Lack Of Reliable Data On Drug Abuse In Africa Poses A Challenge

ACCRA, 7 March (UN Information Centre) – While cannabis remains the most widely cultivated, trafficked and abused drug in Africa, amphetamine-type stimulants are seen as a new threat in the region.

According to the Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) there has also been an increase in levels of cocaine abuse in West Africa as in recent years the region has emerged as a transit area for narcotics, especially cocaine, from South America to the European market.

This revelation is contained in the INCB Annual Report for 2012 which was launched today in London. The Report notes that “the abuse of and trafficking in tramadol, a synthetic analgesic not under international control, has become a major concern” on the continent.

According to the Report, lack of reliable data on drug abuse in Africa poses a challenge in developing prevention, treatment and rehabilitation programmes.

The report further notes that new psychoactive substances, known as 'legal highs' and 'designer drugs', are a growing global threat to public health, as the total number of such substances on the market, already estimated to be in the hundreds, is growing steadily. INCB is therefore calling for concerted action by States to prevent the manufacture, trafficking and abuse of these substances.

Launching the Report, the President of the Board, Raymond Yans said: “In recent years, there has been an unprecedented surge in the abuse of new psychoactive substances. In Europe alone almost one new substance is appearing every week.”

The INCB Annual Report also draws attention to the serious health and social challenge caused as a result to the abuse of prescription drugs which continues to spread in all regions of the world.

The INCB Report for 2012 will be launched in Ghana on March 8, 2013 at the Presbyterian Boys Seconday School (PRESEC), Legon by the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre, Accra.