Marijuana use 'out of control'

2006-06-27 08:50

Washington - Marijuana use worldwide is "out of control" because it grows everywhere, is in high demand and erroneously is considered by many to be harmless, a senior United Nations official said on Monday.

Antonio Maria Costa, executive director of the United Nations office on drugs and crime, highlighted the marijuana problem at a news conference as he released his office's 2006 World Drug Report.

Marijuana, also known as cannabis or dagga, is a danger because it contains increasingly potent amounts of THC, a banned substance, Costa said.

While governments around the world generally have succeeded in containing use of heroin, cocaine and amphetamines, Costa said marijuana is a different story.

'Erroneously considered a light drug'

Marijuana, he said, "is out of control".

"It's out of control in supply because it's a weed; it grows everywhere. It's out of control in demand because it's erroneously considered a light drug."

John Walters, head of the White House office of national drug control policy, agreed that marijuana is "a massive global problem".

"It's not just a gateway, it is a dead end as well as an opening for many other people who go on and use other things, and are polydrug users. It has been for a long time," said Walters, who joined Costa at the news conference.

Cocaine use reaching alarming levels

The UN report released by Costa generally was upbeat, boasting gains - including that opium poppy cultivation was down 22% in 2005.

On the negative side, the report found that cocaine use is reaching alarming levels in Western Europe.

It attributed the decline in opium poppy cultivation to cutbacks in the three main source countries of illicit opium in the world: Afghanistan, Myanmar and Laos. Opium is the main ingredient for heroin.

"In Afghanistan, in 2005, opium poppy cultivation decreased for the first time since 2001," the report said. Still, it said, that country accounted for 89% of opium production worldwide.

'Drug control is working'

Assessing the gamut of illicit drugs, from heroin to cocaine as well as marijuana, amphetamines and ecstasy, the report concluded: "Drug control is working, and the world drug problem is being contained."

Levels of drug cultivation and drug addiction are much lower than they were 100 years ago, it said.

"Even more importantly, in the past few years, worldwide efforts to reduce the threat posed by illicit drugs have effectively reversed a quarter-century-long rise in drug abuse that, if left unchecked, could have become a global pandemic," the report added.

- AP