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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Nigeria: 34 million Africans smoke Igbo —un report GODWIN TSA Abuja Daily Sun, Nigeria Thursday 02 Mar 2006 The International Narcotics Control Board [INCB] said over 34 million people in Africa smoke Indian help[Cannabis] which it said constitutes the main illicit drug abuse in the region. A member of INCB, Dr. Philip Emafo who reviewed the report in Abuja, disclosed that the cannabis plant is illicitly cultivated throughout Africa while cannabis is smuggled within the region and beyond, mainly into Europe and North America. The report shows that cannabis remains the most commonly abused drug in Europe with about 30 million people in the member States of the European Union and in Iceland, Liechenstein, Norway and Switzerland have used cannabis during the past year. According to the document, about 15 percent of 15-year -old students in the European Union member States use cannabis more than 40 times a year. The report which was presented by the Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency [NDLEA] Alhaji A. Giade on behalf of the Federal Government, disclosed that Afghanistan continues to be the main producer of illicit opium poppy, accounting for 87 percent of global production in 2005. The document said Afghanistan’s share of the illicit manufacture of opiates, mainly heroin, has been in the increase since 1990s, indicating that Afghanistan continues to be a supplier of illicit morphine and heroin, as well as illicit opiate raw materials. Dr. Emafo said cannabis continues to be the most widely grown, trafficked and abused in the African region, adding that Africa is the world’s largest producer of cannabis herb [after North America], accounting for approximately 12,000 tons, or 28 percent of global production. The report recommended strict restrictions to be put in place for trade in and use of psychotropic substances in schedule 1 of the 1971 convention and urges that States that are not yet parties to any of the international drug control treaties to take prompt action to accede to them without further delay. The report re-examines the concept of alternative development as an international drug control strategy and calls for global response to the problem of drug trafficking. The report also highlighted recent global drug control activities and warned on the emerging trend of smuggling of drugs by mail that has been on the increase recently. Speaking at the presentation, the NDLEA Chairman, Alhaji Giade said the agency has identified areas where cannabis are been grown in the country and is talking with the affected communities to stop the production and cultivation of the plant. The NDLEA boss who said government will study the report and implement appropriate recommendations disclosed that operatives of the agency are currently on the high sea, seaports and airports as measures to stamp out the illicit trade. In her speech at the Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control [NAFDAC], Professor Dora Akunyili expressed the need to check counterfeiting in pharmaceutical products which she said is becoming rampant in the country. Earlier, the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime [UNODC], Mr. Paul Salay said the concept of alternative development needs to be expanded even further, beyond the rural communities that cultivate illicit crops. http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2006/mar/02/national%20-2-03-2006-003.htm
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