CANADA A MAJOR DRUG EXPORTER: UN

Meth and Ecstasy

Asian and "traditional" biker gangs have dramatically stepped up
production of illegal "party" drugs in Canada, turning the country
into a significant exporter, the United Nations said yesterday.

In a global survey of illegal drug production and trafficking, Canada
is identified as a "primary" world source of Ecstasy, and likely the
biggest supplier of methamphetamine "uppers" to Australia and Japan.

"Canada has become a major trafficking hub for meth and Ecstasy,"
says World Drug Report 2009 by Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Justice Minister Doug Nicholson said the expansion of illegal drug
production in Canada could be reversed through tougher trafficking penalties.

Mr. Nicholson said Health Canada could also "look at" the idea of
banning sales of over-the-counter precursor chemicals. But he
returned to the idea that legislating mandatory minimum sentences for
producers would "send the message that Canada is no place to do [this
type of] business."

The head of UNODC said that the tough controls on illegal drugs have
limited the death toll from narcotics.

Statistics in the report show there are between 20-24 million serious
drug users around the world, or less than one percent of the world's
population, UNODC executive director Antonio Maria Costa told a news
conference.

In a preface to the UN report Mr. Costa rejected calls to legalize drugs.

"There has been a limited but growing chorus among politicians, the
press and even in public opinion saying drug control is not working,"
Mr. Costa said.

"While changes are needed, they should be in favor of different means
to protect society against drugs rather than by pursuing the goal of
abandoning protection," he said.

Law enforcement should focus on drug traffickers instead of users,
Mr. Costa said, stressing that "people who take drugs need medical
help, not criminal retribution."

In some countries, five times as many people were jailed for drug use
as for trafficking.

"This is a waste of money for the police, and a waste of lives for
those thrown in jail," noted Mr. Costa. "Go after the piranhas, not
the minnows."

The report showed global use of cocaine, heroin and cannabis fell
last year while production of stimulants rose.

"The embedded story in this report is that the markets for the three
main drugs -- cocaine, heroin and cannabis -- are on a downward
trend," said Mr. Costa.

But production of man-made amphetamine-type stimulants -- including
methamphetamines and Ecstasy, which is harder to track-- was up, the
report showed.

"What was once a cottage industry has become big business," the report noted.

[sidebar]

143 -190 MILLION

GLOBAL DRUG USE

Statistics on drug use and mortality around the world:

Marijuana users globally

16 -51 million

Amphetamine users globally

12 -23 million

Ecstasy users globally

16 -21million

Cocaine users globally

15-21 million

Heroin users globally

20 -24 million

Number of serious drug users in the world

200,000

Deaths from drugs, yearly

5 million

Deaths from tobacco, yearly

2 million

Deaths from alcohol, yearly