The drug, a business of 320 billion dollars a year
The UN asked to address drug addiction as a health issue, not a criminal; called for strengthened international coordination
EFE
VIENNA, March 21 .- The UN said today that drug trafficking generates annual revenue of 320 billion dollars, and that further international coordination to confront the great drug cartels.
"Each year, the 'drug lords' staggering win 320 billion dollars, "the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
" If we are to make real progress against the heroin and cocaine, and I hope we can really do, we have to address the illicit cultivation of a more significant and coordinated, "said the director of UNODC, the Russian Yuri Fedotov.
Fedotov These words were spoken at the opening of a session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, United Nations, meets until Friday in Vienna to discuss global drug policies.
"Between 1998 and 2009, global opium production increased almost 80 percent. The cocaine market has not been eliminated or significantly reduced, the supply and demand have only been moved to another place, "the UNODC said in a statement.
Fedotov urged not only to combat illicit drug cultivation, but to redouble efforts to reduce demand in consumer countries.
"You have to focus more on the demand side. An estimated 150 to 250 million adults use illicit drugs each year. Consumers destroy their lives, and they suffer greatly for their families and their communities, "he said.
Addiction: a disease not a crime
Fedotov also called on states that address drug addiction as a health issue and not jailing drug users.
"drug dependence is a disease and not a crime, and the treatment offers a cure much more effective than punishment, a conclusion also supported by scientific evidence," he said.
The official expressed concern about increased drug use among children in developing countries.
"Children whose parents use drugs are at greater risk for drug use. Drugs contribute to social problems that harm communities and create new challenges for public health," he said.
He called for guaranteeing access to palliative pain medications like morphine, which are underused in developing countries that make millions of people with chronic diseases suffer without treatment.
"The goal is to ensure the availability of controlled substances for medical purposes, which is essential for public health. The World Health Organization estimates that every year tens of millions of people with cancer, AIDS and other diseases, pain and suffering unnecessarily even die because they lack access to medicines, "Fedotov said