Drug use is shifting towards new drugs and new markets

The UN World Drug Report shows that drug use is shifting towards new drugs and new markets. Drug crop cultivation is declining in Afghanistan (for opium) and the Andean countries (coca), and drug use has stabilized in the developed world. However, there are signs of an increase in drug use in developing countries and growing abuse of amphetamine-type stimulants and prescription drugs around the world.

The Report shows that the world's supply of the two main problem drugs - opiates and cocaine - keeps declining. The global area under opium cultivation has dropped by almost a quarter (23 per cent) in the past two years, and opium production looks set to fall steeply in 2010 due to a blight that could wipe out a quarter of Afghanistan's opium poppy crop. Coca cultivation, down by 28 per cent in the past decade, has kept declining in 2009. World cocaine production has declined by 12-18 per cent over the period 2007-2009.

Global potential heroin production fell by 13 per cent to 657 tons in 2009, reflecting lower opium production in both Afghanistan and Myanmar. The actual amount of heroin reaching the market is much lower (around 430 tons) since significant amounts of opium are being stockpiled. UNODC estimates that more than 12,000 tons of Afghan opium (around 2.5 years' worth of global illicit opiate demand) are being stockpiled.

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Taliban claim suicide attack on UN Food Program

Summary

On 5 October, 2009, a suicide bomber disguised as a soldier killed five staff of a United Nations World Food Program (WFP) building in Islamabad. The blast exploded in the office lobby in a fashionable residential district of Islamabad. An Iraqi and four Pakistani workers were killed in the explosion and several more were injured. The WFP has been at the forefront of providing relief aid to Pakistanis displaced by anti-Taliban operations, including the two million persons who had been evacuated from Swat earlier this year. The bomber was dressed in the uniform of the Frontier Corp paramilitary force and asked to enter the building to use the restroom.

Analysis

This bombing has been claimed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban saying international relief work in Pakistan was not in "the interest of Muslims." It may also be in retaliation for Pakistani Army’s offensive in the Northwest Frontier earlier this year. There are also reports that the army is preparing for another assault against the Taliban’s Waziristan headquarters, and this may take place within the next few days. The Taliban may have tried to use this latest attack to discourage the new offensive.

Whatever the motivation, this technique of using terrorists dressed as soldiers has ramifications for all countries involved in fighting terrorism. Most security personnel would be reluctant to turn away military members from using a bathroom. Critical examination of identification and correct wearing and display of uniform may help prevent such an attack.

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