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11/2/06

UN News Centre: ‘Wake up Europe! You are heading for a crisis,’ UN drugs chief warns on cocaine


For the complete report in the UN Press Centre click on this link

‘Wake up Europe! You are heading for a crisis,’ UN drugs chief warns on cocaine

Declaring that he is “not afraid to name and shame the worst offenders – Spain, England and Italy,” the United Nations top narcotics fighter warned Europe today that it is heading for a cocaine crisis, with too many governments in denial, focussing on the supply end in South America instead of consumption in their own backyards. “The alarm clock is ringing; Europe, it is time to wake up and get going,” UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa told an international meeting in London, sponsored by the Government of Colombia, noting that the stable or even falling demand for cocaine in most of the world is being undercut by an upward trend in Europe.

“Wake up Europe!” he reiterated. “You are heading for a crisis. We are facing a pandemic, and not only because of coca addiction by high profile entertainers, executives, models or socialites who flaunt their illicit drug use in words and deeds. This is a symptom of a deeper problem – one made worse by uncritical reporting in the media.

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