U.N. BRANDS CAMBODIA TOP WORLD SOURCE OF MARIJUANA

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The United Nations has branded Cambodia one of
the largest suppliers of marijuana to the world, with business
estimated to generate nearly $1 billion a year.

The value of the export of marijuana is estimated to be on par with
that of Cambodia's top foreign exchange earner, the garment industry,
which employs more than 100,000 people, the U.N. International Drug
Control Program said in a report.

``With Cambodia as one of the world's largest suppliers of cannabis,
and in combination with the destabilizing effects the illicit profits
of this trade has on the country, this situation is clearly not
acceptable,'' said the report, obtained by Reuters late on Wednesday.

``If this phenomenon is not halted, it will have serious economic and
social implications.''

The report said more than 200 tons of high-grade Cambodian marijuana
had been seized abroad since 1996, primarily in Europe but also in the
United States, Australia and Africa.

Significant quantities of heroin and methamphetamines from the Golden
Triangle of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand and chemicals used to produce
narcotics are also being shipped through Cambodia, the report said.

The UNDCP said Cambodian law enforcement officials were involved in
the drug trade.

``Military police could play an important role in dealing with drug
production and trafficking. Many observers, however, feel that the
military forces are presently more a part of the drug trafficking
problem than its solution,'' the UNDCP said.

Graham Shaw, UNDCP's Cambodia program officer, told Reuters on
Thursday that the United Nations had committed $3.5 million to assist
Cambodia in its fight against drugs.

However, he described Cambodia as a ``weak link'' in regional
anti-drug efforts and said that reform would be ``a long and difficult
road.''

The report, distributed to the government and the country's aid donors
last week, is expected to be discussed at a meeting of aid donors in
Tokyo from June 11-13.

Cambodia is expected to ask for more than $500 million at the annual
meeting, but donor pledges are tightly linked to reform in areas such
as law enforcement and tackling drugs.