HEROIN SMOKING UP IN NORTH AMERICA, UN SAYS

VIENNA---The UN drug control agency has wamed 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
cornmitments 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.

Americans Prefer 'Uppers' John M. Goshko of The Washington Post reported
from the United Nations, New York:

The control board's study found that people in North and South America
consume large amounts of performance-enhancing drugs and stimulants,
commonly called "uppers," while Europeans are the world's top users of
so-called "downers," or stress-reducing drugs.

The report notes that there is no clearcut explanation for the differences
in usage between EuropE an~the AinBDicas. But it speculates that they
coulWlie linked to such factors as culture, the effects of advertising and
differences in doctor-patient relationships.

Noting the tendency of Americans particularly in the United States, to make
heavy use of a wide range of performance-enhancing drugs, from
musclebuilding steroids to Ritalin, used to treat attention deficit
disorder and hyperactivity in children, to Viagra, the antiimpotence drug,
the report says such high use "could be at least partly explained by a
prevalent sense of competition. Use of these drugs seems linked to culture
and lifestyle."

"In the Americas, particularly in the United States, performance-enhancing
drugs are given to children to boost school performance or help them
conform with the demands of school life," the report says. "They are also
taken by adults to achieve the desired body image, boost athletic prowess
and social skills or enhance sexual performance."

Use by Americans of stimulants, particularly amphetamine-type substances
for dieting and methylphenidate substances, such as Ritalin, amounts to an
annual total of 330 million defined daily doses, compared with a total of
about 65 million daily doses in all other parts of the world, the report says.

The report finds no evidence that life in Europe is more stressful than in
the Americas. Nevertheless, it says, stress-reducing drugs, called
benzodiazepines, are used by as much as 10 percent of the populations in
some European countries, with people older than 65 the heaviest users.