ODCCP Director Hails China's Fight Against Drugs

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, June 26, 2002

ODCCP Director Hails China's Fight Against Drugs

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China is playing an important role in the global fight against illicit drugs, Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations' Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention (ODCCP) said on Monday, in an exclusive interview with Xinhua in Vienna.

As a result of a ban on opium production in Afghanistan, which turned out up to 75 percent of all opiates in the world, global opium poppy cultivation was reduced by 35 percent, from about 220,000 hectares in 2000 to about 144,000 in 2001, Costa said.

He added that seizures of heroin and Amphetamine-type stimulants had increased globally.

Affected by heroin produced in the Golden Triangle, China had its share of drug-related problems. But the Chinese government "has declared a zero tolerance for illicit drugs, paying equal attention to the four prohibitions: on cultivation, production, trafficking and abuse of drugs", Costa said.

China, which hosted the meeting of senior officials from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam in May with the participation of the ODCCP, was working closely with these countries in developing and implementing the sub-regional action plan against drugs, Costa noted.

China also played an important role in addressing drug problemsin Afghanistan, he added.

The ODCCP will release the Global Illicit Drug Trends 2002 report summarizing important developments in international effortsagainst drug abuse on Wednesday, which marks the International Dayagainst Drugs.

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