/wdr07/WDR_2007_executive_summary.pdf
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http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/crop-monitoring/index.html
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http://www.who.int/hiv/idu/en/index.html
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http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/organized-crime/index.html
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http://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/wdr07/WDR_2007.pdf