CAUTION: The following review of the regional drug situation has been excerpted, as background information only, from the 1995 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board, which is under embargo until 9 a.m. (European Time) on 28 February 1996. The Board annually assesses the drug situation in each region, based on information obtained from a variety of sources, including Government authorities. No part of the report or this excerpt may be used before its official release:
All three countries in North America -- Canada, Mexico and the United States -- are parties to the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances and the 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
In 1995, the Board sent a mission to Canada.
United States
The main goal of the United States drug control strategy of 1995 in particular and drug policy in general is to reduce the number of drug abusers in the United States. The strategy is linked to efforts to empower communities, curb youth violence and preserve families. The United States drug policy is, therefore, considered by the Government to be a cornerstone of domestic policy in general and of social policy in particular. Other key principles of this strategy include coordinated law enforcement efforts, prevention programmes targeting youth and other high-risk groups such as inner city youth, pregnant women and women of child-bearing age. The strategy also targets chronic hard-core addicts to reduce their drug abuse and its consequences. Needle exchange schemes constitute a new element of the programmes. Sharing of needles among drug abusers is a primary transmission route of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); in 1993, 69 per cent of reported acquired immunodeficiency virus (AIDS) cases among women were attributed to injecting of illicit drugs. It is expected that through needle exchange programmes the frequency of needle-sharing and the increase in the incidence of HIV infection among drug abusers might be reduced. The Board welcomes the United States Government's unequivocal policy position against any form of legalization of the non-medical use of drugs. There has been a liberalization of trade between Mexico and the United States in recent months following the coming into force of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and consequent measures to facilitate that trade. There is some concern that that development may adversely affect the interdiction of cocaine coming across the Mexican border into the United States. The Board, therefore, welcomes the new initiative of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (of the Executive Office of the President) aimed at identifying and terminating drug smuggling operations on the south-west border of the United States.
Mexico
The Board notes with satisfaction that Mexico has continued its multifaceted campaign against illicit cultivation, production, manu
facture and trafficking and abuse of drugs in line with the 1988 Convention. Mexico has a well-organized institutional drug control structure and has allocated significant resources to demand reduction and control measures.
Money Laundering
The Board welcomes the action of the Government of Mexico aimed at eliminating corruption of officials and strengthening legal controls to prevent money laundering, which remains a serious problem in that country. The Board hopes that the recently introduced stiffer penalties and other measures will improve the possibilities for the prevention and prosecution of money laundering activities. The Board notes with concern that the considerable volume of financial flows between Canada and the United States has contributed to the attractiveness of Canada for persons who engage in money laundering.
Exploitation of the growing number of casinos by persons engaged in money laundering activities has continued in the United States. The authorities of the United States have recently discovered new methods to carry out such activities, including the use of swaps (international currency transactions).
Cannabis
Illicit cannabis cultivation continues in all three countries, despite some successful eradication campaigns. Increasing indoor cannabis cultivation has been reported in the United States. This form of cultivation permits year-round production and can be accomplished in a variety of settings, ranging from several plants grown in a closet to thousands of plants grown in elaborate, especially constructed (sometimes underground) greenhouse operations. Indoor cultivators try to enhance the potency of cannabis through selective breeding and cloning of high-potency cultivars. Indoor cultivation is also used for the selection and isolation of female plants for sinsemilla production. In 1994, the average tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of outdoor cultivated cannabis was 4.3 per cent, a substantial increase compared with the late 1970s and early 1980s, when that average was under 2 per cent. The average THC content of sinsemilla cannabis was about 7.4 per cent in 1994 but some of the seized samples had a THC content of more than 24 per cent.
Despite the increasing amounts of cannabis seized by Mexican law enforcement authorities, Mexico remains a supplier of the illicit cannabis markets in the United States. Substantial quantities of cannabis are also smuggled into the United States out of other countries, particularly Colombia, Thailand and, increasingly, Jamaica. At the same time, the market share of locally produced cannabis is on the increase in Canada and the United States (30 and 25 per cent, respectively). A sharp increase in cannabis resin seizures was reported in the United States (more than 72 tonnes in 1994, compared with 11.4 tonnes in 1993).
Cannabis remains the most abused illicit drug in the region. During the last three years, following a continuous decrease from 1985 to 1992, an increase in cannabis abuse among youth has been observed in the United States. This trend is attributed to a decline in the level of perceived risk of abuse, while the actual risk has been increased by the higher potency of the drug. Widespread abuse of "blunts" (smoking of cigars in which tobacco was replaced by cannabis) has been recently reported in the United States. In some cases the same cigars are filled with a mixture of cannabis and either phencyclidine (PCP) or cocaine.
Opium, Heroin
Opium poppy is cultivated illicitly in Mexico. The opium produced is used for the illicit manufacture of heroin, which is usually smuggled into the United States. The proportion of heroin of Mexican origin on the illicit market in the United States is relatively small (estimated to be about 5 per cent), compared with the proportion of heroin arriving from south-east Asia and South America (57 and 32 per cent, respectively).
