DRUG ABUSE AND CRIME: SIAMESE TWINS?

Lagos

The 2003 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB)
has declared that there is a nexus linking drug abuse, crime and violence
in most societies across the world. Godwin Haruna witnessed the
presentation of the report in Lagos The drug menace threatening most
societies today, has assumed global dimensions. No country in the world
treats the issue in isolation of the other as new strategies are being
devised to save the future. Since the youth of the world are the most
vulnerable group in the abuse of drugs and prohibited substances,
prevention efforts are being targeted towards them.

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is the independent and
quasi-judicial monitoring body for the implementation of the United Nations
international drug control conventions. It was established in 1968 in
accordance with the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961. It had
predecessors under the former drug control treaties as far back as the time
of the League of Nations. The international drug control treaties require
INCB to prepare an annual report on its work. The report contains an
analysis of the drug control situation, draws attention to gaps and
weaknesses in national control and in treaty compliance and recommends
improvements at both national and international levels.

The 2003 Report was presented at the United Nations Information Centre
(UNIC), Lagos last week by the Country Representative United Nations Office
on Drug and Crime (UNODC), Mr. Paul M. Salay, who stood in for the
President of INCB, Nigerian-born Mr. Philip O. Emafo. The impact of drug
abuse on crime and violence at the community level is the focus of the
first chapter of the Annual Report of the Vienna-based international
organisation.

While recognising the macro level political and security implications of
transnational organised crime syndicates dealing in drugs, the board urged
governments to give special attention to micro-trafficking, that is,
community level drug abuse and related crime. Besides violence and its
immediate consequences, depletion in social capital, security and support
structures, are just some of the effects of drug abuse at the community
level that are highlighted in the report. Leaving these concerns unattended
while focusing on macro level drug flows leaves societies vulnerable to a
long term decline in safety and living standards.

"The very fabric of society is challenged by the continued presence in
communities of drug-related crime. Communities that suffer disproportionate
levels of violent drug-related crime also suffer from higher levels of
other criminality and the disruption to civil society associated with it",
declared the Report.

While the Board clarifies that most crime related to drug abuse is
non-violent and petty, it stresses that the impact of illicit drugs, crime
and violence is highly damaging to local communities at the micro-social
level. The relationship between violence and illicit drug abuse is highly
complex and has to be examined keeping a range of factors in mind.

Giving concrete instances of the extent of drug-related crime, the Report
cites the case of Brazil, where drug-related violence poses a particularly
serious challenge that negatively impacts on communities. Of almost 30,000
homicides registered annually, a high proportion are linked to drug abuse
and illicit drug trafficking. Street children, acting as couriers for drug
traffickers, play an important part in this illicit market, and are
frequently killed because they know too much, steal too much or are caught
in the crossfire between gangs and dealers.

According to the Report, a survey conducted in Latin America and the
Caribbean by the World Bank on youth gangs and violence indicated that
youth gangs involved in drug trafficking generally displayed higher levels
of violence than those not involved in such activities.

It states that while drug-related crime obviously has a greater impact in
resource deficient settings, even in the developed world, the extent of the
problem is significant. For instance, in the late 1990s, 69 per cent of
those arrested in five police areas in the United Kingdom tested positive
for at least one illicit drug upon arrest, and 61 per cent of those
arrested for assault tested positive for an illicit drug.

The Report maintains that a demonstrable link to violence and crime exists
in that some drug addicts resort to violence either to fund their habits or
indeed as a result of the psycho-pharmacological impact of some illicit
drugs. However, based on controlled laboratory-based experiments, INCB
stresses that it is very difficult and misleading to suggest a direct
casual link between violence and illicit drug ingestion. This link has to
be examined with reference to culturally and socially situated factors,
that, in turn, influence an individual's behaviour.

However, INCB also seeks to draw the attention of Governments to drug
abusers, who are victims of violence and crime, both at the hands of
criminal elements and sometimes, of law enforcement. A number of studies
have concluded that drug abuse leads to a heightened risk of victimisation.
Drug abusers are also exposed to situations where violence, and the use of
guns in connection with drug trafficking is normalised. Female drug abusers
suffer disproportionately from sexual assault.

The INCB calls on governments to implement comprehensive drug demand
reduction policies, paying special attention to drug abuse prevention in
combination with a range of social, economic and law enforcement measures -
if the problem of drug-related violence is to be successfully combatted.
Governments and the international community need to recognise the severity
of the problem, and grass roots level interventions, including
community-based drug abuse prevention programmes and community policing are
critical, says the INCB.

"Only with the introduction of a comprehensive demand reduction programme
will we see real progress being made to address the multiple problems that
illicit drugs inflict on their communities", the Report says.

