Source: United States Information Agency Author: Judy Aita, USIA United Nations Correspondent Pubdate: 9 Jun 1998 Website: http://www.usia.gov/ EVEN PARADISE HAS A GROWING DRUG PROBLEM, U.N. MEETING TOLD (Round-up of U.N. drug conference debate) UNITED NATIONS -- From island paradises to industrial powers, all countries are affected by the devastating and complex problem of drug abuse and illicit trafficking, say world leaders gathered for a three-day Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Beginning with President Clinton's discussion of how the United States is spending more than $17,000 million a year in its struggle to reduce demand and combat drug-related criminal activity, the session has focused on the problems facing both individuals and economies. Palau Ambassador Hersey Kyoto said the drug problem was growing even in his country, which he called "an island paradise" with pristine waters, a growing economy, high educational levels, safe streets, and relatively little crime. "Our problem is real and escalating, and may be equally compatible to many larger and more populated societies," he said citing methamphetamine abuse by children as young as 13 years old. Drugs have affected classroom performance and caused increased cases of domestic violence, burglary and felonies, he said. "While the absolute number of cases in Palau is relatively low, the pervasiveness of these drug cases indicates the impact of illegal narcotics in a society as well founded and strong as that of Palau's." "Drugs and the damage they cause to society are not limited to places around the world that suffer economically or do not have high levels of education or opportunity," Kyoto warned. "Illegal drug use around the world is, as it is in the paradise of Palau, a major and growing economic and human tragedy." According to intelligence information, 33 percent of the illegal drugs that enter the United States come through the Caribbean, 15 percent through Hispaniola island, Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez Reyna pointed out June 8. He expressed fear that successful demand reduction in the United States could lead traffickers to seek markets in other countries - -- including his own. Tajikistan President Emomali Rakhmonov said that drug trafficking in his country is "rapidly developing and pernicious." Citing geopolitics, civil war, a porous border with Afghanistan, little experience with countering drugs, and a lack of economic opportunities, Rakhmonov said that if serious measures are not adopted by the Central Asian States, Russia and the U.N. Drug Control Program, "there is a real danger of mergers between international drug structures and organized crime groups based both in Tajikistan and in the region as a whole." In 1991 Tajik officials confiscated only 10 kilos of narcotic substances of any kind, while in 1997 seizures rose to over 4.5 tons. In the first three months of 1998, more than 1 ton has already been seized. Heroin seizures have increased from 60 kilos seized in 1997 to about 79 kilos in the first quarter of 1998, the Tajik president said. Zimbabwe Minister of Home Affairs D. Dabengwa said that his government signed the 1988 international convention on drug trafficking "because we realize that drug cartels and syndicates have a global influence and have become agents of destabilization and a threat to the socio-economic and political order of every country in the world." Cannabis "is easily the biggest problem both at abuse and trafficker levels in the country. It is the most prevalent drug in Zimbabwe and it is very cheap to the extent that both the youth and unemployed people can afford it and do abuse it," Dabengwa said. Uruguay State Minister Alberto Scavarelli said that his government had adopted measures to fight money laundering "because it puts at risk the state's stability, honesty, and security of financial, commercial and productive systems." The Jamaican minister of national security and justice, K.D. Knight, said that sustainable development programs must be a part of any crop substitution program. "This would ensure that producers of illicit drugs are given a reasonable opportunity to sustain themselves and their families legitimately, and are thereby encouraged to resist the pull of this illegal activity," he said. "Given a choice, many of the farmers involved in drug crop cultivation would cease. Theirs is an involvement exacerbated by a combination of poverty and the negative impact of the international trading system ... there is the lure of the vast resources at the disposal of international drug cartels which are in turn driven by the seemingly insatiable demand for these illicit drugs," Knight said. Chinese State Counselor Luo Gan said that with China being used as a transit route, "we are ... very much concerned about the comeback of drugs in China and have taken a series of firm counter-measures" to both crack down on the cross-border flow of drugs and to educate people on the dangers of drugs. Armenian foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said June 9 that "living as we do in societies undergoing transition, we are confronted daily by the realization that the new-found social freedoms of an open society, mixed with the uncertainties of an unstable, developing economy leave many in our countries vulnerable to the temptations of drugs -- not just for personal use, but also for quick and easy financial gain." Guatemala Vice President Luis Alberto Flores Asturias said that his country has been "used as a bridge for the illicit traffic in drugs" and cited evidence pointing to an increased consumption of addictive drugs by the local population. In addition to speeches by senior government officials, the U.N. event included workshops and discussion groups on topics such as: alternative development strategies; HIV/AIDS prevention; children, youth and drug abuse; national minorities and drug trafficking; demand-reduction efforts in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal; and attacking the profits of crime -- drugs and money laundering. - --- Checked-by: Richard Lake