INTERNET AIDS NARCOTICS TRADE

The use of the internet by drug traffickers is making the fight
against narcotic abuse harder, a UN watchdog has warned.

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) says in its 2001
report that illegal drugs are being sold over the internet, often
with the aid of private chat rooms protected from law enforcers.

Drug dealers using the internet are often evading capture because of
the failure by some countries to adopt laws on cyber crime, the
report says.

The INIB, based in Vienna, also revealed that Burma became the
world's top illicit opium producer last year after cultivation in
Afghanistan was stopped in 2000 by the former Taleban regime.

The board is also urging countries to resist calls for the
legalisation of cannabis, saying it would be an "historical mistake"
to treat the drug like alcohol or tobacco.

Crime Online

Reports from the Czech Republic reveal that narcotics deals were
struck online at internet cafes or using mobile phones.

Dutch firms were using the web to sell cannabis seeds and products
all over the world, the report revealed.

The INCB said it believed young people were particularly at risk from
drug dealers using the internet.

It found that dealers were using internet bank accounts to launder
drug money, while online pharmacies were making prescription-only
drugs readily available.

It added: "The INCB is particularly concerned that countries without
adequate legislation against crime involving new technologies may
become sanctuaries."

In Africa, the board said it feared that the increase in intravenous
heroin use would hasten the spread of HIV/Aids on the continent.

In South Africa alone, intravenous drug use had increased 40% in the
past three years.

In North America, the use of cocaine appeared to be stabilising but
heroin abuse among the young was increasing.

Impact on Health

Afghanistan is still a key country in the world opium trade and after
the overthrow of the Taleban, large quantities of the drug were
released on to the market, said the INCB.

Heroin abuse was increasing throughout South Asia, the report said,
with a shift away from smoking and inhaling the drug towards
injecting it.

More heroin is also being used in central and eastern Europe, which
remained a popular transit zone for traffickers.

Intravenous use is contributing to a rise in HIV/Aids and Hepatitis C
infections in the region.