UN CONDEMNS EUROPEAN STATES FOR DECRIMINALISING CANNABIS

VIENNA (Reuters) - The decriminalisation of cannabis by several European
countries has been condemned by the United Nations' drugs agency for
undermining international law and sabotaging the fight against drugs
trafficking.

In its report for 2002, the Vienna-based International Narcotics Control
Board (INCB) rapped Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain for
decriminalising the use and cultivation of cannabis for personal use.

It also rebuked Switzerland and Holland for allowing the sale of cannabis
in coffee shops and considering the partial legalisation of possession,
moves that contravene United Nations conventions.

INCB president Philip Emafo said the greater tolerance now shown by these
European countries towards the use of cannabis "undermines international law".

"As some countries try to get rid of cannabis and fight illegal
trafficking, some developed countries have accepted that cannabis is being
grown and sold on their territory," he said.

Britain, where more than three million people are occasional users of the
drug, also announced a softening of its anti-drug legislation last year.

Canada has indicated its intention to liberalise laws on the possession of
cannabis.

But the INCB warned that the dangers of cannabis use have yet to be
disproved and urged countries to agree on a better co-ordinated strategy to
combat trafficking of the drug.

"How can we ask from Morocco that it hinders its cannabis from arriving to
Europe when, in the same time, demand there is tolerated and de facto
legalised," the report asked.

Emafo argued that cannabis should still be seen as a public health danger,
noting that the drug is one of 250 substances listed on international drug
control treaties.

"The international community decided to control cannabis in the 1961
convention because of its abuse potential and its ability to produce ill
effects. These properties of cannabis have not changed since then," he said.

INCB officials said signatories of the UN conventions on drugs who believe
cannabis use is not dangerous should send the proof to the World Health
Organisation (WHO), so the conventions could be changed.

* The use of synthetic drugs such as ecstasy is booming among the
party-goers of the rich world, the United Nations also said yesterday.

The UN International Narcotics Control Board also said Afghanistan was back
as top producer of opium used for heroin, making 3500 tonnes last year, 100
tonnes more than in 2001.

"Synthetic drugs such as ecstasy could become the main illicit drugs of the
future," it said in its report.

"The INCB has therefore launched a major initiative to stop the chemicals
needed to make synthetic drugs such as ecstasy from reaching clandestine
laboratories where they are made."

Popular synthetic amphetamine and methamphetamine drugs such as ecstasy
stimulate the central nervous system, and research indicates that they
cause irreversible brain damage, the INCB said.

These drugs are difficult to control as they can be made cheaply and easily
anywhere in the world provided manufacturers can get the necessary chemicals.

There are no clear estimates of the volume of synthetic drug trafficking,
though the INCB said "large seizures of such drugs indicate that there is a
constant supply".

The UN had high hopes for Afghanistan after a US military strike toppled
the Taleban regime.

The Taleban had banned opium cultivation in a country that was long the top
opium producer, making Myanmar the new leader.

Despite hopes that democratic reforms and personal loans could induce
Afghan farmers to commit long-term to legal crops, the Afghan opium
industry is booming again.

Directly linked with intravenous use of heroin and other drugs is the
problem of soaring HIV infections, especially in Asia and eastern Europe.