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Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – According to the International Narcotics Control Board’s (INCB ) annual report for 2013 released on Tuesday in Dakar by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) regional office based in the Senegalese capital, the rate of cocaine use in Africa increased by 0.7 per cent while the world average is estimated at 0.4 per cent.
It said 2013 saw an increase in the trafficking in opiates (synthetic drugs), illicit production and trafficking of synthetic drugs and cannabis, chemical stimulants and cocaine in East Africa, North Africa and West Africa.
The report said that heroin was increasingly flowing through West Africa and smuggled to Europe and Southern Africa.
Due to the increase in the Africa’s population, the regional cocaine market is likely to expand in response to increased demand while the cultivation of cannabis is widespread in the region, according to the INCB.
To this end, the chemical drug trafficking increased between East Asia, North–East Asia, Oceania and the countries of West Africa such as Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali , Nigeria, Senegal and Togo.
Approximately 1.5 tons of chemical drugs were smuggled from Africa to Europe in 2012, 14 kg were seized at the Lomé international airport (Togo ) and 2 kg at the Cotonou International Airport (Benin) in 2013.
The report focuses on the economic consequences and the extent of social costs in terms of health, public safety, crime, productivity and governance around the world, particularly in Africa.
To this end, it calls on all states to join their efforts to implement cheaper prevention policies and effective programs to treat drug addicts most of whom are young.
”We found that drug trafficking is often done by sea, air and road. This phenomenon today has serious consequences on the health of people in Africa and especially the youth. With this report we want to urge all governments and all stakeholders in the sector, to raise awareness and implement preventive care programmes for vulnerable people,” said the UNODC Regional Adviser, Ludovic D’Hoore.
In terms of treatment, one out of 18 drug addicts in Africa accesses treatment services.
Injection drug is one of the causes of HIV and AIDS with a rate of 9.2 per cent among users.
INCB focused on some dangerous products such as cocaine, cannabis, heroin and synthetic drugs produced in some laboratories in Nigeria and Guinea.
The INCB report was officially presented on Tuesday in London at the global level, in all continents and across all representations of the UN.
It recommends all countries to sensitize, monitor and support vulnerable groups such as the youth in a bid to save on money spent to manage these problems arising from drug trafficking and ensure health and well- being of humanity.
