cannabisnews.com: Heroin Smoking Up in North America, UN Says!





Heroin Smoking Up in North America, UN Says!
Posted by FoM on February 26, 1999 at 07:19:04 PT

VIENNA - The UN drug control agency has warned that more and more North Americans are smoking heroin and said Europe has emerged as a producer of cannabis and synthetic drugs.
In its 1998 report released Tuesday, the Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board said, ''Cannabis continues to be the most commonly abused drug in all three countries in North America, with a more potent variety grown in greenhouses in Canada and western parts of the United States.''Another trend, the increasing purity levels of heroin available in North America, has led to an increase in heroin smoking, especially among young people,'' the study said. ''The market share of heroin from Southeast Asia that is abused in the United States has continued to be displaced by heroin originating in Latin America, while heroin manufactured in Southeast Asia has maintained a predominant share of the illicit market in Canada.'' In their report, the United Nations drug controllers also expressed alarm that ''on-line do-it-yourself guides that enable their readers to prepare and abuse controlled substances continue to proliferate on the Internet.''In Latin America, efforts made by government and international groups have led to a decrease in areas under coca bush cultivation and the production of coca leaf, the main illicit crop in the region.''However, reductions in coca bush cultivations in some areas are quickly and easily compensated for by new cultivation sites in other areas,'' the report said. It urged Bolivia, Colombia and Peru to comply with their commitments to eradicate cultivation sites.Referring to Europe's growing role as a producer of synthetic drugs, the report said the drug known as ''ecstasy'' is manufactured clandestinely in Europe and trafficked worldwide.
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