A United Nations (UN) report released on Monday shows that,globally, illicit drug use, production has declined. But it fingers akey trouble spot: Afghanistan, which has nearly doubled its opiumproduction since a decade ago and last year pushed global yields to arecord high. According to Antonio Maria Costa, the executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the amount of land globally devoted to producing coca fell by 29 percent to about 156,900 hectares between 2000 and 2006[PDF]. A sharp drop in Colombian production was the main reason. The US has seen a dip in cocaine usage, though Europe has seen a slight uptick. Still, The New York Times reports, the UN’s data indicate that on virtually every level the illegal drug trade is receding, prompting Mr. Costa to say that efforts to contain the problem appear to be working. ‘For almost all drugs – cocaine, heroin, cannabis and amphetamines – there are signs of overall stability, whether we speak of production, trafficking or consumption,’ he said, commenting on the agency’s annual drug report that was released Monday. In a telephone interview from the agency’s Vienna headquarters, […]