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UN / WORLD DRUG REPORT
STORY: UN / WORLD DRUG REPORT
TRT: 02:25
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 22 JUNE 2017, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
22 JUNE 2017, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, dais
3. Wide shot, reporters
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Luc Lemahieu, Director of Policy Analysis and Public Affairs of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
“The number of problem users is on the increase. Now, that poses enormous challenges with regard to the health apparatus, because so far globally only one on six of problem users has access to care and treatment.”
5. Med shot, journalists
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Luc Lemahieu, Director of Policy Analysis and Public Affairs of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
“At this moment it is clear not a majority, globally speaking, ready to see marijuana anything different than belonging on the international conventions. A few countries have a tendency to see a very different debate; this is one of the countries. But don’t forget that the federal government is still adhering to the international conventions and sees marijuana as a product that belongs within those international conventions. So you see how complex the debate is. I mean, what we have witnessed though, over time is that there is a kind of a feel that this is one of this recreational habits which we as humans can entertain. Well, we should not forget about the reason to put it under the international conventions as a start.”
7. Med shot, journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Thomas Pietschmann, Research Officer with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
“Close to 30 million people have taken a drug, equivalent to over six percent of the global population. Issues of concern to us are the issue of injecting drug use; from injecting drug use you have people who get hepatitis C. Almost half the people who inject drugs have hepatitis C, and a small proportion HIV AIDS.”
11. Med shot, journalists
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Jean-Luc Lemahieu, Director of Policy Analysis and Public Affairs of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
“When it comes to production, it is slightly different, because yields are different. And particularly yields in Afghanistan have been different from year to year. So they have been fluctuating opium production. In 2016 an increase, more than 40 percent than a year earlier, but overall you see it has been rather stable. On the cocaine side, there is a clear downward trend from 2006, 2007 onwards until 2013, 2013 increase to 2015.”
13. Wide shot, end of presser
In 2015 about a quarter of a billion people used drugs. Of these, around 29.5 million people - or 0.6 per cent of the global adult population - were engaged in problematic use and suffered from drug use disorders, including dependence, according to the latest World Drug Report, released today by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
At a press encounter for the release of the report in New York today (22 Jun) Jean-Luc Lemahieu, Director of Policy Analysis and Public Affairs of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said “the number of problem users is on the increase” and he noted that this “poses enormous challenges with regard to the health apparatus, because so far globally only one on six of problem users has access to care and treatment.”
Opioids were the most harmful drug type and accounted for 70 per cent of the negative health impact associated with drug use disorders worldwide,
Disorders related to the use of amphetamines also account for a considerable share of the global burden of disease.
With regard to the global trend towards legalization of the use of cannabis, Lemahieu said “at this moment it is clear not a majority, globally speaking, ready to see marijuana anything different than belonging on the international conventions.”
He noted that although in the United States several states have moved towards legalization, “the federal government is still adhering to the international conventions and sees marijuana as a product that belongs within those international conventions.”
The Report finds that hepatitis C is causing the greatest harm among the estimated 12 million people who inject drugs worldwide.
Thomas Pietschmann, Research Officer with the UNODC, said “issues of concern to us are the issue of injecting drug use; from injecting drug use you have people who get hepatitis C. Almost half the people who inject drugs have hepatitis C, and a small proportion HIV AIDS.”
Pietschmann said that opium production fluctuates, but overall “it has been rather stable.”
On the cocaine side, he said “there is a clear downward trend from 2006, 2007 onwards until 2013, 2013 increase to 2015.”
This year marks 20 years of the World Drug Report, which comes at a time when the international community has decided to move forward with joint action.
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