Report of the International Narcotics Control Board for 2010
(excerpts from...)


Law enforcement and customs authorities throughout the world are highly vulnerable to drug-related corruption. Drug control units are at risk of being infiltrated by criminal groups, which often have at their disposal enormous resources and sophisticated technology. Regulatory agencies are also exposed to drug-related corruption, as drug traffickers must engage in money-laundering to hide their huge profits. If military units are used in illicit crop eradication and border control, they may also be exposed to drug-related corruption. The judicial system may also be affected by drug-related corruption and intimidation. (v)

The highest levels of consumption of opioid analgesics (opium derivative) are reported in countries in North America and Europe. (vi)

390. The United States continues to be the main country of destination for illicit drug shipments. In the United States, in the case of all controlled drugs except cannabis and methamphetamine, most of the drugs have been illicitly manufactured outside of the country and then smuggled into the country. Drug trafficking organizations based in Mexico dominate the illicit supply of cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine at the wholesale level in the United States, in addition to playing a significant role in the illicit supply of cannabis. The number of drug-related deaths increased sharply in the United States. The Board is deeply concerned about the fact that the United States
recorded for 2009 an increase in the abuse of all drugs except cocaine. From 2006 to 2009, the abuse of cocaine declined in the United States. (62)

392. Canada remains one of the world’s primary source countries for illicitly manufactured synthetic drugs, particularly MDMA (“ecstasy”) and methamphetamine, and a significant supplier of high-potency cannabis. The Board notes the decline in drug abuse in Canada, in particular among youth, reported by the Canadian Alcohol and Drug Use Monitoring Survey. (63)

404. In the United States, disparities in the amounts of cocaine and “crack” required for the imposition of minimum sentences were reduced significantly by the Fair Sentencing Act, signed in August 2010. The Act also eliminated the minimum prison term for simple possession of “crack” and significantly increased monetary penalties for major drug trafficking. (65)

6. Plant material containing psychoactive
substances
284. Many plants that contain psychoactive substances with stimulating or hallucinogenic properties, as well as preparations made from those plants, have traditional uses in some countries or regions; for example, some are used in religious rites. Under the 1961 Convention and that Convention as amended by the 1972 Protocol, plants that are the sources of narcotic drugs, such as cannabis plant, opium poppy and coca bush, are subject to specific control measures. In contrast, although some active stimulant or hallucinogenic ingredients contained in certain plants are controlled under the 1971 Convention, no plants are currently controlled under that Convention or under the 1988 Convention. Preparations (e.g. decoctions for oral use) made from plants containing those active ingredients are also not under international control.

285. Examples of such plants or plant material include khat (Catha edulis), whose active ingredients cathinone and cathine are listed in Schedules I and III of the 1971 Convention; ayahuasca, a preparation made from plants indigenous to the Amazon basin of South America, mainly a jungle vine (Banisteriopsis caapi) and another tryptamine-rich plant (Psychotria viridis) containing a number of psychoactive alkaloids, including DMT; the peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii), containing mescaline; magic mushrooms (Psilocybe), which contain psilocybine and psilocine; Ephedra, containing ephedrine; “kratom” (Mitragyna speciosa), a plant indigenous to South-East Asia that contains mitragynine; iboga (Tabernanthe iboga), a plant that contains the hallucinogen ibogaine and is native to the western part of Central Africa; varieties of Datura containing hyoscyamine (atropine) and scopolamine; and Salvia divinorum, a plant originating in Mexico that contains the hallucinogen salvinorin A. (46)