Pubdate: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2009 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Author: Steven Edwards, Canwest News Service Referenced: World Drug Report 2009 http://drugsense.org/url/dhSmEL2y CANADA IS GROUND ZERO FOR PARTY DRUGS: UN Gangs Drive Increase in Meth, Ecstasy Production Asian and "traditional" biker gangs have dramatically stepped up production of illegal party drugs in Canada, turning the country into a significant exporter, the United Nations said Wednesday. In a global survey of illegal drug production and trafficking, Canada is identified as a "primary" world source of ecstasy, and likely the biggest supplier of methamphetamine "uppers" to Australia and Japan. "Canada has become a major trafficking hub for meth and ecstasy," according to the World Drug Report 2009, by the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime. "By 2006, law-enforcement intelligence noted that Asian organized crime and traditional outlaw motorcycle gangs operating in Canada had increased the amount of methamphetamine they manufactured and exported, primarily into the United States, but also to Oceania and East and South-East Asia." Most of the ecstasy produced in Canada was thought to be destined for the United States, Australia and Japan, the 306-page report says. "In 2007 ... 50 per cent of domestically produced ecstasy was trafficked outside of Canada," it said. Antonio Maria Costa, the UN's anti-drug czar, said Canada's rise as a trafficker results from a "perfect storm" of events involving law-enforcement levels and ease of access to ingredients known as "precursor chemicals." While a "robust" clampdown in the Netherlands rolled back ecstasy production in that country, the U.S. banned over-the-counter sales of certain precursor chemicals, he said. In Canada, meanwhile, Asian gangs used their contacts in China and elsewhere to import precursors and to develop trafficking routes in Asia and beyond. The report says Canada is fourth among countries ranked for seizures of ecstasy-group substances. It is fifth in ranking for seizures of amphetamine-group substances. Justice Minister Doug Nicholson said illegal-drug production in Canada could be reined in through tougher trafficking penalties -- but added Liberal senators were holding up a bill providing for that. "We're at our second attempt, as a minority government, to get our anti-drug bill through Parliament. So if any good comes out of this UN report, it's that it may push the Liberals to give us a hand to get the bill passed." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake