Review of drug abuse and measures to reduce the illicit demand for drugs by region. Division of Narcotic Drugs of the United Nations Secretariat.

This article, which was prepared on the basis of two documents (E/CN.7/1987/9 and E/1987/17-E/CN.7/1987/18) of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, summarizes information on drug abuse and measures to reduce the illicit demand for drugs at the global level and by region. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs noted at its February 1987 session that the drug abuse situation continued to deteriorate in most parts of the world. The most striking feature of the problem was the escalation of heroin and cocaine abuse, but the abuse of other substances also continued to spread. The injection of drugs had contributed significantly to the increasing spread of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and hepatitis B. The age of first users was falling from adolescence to preadolescence and even earlier. Young users were experimenting with a variety of substances, most often with those that were easy to obtain. In most countries, drug abuse had spread to all social strata. The majority of abusers were males, but the proportion of female abusers was growing.