To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the adequacy of current United Nations policies to combat drug abuse; and if he will make a statement.
The United Nations with primary responsibility for action against drugs is the United Nations international drug control programme (UNDCP). Since its formation in 1991, the UNDCP has developed a wide range of programmes to deal with all aspects of drugs including cultivation, processing, trafficking and consumption. The United Kingdom is one of the major donors. It is too soon to make a firm assessment of UNDCP. But the programme is expanding its activities steadily and establishing itself as the co-ordinating agency with the United Nations system.