WORLD TURNS TO 'ECSTASY,' U.N. WARNS

VIENNA, Austria -( Reuters)- The use of synthetic drugs like "ecstasy" is
booming, the United Nations said in a report being issued today.

"Synthetic drugs could become the main illicit drugs of the future," the
U.N. International Narcotics Control Board warned in its report for 2002.

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

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

While the volume of synthetic drug trafficking is unclear, "Large seizures
indicate there is a constant supply and high availability," said the INCB.

The report also said Afghanistan was back as the world's top producer of
opium used for heroin, making some 3,500 tons in 2002, 100 tons more than in
2001.

Despite hopes that democratic reforms and personal loans could induce Afghan
farmers to commit long-term to legal crops, "We have seen the contrary,"
said INCB Secretary Herbert Schaepe.

"There was a lot of ideas and optimism about Afghanistan [after the Taliban
was toppled]," Schaepe told a news conference in the Austrian capital.

Unfortunately, he said, farmers have chosen to focus on the quicker and
better profits from opium production.