Growing heroin abuse has been reported in Canada, particularly in urban areas. Heroin abuse is also on the increase in the United States, where injecting remains the principal route of administration (used by an estimated 62 per cent of heroin abusers). The 63,000 heroin-related emergency room admissions in 1993 represents an increase of 22 per cent compared with the figure for 1992 and an increase of 50 per cent compared with the 1989 figure. The relatively high purity of heroin at the retail level (an average of 40 per cent) might be a contributing factor. In order to enhance the euphoric effect of cocaine and to relieve the depression following the cessation of cocaine administration, a growing number of hard-core cocaine (particularly crack) abusers in the United States have also become abusers of heroin.
Cocaine
In the United States, because of the large illicit supply of cocaine from South America (more than 100 tonnes were seized in 1994), that drug is freely available in most major cities. There was a spectacular decrease in the number of occasional cocaine abusers from 1985 (an estimated 12 million) to 1993 (about 4 million). In 1994, however, increasing cocaine abuse and a growing number of cocaine-related emergency room admissions were reported. In Canada, cocaine abuse has been declining. In Mexico, where the extent of drug abuse in general and cocaine abuse in particular is not comparable with the situation in the United States, some increase in cases involving cocaine abuse has been observed in the proximity of the northern borders of the country.
Methamphetamine
In the United States, clandestine manufacture of, illicit traffic in and abuse of methamphetamine are on the increase and constitute significant problems. In Mexico and the United States, there is a direct link between clandestine methamphetamine manufacture and diversion of ephedrine, its most important precursor, from licit sources. Ephedrine is available from two sources: diversion (or smuggling into the country) of pharmaceutical preparations containing ephedrine from which ephedrine can be easily extracted; and diversion of ephedrine into the United States from (or via) countries where the provisions of the 1988 Convention for monitoring ephedrine shipments are not properly implemented.
The Board recommends the Government of the United States to consider the restriction of the availability of ephedrine tablets without medical prescription. In order to prevent the availability of ephedrine for the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine, the relevant legislation was strengthened in the United States by the domestic chemical control act of 1993, which entered into force in 1994. The Board welcomes the decision on the application of similar control measures against the diversion of pseudoephedrine tablets, which are being increasingly used by clandestine manufacturers instead of ephedrine. Direct communication between the Board and the competent authorities of the United States and other countries led to the detection and seizure of important quantities of ephedrine, including the seizure of 6,668 kg in Mexico, in 1994.
Ephedrine is also used as a precursor for the clandestine manufacture of methcathinone. In 1994, 20 such laboratories were seized in the United States. Nasal inhalation is the most common form of methcathinone abuse in the United States, but there are also other routes for its administration (injection, oral ingestion and smoking (laced in cannabis)). (For the abuse of methcathinone in member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), where it is known as ephedrone.
Methylphenidate
Problems connected with the sharp increase in the volume of the licit manufacture and use of methylphenidate resulting from the large-scale prescribing of that drug to children for the treatment of attention deficit disorder in the United States are described in Chapter II of the Report.
Hallucinogens
Illicit traffic in and abuse of hallucinogens are on the increase in the United States. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is sold mostly in small tablets ("microdots") or in the form of small paper squares ("stamps") that have been soaked with a solution containing that substance. Crystalline LSD, manufactured in clandestine laboratories in the United States, is very often smuggled out of that country, mainly into Europe. The Board urges the Government of the United States to pay special attention to the detection and interception of clandestine LSD laboratories, which are the major suppliers of illicit drug markets in Europe.
The number of seized PCP laboratories is again on the increase, but the level of the abuse of that drug is not comparable with the epidemic levels reached in the 1960s and 1970s.Propagation of the abuse of hallucinogens is linked with all-night dance ("rave") parties. In the United States, as in Europe, MDMA and some other hallucinogenic amphetamine derivatives are the most popular drugs used during such parties. MDMA is synthesized in clandestine laboratories in the United States and large amounts of it are smuggled into that country, mainly out of or through Mexico. The spreading abuse of flunitrazepam has been recently reported in the United States. Significant quantities of flunitrazepam tablets have been smuggled into the country. A mission of the Board visited Canada in March 1995. The Board appreciates the very comprehensive demand reduction strategy of the Government of Canada that has been conducted since 1987. The strategy has focused on the prevention and reduction of alcohol abuse. The Board notes that, according to a review in 1992, the strategy has led also to positive results regarding the abuse of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
The Board encourages the Government to share the results of current and future reviews with interested governments and the Board. The Board hopes that the combining of demand reduction methods with efforts in supply reduction will continue in Canada and lead to the expected results.
The Board is confident that the Government of Canada will speed up the adoption and implementation of the new legislation (bill C 7) because current laws are not in conformity with the requirements of the 1971 Convention, which was ratified by Canada in 1987. Full application of provisions regarding substances in Schedules III and IV of the 1971 Convention and the related Economic and Social Council resolutions is foreseen by the draft legislation adopted by the Parliament on 30 October 1995 and currently under consideration by the Senate.
The entire text of the INCB Report for 1995 can be found on INCB's Home Page accessed from : http://www.undcp.org beginning 27 February 1996