"We can, on this International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, be proud of the tangible progress we have made in the fight against this terrible scourge," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message delivered on Saturday. "The war, however, is far from won. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels and be complacent."
     Drugs continue "to blight and indeed destroy far too many human lives," and 3% to 4% of the world's population uses illicit drugs regularly, Annan warned. Intravenous drug use is a main contributor to the spread of AIDS.
     He concluded: "The global implications and cross-border nature of drug abuse and illicit trafficking make the United Nations the most suitable instrument for waging this war" (UN release, 26 Jun).

UN, Interpol, World Customs Band Together
     The UN Drug Control Program (UNDCP), Interpol and the World Customs Organization are joining forces to create an international database of global drug seizures, the agencies announced on Thursday. The database "is a major breakthrough in efforts to more clearly understand the scale and dynamics of illicit drug trading."
     The three bodies have been working on the database for several years (UN release, 24 Jun).

New Drug Control Office In Iran
     At a ceremony on Saturday opening the UNDCP's new office in Iran, 55 tons of narcotics, mostly opium, were burned. UNDCP Director-General Pino Arlacchi praised Iran for its work to fight illegal drugs. The UN agency has pledged $13 million for the program in Iran.
     But former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani criticized "the lack of seriousness at the United Nations and among developed countries" in the fight against drug trafficking. Rafsanjani: "The UN and developing countries are doing nothing against money-laundering centers" (Agence France-Presse, 26 Jun).
     The UNDCP program in Iran will help the country control trafficking across borders and assist Iran's 1 million addicts (UN release, 25 Jun).

China Executes Traffickers
     In observance of anti-drug day, China executed at least 71 people convicted of drug trafficking. The executions, by firing squad, brought the total number of drug traffickers executed in recent days to at least 98. China carries out an "annual flurry of executions to mark the United Nations' anti-drug day," the Associated Press reports (AP/South China Morning Post, 26 Jun).

Other Countries Mark Day
     The Taliban government in Afghanistan dropped anti-drug leaflets over Kabul on Saturday, warning that those caught growing illegal narcotics would be punished severely. Afghanistan is one of the world's leading opium producers (William Reeve, BBC Online, 26 Jun). Opium poppy production is up this year, but the Taliban government is taking positive stepsto control, the UN said (UN release, 25 Jun).
     In Pakistan, Interior Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain called for the world community to help rid the country of illicit trafficking (Karachi Dawn, 27 Jun).
     In Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen urged farmers to stop planting marijuana and called on all citizens to fight the country's growing drug-trafficking problem (Associated Press/Boston Globe, 26 Jun).