§ Paul FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the results of Plan Colombia on drugs production and use(a) in Colombia and (b) elsewhere. [154939]
§ Mr. MullinAccording to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's (UNODC) latest survey, available on the UN website: www.un.org, there was a 30 per cent. decrease in the amount of coca cultivated in Colombia in 2002: 102,071 hectares at the end of 2002, compared with 144,807 hectares at the end of 2001.
While cultivation in Colombia decreased in 2002, there was an increase in Peru and Bolivia and farmers have increased productivity through the introduction of higher yielding varieties of coca and by increasing the number of plants planted per hectare.
Drug consumption is believed to be rising in Colombia. Latest UN figures far global consumption indicate that the number of people consuming drugs regularly were 200 million worldwide in the period 2000–01 compared with 185 million worldwide in the period 1998–2000.
§ Paul FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes have taken place since the end of the war in Afghanistan in levels of(a) poppy cultivation and (b) heroin production in areas previously controlled by (i) the Taliban and (ii) the Northern Alliance. [155001]
§ Mr. RammellThe United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) conducts an annual survey into the level of opium poppy cultivation and production in Afghanistan.
According to the UNODC annual survey, the estimated volume of opium production and cultivation in each of the last three years is as follows:
Hectares Tonnes 2001 8,000 185 2002 74,000 3,400 2003 80,000 3,600 Since the end of the war in 2001, survey figures have recorded rises in opium poppy cultivation and production in all provinces, including those controlled previously by the Taliban and the Northern Alliance. However the low level of cultivation and low production figure in 2001 reflect the Taliban ban on opium cultivation, which did not address the underlying causes of poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and was enforced with a mix of threat and bribery.