Associated Press, June 27, 2014

UN report says rising Afghan opium production cause for concern

The number of drug-related deaths was estimated between 95,500 and 225,900

According to latest reports of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Afghanistan accounts for 80% of global opium and heroin production, the area of poppy straw crops reached a record 209,000 hectares in the country in 2013. Meanwhile, opium production went up 50% to reach 5,500 tons last year. “All this shows graphically ineffective actions in this sphere by foreign military missions in Afghanistan,” (Vitaly) Churkin believes.

ITAR-TASS, Jun. 26, 2014

The United Nations' drug-fighting agency says global drug use appears to be stable, but increasing opium production in Afghanistan is a cause for concern.

The Vienna-based U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime estimated in an annual report Thursday that between 162 and 324 million people used an illicit drug at least once in 2012, little changed from the previous year.

The number of drug-related deaths was estimated between 95,500 and 225,900. The report says that's lower than in 2011 due to decreases in a few Asian countries.

The U.N. agency says surging opium production in Afghanistan is a setback. It says 209,000 hectares (some 516,000 acres) there were used to cultivate opium poppies last year, up from 154,000 hectares (380,500 acres) in 2012 and the third consecutive rise.

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