UN'S WAR ON DRUGS A DISMAL FAILURE

VIENNA -- A United Nations campaign to cut supply and demand for
illegal drugs has shown no progress globally in the decade since it
was launched, a European Commission report said yesterday.

The report came on the eve of a ministerial-level meeting by the UN
Commission on Narcotic Drugs here to review the war on drugs. The
members are expected to sign a declaration committing themselves to
the program for another 10 years.

The report said enforcing drug bans had backfired by displacing drug
traffickers to relatively lawless regions.

The report was based on research in 18 states -- Australia, Brazil,
Britain, Canada, China, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, India,
Mexico, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Sweden,
Switzerland, Turkey and the U.S.