UNODC launches 2008 World Drug Report

26 June 2008 - Nairobi, Kenya. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Regional Office for Eastern Africa (ROEA), launched 2008 Annual Report of the World Drug Report on Thursday, 26 June 2008 at the United Nations Press Centre, UNON, Gigiri, in Nairobi. The occasion was also used to celebrate the UN International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

The report shows that the recent stabilization in the world drugs market is under threat because a surge in opium and coca cultivation and the risk of higher drug use in developing countries threaten to undermine recent progress in drug control. 

The UNODC report shows that less than one in every twenty people aged 15-64 have tried drugs at least once in the past 12 months. Problem drug users (people with severe drug dependence) are less than one tenth of this already low percentage: 26 million people, or 0.6% of the planet's adult population.

At the same occasion, UNODC ROEA in its efforts to assist in the healing process after the post poll violence witnessed in this country recently, presented Mr. Eric Wainaina, an internationally known Kenyan musician, who has been identified as a UNODC Messenger of Non-Violence with an Escopetarra, a peace symbol which aims to change violent behavior and actions into peaceful and constructive ones. It is expected that he will use his prowess as a musician to promote peace amongst the youth and people of this country through music.

Technically, an “Escopetarra” is an AK–47/AKM assault rifle, originating from the disarmament process in Colombia, transformed into an electric guitar. The name is derived from the Spanish words “escopeta” and “guitarra”, which means rifle and guitar. Each “Escopetarra” is made with an arm that has participated actively in the four decade long conflict in Colombia.

Regarding the WDR 2008, at the UN General Assembly’s 20th Special Session on the World Drug Problem in 1998 Member States agreed to make significant progress towards the control of supply and demand for illicit drugs by the year 2008. They noted that this objective could only be achieved by means of a ‘balanced approach’ (giving demand as much attention as supply), and on the basis of regular assessments of global drug trends.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has published such assessments annually since 1999. In addition, the General Assembly, in its resolution 60/178 of 16 December 2005, requests UNODC to continue to “publish the World Drug Report with comprehensive and balanced information about the world drug problem”. This year UNODC again fulfills these mandates with the publication of its annual World Drug Report.

The World Drug Report presents the most salient trends in production, trafficking and use of drugs. The aim of the Report is to contribute to annual assessments by presenting supply (production and trafficking) and demand statistics and analysis on the evolution of the global illicit drug problem.

The past few World Drug Reports have stated that the world drug problem is being contained in the sense that it had stabilized. This year’s Report shows that containment is under threat. Urgent steps must be taken to prevent the unravelling of progress that has been made in the past few decades of drug control. Furthermore, containment should not be seen as an end in itself. Real success will only come when supply and demand actually go down (rather than level off), across the world. The current upsurge in supply together with the development of new trafficking routes (mostly through Africa) could eventually strengthen demand where it already exists (mostly in developed countries) and create new markets for some of the world’s deadliest substances (mostly in developing countries).