Drug abuse has become a serious problem in some of the countries of the Central America and the Caribbean region, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has warned.
The Viena-based independent body acknowledges in its 2004 Anual Report that law enforcement agencies in several Central American and Caribbean countries have seize large amounts of cocaina and are implementing stricter controls over precursor chemicals, as reported by the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
However, the INCB report says there are indications that drug trafficking organisations are adapting their methods in order to overcome law enforcement efforts.
The INCB is a quasi-judicial monitoring body for the implementation of the United Nations international drug conventions.
During the past year -the INCB indicates- steps have been taken in several countries in Central America and the Caribbean to strengthen the control of precursors, and nearly all countries have adopted national drug control plans.
It praises the Bahamas for implementing a a national drug control plan covering the period 2003-8 and highlights the Bahamian authorities seized in 2003 more than 4,000 kilograms of cocaine, the highest level since 1997.
Though it congratulates Jamaica for considerable success in the elimination of cannabis (marihuana) cultivation, the INCB urges the Kingston government to stress to the local population that cannabis is a harmful drug through a national public campaign.
The organization also applauds the governments of Belize, Antigua and Barbuda for their efforts to deal with the drug situation.
In the case of Haiti, the reports says the drug situation is out of control. The country has become a key drug trafficking hub in the Central America and the Caribbean due to years of ineffective law enforcement and widespread corruption.
The INCB warns, though, that cocaine abuse appears to be increasing in Central America and the Caribbean, with Barbados, Guatemala, Nicaragua and St. Lucia ” are all estimated to have an annual prevalence rate of one per cent.”
It adds that in the Dominican Republic and Haiti cocaine abuse, though still minimal, is also increasing.
After warning that drug abuse is increasing among women, the INCB calls on governments “to ensure that, in efforts to combat drug abuse, adequate programs should be put in place to ensure that special attention is given to female drug abusers”.
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