NEW GLOBAL WAR ON DRUGS TACKLES A LOSING BATTLE

27 world leaders set to sign U.N. pledge next month

UNITED NATIONS - The world is about to go to war against drugs.

Again.

After years of fighting a losing battle against the $400 billion (U.S.)
global narcotics industry, the international community has come up with a
strategy it thinks could finally make a difference.

At least 27 leaders will sign a pledge in New York next month to
dramatically reduce drug addiction in their countries over the next decade.

`The addiction problem we face now isn't a spontaneous expansion of
traditional culture. Today's world market has been created by forces like
organized crime.' - Pino Arlaachi, head of the United Nations Drug Control
Program

`A commitment of all U.N. member states to continue the war on drugs . . .
constitutes a sort of solemn war declaration at the climax of a global
defeat.' - New York-based Transnational Radical Party, one of many groups
calling for decriminalization of certain drugs.

``This is the first time the countries of the world are placing as much
emphasis on demand as on supply,'' says Pino Arlaachi, head of the United
Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP).

``We have come to the realization that any progress we make on going after
drug traffickers will never be permanent unless we can reduce the demand for
drugs.''

Prime Minister Jean Chretien is on the list of heads of government scheduled
to attend the United Nations special session on drugs June 8, but a
spokesperson in Ottawa could not confirm whether he'll attend.

U.S. President Bill Clinton may also be there, joining delegations from more
than 130 countries.

More than two years in the planning, the conference is set to approve a
worldwide plan to tackle the burgeoning drug trade literally from the ground up.

On the agenda are strengthened international co-operation to fund crop
eradication programs, hunt down drug traffickers and end safe havens for
money launderers.

But the most radical step will be a global commitment to achieve
``significant and measurable'' decreases in addiction by the year 2008.

Until now, the war on drugs has been marred by charges from developing
nations who claim they have been unfairly singled out for penalties while
industrial countries do little to curb the demand for narcotics.

According to UNDCP figures, about 200 million people - or about 4 per cent
of the world population - are considered regular drug abusers.

Most live in ``northern'' developed countries, but consumption in other
regions has been rising steadily.

CRIMINAL UNDERWORLD

Under the plan, every country will have to establish credible large-scale
programs to treat addiction and promote education about the danger of drugs
within the next five years, and report its results to a central information
clearing house.

But no specific target for reduction has been set so far, which could still
leave many countries at odds over how to measure success.

Clinton recently committed the U.S. to a 50 per cent cut in narcotics abuse
by 2007, but a heated American debate is already underway about how such a
goal can be achieved.

Last week, the U.S. Congress banned federal funding for needle-exchange
programs despite scientific studies showing such programs curb the spread of
AIDS and led to reductions of drug use in poorer communities.

Meanwhile, critics say any global drug war is useless without a change in
the legal approach which has created a vast criminal underworld dedicated to
marketing forbidden substances.

``A commitment of all U.N. member states to continue the war on drugs . . .
constitutes a sort of solemn war declaration at the climax of a global
defeat,'' argues the New York-based Transnational Radical Party, one of many
groups in the U.S. and Canada calling for ``alternative'' policies such as
the decriminalization of certain drugs.

U.N. figures show the worldwide production of opium, cocaine and heroin
decreased only slightly since 1990, despite millions of dollars invested in
law enforcement campaigns.

At the same time, there is a spreading market for chemical stimulants
created in the lab, such as amphetamines.

``Clandestine methamphetamine manufacture is the main (chemical stimulant)
in North America and the Far East,'' notes one of the UNDCP reports.

The bulk of the world's drug consumption is actually marijuana, which many
consider less harmful and addictive than other drugs. According to official
figures, some 140 million of the 200 million drug abusers are cannabis smokers.

Arlaachi maintains addiction must be tackled as a ``market problem'' despite
its medical and cultural dimensions.

``We still know very little about the deep reasons for addiction,'' he said
at a recent meeting with journalists. ``But the addiction problem we face
now isn't a spontaneous expansion of traditional culture. Today's world
market has been created by forces like organized crime.''

International treaties to combat the flow of drugs have been in place since
the late 1980s, but the new plan calls for a reinforced level of ``judicial
co-operation'' in which governments will share information and confidential
legal material.

The leaders will also agree to adopt uniform codes against money laundering
and co-ordinate laws aimed at denying ``access to national and international
financial systems by criminals.''

``Seizing even large amounts of drugs often only has a limited impact on
over-all trafficking and abuse,'' the UNDCP admitted. ``However, blocking
and taking away the profits from drug sales at their entry point into the
financial system can significantly disrupt trafficking operations.

``Money, after all, is both the lifeblood and the sole end of illicit
trafficking.''

Arlaachi, a former anti-Mafia prosecutor in Italy, said the illicit drug
industry is now bigger and more far-reaching than many multinational
corporations.

``The turnover of $400 billion (U.S.) has been compared to General Motors or
Coca-Cola, but there's one important difference,'' he said. ``The narcotics
trade is made up of thousands and thousands of groups, and that improves our
chances of stopping them.''

By working together against them governments will have much more clout, he said.

``We are not fighting the impossible,'' he said. ``The enemy is not bigger
than us.''