cannabisnews.com: U.N. Goes High-Tech in Drugs War!





U.N. Goes High-Tech in Drugs War!
Posted by FoM on February 22, 1999 at 19:35:51 PT

UNITED NATIONS, The United Nations is using latest space technology in a new drive against illegal drug producers around the world. 
The Vienna-based U.N. Drug Control Program (UNDCP) is collaborating with the European Space Agency (ESA) in deploying satellites to track illicit crops worldwide. "This is an entirely new project," says U.N. Under-Secretary-General Pino Arlacchi, who is both head of UNDCP and the U.N. Office for Crime Prevention. "We are doing it for the first time -- and we hope to use satellite imagery to collect very precise data on cultivation of narcotic crops." Arlacchi told reporters on Feb. 19 that traditionally the UNDCP has collected its data through aerial and ground surveys -- "but this has not been done in coordinated fashion," Since satellite monitoring is a politically sensitive issue, all data collected by the ESA will be shared with countries under surveillance, he said. "The United Nations will be co-owners of the data," Arlacchi said. The exercise will be jointly funded by the European Commission, the ESA, UNDCP and several donor nations. Nandasiri Jasentuliyana, Director of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs, says that space technology already is being deployed for the protection and management of the environment, as well as for the enhancement of education and medical services through tele-education, and tele-medicine. Satellites are to be used in other new areas, he said, particularly to monitor illicit drugs and also detect anti-personnel landmines. In June last year, the U.N. General Assembly approved a global strategy to fight drugs at a three-day Special Session on the World Drug Problem. The 185-member General Assembly pledged to signficantly reduce the demand for and supply of illicit drugs by the year 2008. The Assembly also adopted a political declaration on principles of demand reduction to guide governments in setting up effective drug prevention, treatment and rehabilitation programs. Arlacchi said that following the U.N. special session, UNDCP has made significant progress in raising funds and sharply reducing demand for drugs. At a conference in Brussels last year, donor nations pledged more than $270 million for the anti-drug program in Peru. The money will be earmarked mostly for eliminating coca cultivation and to provide alternate crops, he said. According to Arlacchi, UNDCP is vigorously pursuing an elaborate plan to eliminate coca cultivation in three Latin American nations: Peru, Colombia and Bolivia. A meeting of donors is to be held in Paris later this year to raise money for an anti-drug program in Bolivia. Arlacchi also plans to visit Colombia soon to discuss plans for cultivation of alternate crops in that country. These include coffee, fruits and rubber plants. Arlacchi said in Peru there has been a 55 percent decline in coca cultivation over a period of three years. In Bolivia there has been a 20 percent decline in one year, he said. "We have been offering viable alternate crops. That is the primary reason for significant reductions in coca cultivation," he noted. Moreover, there has been a 50 percent drop in coca prices within the last year and the market is till "stagnant." Arlacchi said that both the international community and national governments need about a billion dollars annually for the next 10 years to totally eliminate narcotic crops. "The United Nations, working closely with the governments of Thailand and Pakistan, have completely eliminated opium production in both countries. These are two big success stories," he said. In Pakistan alone, an investment of less than $200 million over a 10 year period has helped to reduce to almost zero the production of poppy in that country. Pakistan, a major opium producer, had an output of about 800 tons annually. "Now, it has been reduced to less than 20 tons, almost negligible," he said. Arlacchi attributed the success to crop substitution. "We provided an alternative source of income to the hundreds and thousands of peasants." 
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Comment #1 posted by underminer on September 03, 2001 at 09:41:23 PT:
U.N. goes high tech in drug war
It's a shame that the closing in of a one world system is closing in so fast, no one is safe from another hittler like society, except this time it's sutble and deceptive,and misguides many people, I hope everyone who is responsible for the loss of freedom in this country is found, and locked away. The U.N. should not be getting involved unless they are planning nationwide lockdown, or a secret army. I say leave america soon. There's backstabbing going on and it's freedom that's gets the knife
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