UN OPENS WAR ON DRUGS

NEW YORK- Leaders of the world's major drug-producing and drug-consuming
nations open a three-day conference today to endorse ways to combat
trafficking, curb demand and strengthen global cooperation in the fight
against drugs.

The goal of the United Nations General Assembly "special session on drugs"
is to accept target dates for Governments to enact legislation on issues
such as money-laundering, judicial cooperation, reducing demand and stamping
out cultivation of illicit crops.

President Clinton, who delivers the opening address, has pledged to cut drug
use by half in the United States 'the world's leading drug consumer' by
2007. Latin American officials say their own efforts to curtail drug
production and trafficking will fail unless the Americans curb their
appetite for narcotics.

The conference is expected to approve a plan which sets a target date of
2003 for countries to pass laws to control money laundering and increase
judicial cooperation.

It also sets 2008 as the target for significantly reducing illicit
cultivation of coca, cannabis and opium poppies and for controlling the
spread of amphetamines.

But critics fear the United Nations is placing too much emphasis on legal
measures, following a path which has largely failed in the United States.

They believe the United Nations should consider drugs as a health problem
and use the resources of the World Health Organisation to develop effective
treatment programmes.

"Drug policy is a global public health concern," said Dr Alex Wodak,
director of alcohol and drug services at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney,
Australia. "The UN's exaggerated emphasis on interdiction and
criminalisation makes it impossible to protect public health."

Pino Arlacchi, head of the UN drug control office in Vienna, insists that
the United Nations has no intention of promoting a US-style "war on drugs"
on a global scale.

Statistics on drug users worldwide produced by the UN in preparation for the
summit include: Heroin and other opiate substances- 8 million people.
Cocaine- 13.3 million people. Cannabis (marijuana, hashish)- 141.2 million.
Hallucinogens- 25.5 million people. Amphetamine stimulants- 30.2 million people.

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett