E/CN.7/594 page 2
INTRODUCTION
As requested by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs at its fourth special session 1 the information contained in this document has been drawn up from the annual reports furnished by Governments for 1975 and statements made by representatives at the Commission's last session. Reports of the United Nations and its specialized agencies on meetings dealing with the abuse of drugs have also been considered in drafting this document. In order to reflect as realistically as possible the geographical distribution of drug abuse 2/, particularly with respect to changes in its extent and patterns, as well as to indicate new tendencies and trends, relevant data from previous reports have also been included in this document 3/.
The information, presented by regions of the world, is divided into two sections, A., which describes the extent, patterns and trends of drug abuse by countries and B., which summarizes the main characteristics of drug abuse in the region.
The information has been interpreted by drug type as follows: opiate type (such as opium, heroin, morphine and synthetics with morphine-like effects); cannabis type (such as cannabis, its resin and liquid cannabis); cocaine type
(such as cocaine and coca leaf); hallucinogen type (such as LSD, mescaline); amphetamine type (such as amphetamine, methamphetamine, methylphenidate, phenmetrazine); barbiturate type including barbiturates, other sedative hypnotics (such as methaqualone, glutethimide) and tranquillizers; multiple drug abuse means that more than one drug is used by the same person.
With respect to the request 4 made by the Commission at its last session, the Division of Narcotic Drugs has prepared a Manual on Drug Abuse Assessment which is now being tested in a number of countries. The Manual has been drawn up in a practical form for use by national authorities.
1/ Decision 7 (S-IV) "Drug abuse and measures to reduce demand" (See report, E/5771-E/CN.7/587, Ch.XV).
2/ The terms "drug abuse", "addiction" and "drug dependence" have been used synonymously in this document.
3/ Where additional information from sources other than annual reports of Governments for 1975 has been included, this is indicated in a footnote.
4/ Decision 8 (S-IV) "Technical assistance to governments in drug abuse assessment" (see report, Ch.XV).
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