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Afghanistan, Myanmar top illicit op



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Afghanistan, Myanmar top illicit opium producers' list

The Statesman (New Delhi)
February 1, 2001

By H Bula Devi

NEW DELHI, Jan. 31. ? Afghanistan and Myanmar together account for about
90 per cent of global illicit opium production and Colombia alone is
responsible for two-thirds of global coca leaf production, according to
the latest World Drug report which will be released next week.

Drug trafficking and trafficking routes have proliferated due to
globalisation, with the number of countries reporting seizures rising
from 120 in 1980-81 to 170 in 1997-98.

India is seriously concerned about drug trafficking and its link to
terrorism. India and Saudi Arabia were to sign an agreement on
countering the meance during the external affairs minister's visit to
Saudi Arabia. But due to unavoidable circumstances it had to be
postponed.

According to the ministry of external affairs, the agreement is expected
to be signed before the meeting of the Indo-Saudi Arabia joint
commission which is to take place in the coming months.

In the past year, seven Indians were beheaded after they were
apprehended for carrying drugs in Saudi Arabia. A recent case was that
of a former naval personnel who was arrested on similar charges. Many
Indians are languishing in jails on drug charges.

According to the World Drug Report of the Vienna-based United Nations
Office for Drug Control and Prevention, the global drug problem ? often
characterized as hopeless ? is neither unstoppable nor irreversible.

The report says that the "get serious" approach on the part of most
major coca and opium poppy producing countries, has resulted in
production being limited to fewer countries than ever before.

The most significant progress is stated to be in the downward trend in
production of the world's two main problem drugs, cocaine and heroin,
with coca leaf and cocaine manufacture falling 20 per cent between
1992-93 and 1999 and with opium production dropping more than 17 per
cent in the past year alone.

However, the UN estimates that some 180 million people ? 4.2 per cent of
all persons of 15 years and above ? were consuming drugs in the late
1990s.



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<html>
<b><font size=+2>Afghanistan, Myanmar top illicit opium producers' list</font></b>
<p>The Statesman (New Delhi)
<br>February 1, 2001
<p>By <b>H Bula Devi</b>
<p><b>NEW DELHI, Jan. 31. </b>? Afghanistan and Myanmar together account
for about 90 per cent of global illicit opium production and Colombia alone
is responsible for two-thirds of global coca leaf production, according
to the latest World Drug report which will be released next week.
<p>Drug trafficking and trafficking routes have proliferated due to globalisation,
with the number of countries reporting seizures rising from 120 in 1980-81
to 170 in 1997-98.
<p>India is seriously concerned about drug trafficking and its link to
terrorism. India and Saudi Arabia were to sign an agreement on countering
the meance during the external affairs minister's visit to Saudi Arabia.
But due to unavoidable circumstances it had to be postponed.
<p>According to the ministry of external affairs, the agreement is expected
to be signed before the meeting of the Indo-Saudi Arabia joint commission
which is to take place in the coming months.
<p>In the past year, seven Indians were beheaded after they were apprehended
for carrying drugs in Saudi Arabia. A recent case was that of a former
naval personnel who was arrested on similar charges. Many Indians are languishing
in jails on drug charges.
<p>According to the World Drug Report of the Vienna-based United Nations
Office for Drug Control and Prevention, the global drug problem ? often
characterized as hopeless ? is neither unstoppable nor irreversible.
<p>The report says that the "get serious" approach on the part of most
major coca and opium poppy producing countries, has resulted in production
being limited to fewer countries than ever before.
<p>The most significant progress is stated to be in the downward trend
in production of the world's two main problem drugs, cocaine and heroin,
with coca leaf and cocaine manufacture falling 20 per cent between 1992-93
and 1999 and with opium production dropping more than 17 per cent in the
past year alone.
<p>However, the UN estimates that some 180 million people ? 4.2 per cent
of all persons of 15 years and above ? were consuming drugs in the late
1990s.
<p>&nbsp;</html>

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