The Board specifically notes that sometimes, local administrations and law
enforcement efforts that do not take into account the peculiarities of
local circumstances lead to inadequate measures which can be counter
productive in terms of worsening the long-term crime situation. The Report
notes: "Local administrations have often been characterised as responding
to problems related to drug-related crime and violence based on a process
of denial, overreaction and misidentification".

The Board calls for specific attention to be paid to young people, (either
individually or as part of gangs) as they are often involved in
drug-related violence, either as perpetrators, or as victims.

Citing instances of community-based interventions that have succeeded in
suppressing the activities of youth gangs, the Board calls for preventive
action. Amongst the specific measures it advocates are early school-based
intervention, sensitively targeted police intervention focused on problem
areas and training programmes for school employees, criminal justice
personnel, parents, community groups and youth workers.

In its regional highlights, the Report notes on the African continent that
cannabis continues to be the most widely grown, abused and trafficked drug
on the continent. It says Morocco remains one of the world's leading
cannabis producers and the source of 60-70 per cent of the cannabis resin
seized in Europe. An alarming new trend, especially in parts of Sudan,
appears to be the shift from cultivation of food crops to cannabis,
resulting in food shortages.

The Report indicates that the abuse of amphetamine-type Stimulants (ATS)
continues to be of concern in Southern, Eastern and Western Africa. It says
methaqualone (Mandrax) abuse in countries in Easter and Southern Africa,
particularly in South Africa, is increasing. It adds that opiates and
cocaine abuse has developed along the transit trafficking routes, mainly in
Angola, Nigeria and South Africa and in urban centres in other countries.

The report on Africa also indicates limited and declining poppy cultivation
in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt. It notes that information gathered from
conflict-stricken countries, in particular the Central African Republic,
Cote d'Ivoire and Liberia, indicates that arms and ammunitions used by
rebel groups and criminal organisations may have been partially procured
with the proceeds of illicit drug trafficking.

The comprehensive set of recommendations suggested by INCB to help
communities deal with the problem include: creating a local environment
that is not conducive to drug dealing and micro-trafficking; supporting
local efforts at employment and illicit income generation, educational
programmes targeting socially marginalised groups; integrated as well as
targeted intervention work with risk groups; information sharing between
various agencies; community-based restorative justice intervention by
people representing a cross-section of the community; and interventions
taking into account gender, youth and minority affiliation. It notes that
programmes need to be sustainable in the long term in order to generate the
desired impact, the Report notes in its 2003 outing reviewed in Lagos by Salay.

Also speaking at the presentation, chairman of the National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Alhaji Bello Lafiaji, renewed the commitment of
the agency towards the achievement of more strides in the anti-narcotic
crusade. Represented by Mr. Dave Ashang, director-general of the agency,
Lafiaji said in 2003 NDLEA made a total seizure of 1044128.481kg of banned
substances including 170.32983kg of cocaine, 143.20585kg of heroin,
1,042,087.14kg of cannabis and 143.20585kg of psychotropic substances. He
said during the same period, a total number of 5157 drug suspects were
nabbed and about 90 per cent of them prosecuted. The NDLEA helmsman
expressed his appreciation to the UNODC for its various support assistance,
which has contributed to the performance of the agency.

Lafiaji noted that one such collaborative project embarked upon with UNODC
is the regional Academy in Jos, which has been successfully transformed
into an international training centre with full complements of facilities.
He said the feat has facilitated an arrangement with the USDEA to conduct
the first international training with participants to be drawn from other
countries of the world at the Academy.

He lamented the inadequate attention to cannabis cultivation in the African
continent. "I have consistently harped on the provision of commensurate
alternative development assistance to cannabis farmers in the African
continent by the UNODC as is presently the case for coca bush and opium
poppy farmers in Latin America and South East Asia respectively. I would in
essence, avail myself of this opportunity to reiterate this call and to
request the INCB to carry this message to the United Nations General
Assembly", the NDLEA boss stated.

He disclosed that a cardinal objective of the INCB was the strengthening of
institutional capacity for drug interventions. "I will, therefore, not
hesitate again and again to state that Africa is fast being affected by the
global proliferation of synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals. It is very
pertinent therefore to strengthen our capacity to address this ugly trend",
Lafiaji stated.

He solicited the assistance of UNODC and INCB in the training of his
operatives on the identification of this class of illicit substances as
well as organising awareness campaigns for prosecutors and judges on the
dangers of the deadly cankerworm. He used the occasion to alert the INCB of
a substance that is gaining prominence in the country, which is yet to be
criminalized by name datura metel. He urged the INCB to initiate necessary
scientific investigation into such new substances for research as a vital
pre-requisite for their classification as controlled substances.