A chequered year for drug control

The good news was the remarkable success of the Golden Triangle countries, particularly Laos, in slashing illicit opium production to near-negligible levels. But those gains were eclipsed by the bad news from Afghanistan, the year's big story. Afghan opium production, which accounts for 92 per cent of total world supply, surged 49 per cent to a record 6,100 tonnes.

UNODC warned Western countries to prepare for a possible increase in drug overdoses as a result of the increased purity of heroin. Rising cocaine consumption in Europe was another cause for concern, says the UNODC report.

The UNODC Annual Report can be downloaded from their web site here.

The UNODC Annual Report for 2007 (covering activities in 2006) provides an overview of the organization's activities worldwide. It shows the range of activities undertaken in the field and at headquarters to make the world safer from illicit drugs and international organized crime. In 2006, UNODC's announcement of a record opium harvest in Afghanistan grabbed the world headlines and reinforced the Office's reputation for providing the gold standard for drug cultivation data.

But UNODC also raised the alarm about growing cocaine use in Europe in 2006, paid special attention to the crime of trafficking in persons and worked to generate momentum against another global problem within its mandate: corruption.

"We live in a dangerous world, but together we have a better chance of confronting the evils of drugs, crime and terrorism," says Antonio Maria Costa, UNODC Executive Director, in his foreword to the Annual Report. "As this 2007 report demonstrates, in headquarters and through its field offices around the world, UNODC is working hard to live up to Member States' growing expectations. "