Global opium production in decline, says UN

Opium poppy cultivation was down 22 per cent worldwide in 2005, a United Nations report said today, part of a generally favourable, albeit inconclusive, trend in efforts by governments to contain illicit drug use.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s 2006 World Drug Report also found that cocaine use was reaching alarming levels in Western Europe. Consumption of marijuana, the most widely used illicit drug, continued to increase, the study said.