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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Crime Report Highlights UK And Ireland Drug Problem
Geoff Meade, PA Europe Editor, Brussels PA News
Tuesday 25 Jan 2005 Illegal drug use in the UK and Ireland is among the highest in the world, a new report revealed today. Both countries have a higher proportion of cocaine-users than anywhere except Spain, while Ireland tops the league table for ecstasy, says the 46-nation Council of Europe annual report on the state of organised crime. About 185 million people worldwide -- 3% of the global population -- use illegal drugs. Nearly 80% of them use cannabis, 20% use ecstasy and amphetamines, 7% use cocaine and 3% use heroin. The report shows the Russian Federation as having the biggest heroin problem, with 2.1% of the population using the drug. But the UK recorded by far the largest heroin seizures in 2002, with 3,929 kilograms impounded. The UK also seized the most amphetamines, including ecstasy -- 1,716 kilograms. Spain has the highest rate of cocaine use in the world at 2.6%, followed closely by Ireland (2.4%) and the UK (2.1%). Rates of cannabis use in Europe are highest in the Czech Republic (10.9%) and the UK (10.6%). Ireland has the highest amphetamine use in Europe (1.6%), followed by the UK (1.6%) and Denmark (1.3%). Ecstasy use in Ireland, at 3.4%, is among the highest in the world, followed by the Czech Republic (2.5%) and the UK (2%). Drug trafficking is considered a major "primary problem", in terms of number of recorded cases, in Albania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey and the UK. The situation is now so bad that Europe is the most profitable market in the world for production and trafficking of drugs, and in about one-third of the Council of Europe's member states (including all 25 EU member countries), drug trafficking is deemed to be the most important activity of organised crime groups and networks. And, when it comes to trafficking in human beings, the report says: "Information from different countries and regions points at strong "and violent trafficking organisations operating in Belgium, France Italy, the UK and other countries." The report notes that in the UK more than 18,000 people are registered as sex offenders and that the country now considers "organised immigration crime" as one of the main threats from all forms of organised crime. "Language and the presence of ethnic communities contribute to making the UK a particularly attractive destination," it says. "It is believed that most illegal migration takes the form of a multi-stage journey, with migrants being passed from criminal to criminal along a chain of territorially-restricted criminal networks." On tobacco smuggling, the report records the UK as again recording the most seizures -- 2,600 metric tonnes in 2002 compared with the next highest, Italy, where the authorities seized 502 metric tonnes The report says that today the proceeds and material damage of economic crime cases appear to exceed those other forms of crime, observing that in the UK alone the economic cost of fraud is estimated at 14 billion a year.
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