DURING the recent world summit of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) in Vienna in March, the harsh reality became apparent: 10 years of global anti-drug policies have failed in their attempt to end, even marginally, this plague, and certain hints of resignation and helplessness emerged at the summit, manifested by certain "initiatives".

Although a general sentiment of optimism prevailed, the dimension and gravity of the situation in the majority of nations represented suggested a certain weariness and skepticism as to the ability to defeat it completely and there was an attempt to impose the view that it is now a matter of damage limitation.

A 1998 United Nations plan that sought to reduce drug consumption and trafficking within 10 years has not even managed to diminish improper use of prescription drugs or make access to narcotics more difficult, the report presented to this summit by the European Commission maintained. There has barely been a "small reduction" in some countries, outstripped by increases observed in the majority of them, the document signaled.

According to the UN, the global drug business moves $320 billion annually, which makes it the 21st economy on the planet after Sweden with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $358 billion. The number of deaths associated with the drug trade is estimated at approximately 200,000 per year, which can be added to the five million who die from tobacco use and the 2.5 million who die from the effects of alcohol.

If the human damage caused by international drug trafficking and legal drug use is of concern, the money involved in this macabre business is even more alarming, especially given that the most commonly quoted figure is double the UN estimate. This is possibly the greatest challenge facing any plan or strategic global objective to halt such a grave phenomenon, particularly during an economic crisis. In a world defined by merchandise and a mentality of "everyone for himself", everyone is painstakingly searching for money.

At the same time, 208 million people – 4.9% of the world population aged 15 -64 – continue consuming drugs at least once a year and every hour, some 104 U.S. children consume controlled prescription drugs because they "enjoy" them more than ecstasy, cocaine, crack or heroin, according to a study conducted by the Society for a Drug Free Nation.

The participating delegations at the UN conference in Vienna were exceedingly worried about decreasing drug prices globally as a consequence of increased production. In the case of cocaine, production rose from 825 tons in 1998 to 994 tons in 2007, while poppy production (the source of opium and its derivatives) has doubled from 4,346 tons 10 years ago to 8,870 tons.

Afghanistan attracts particular attention because, despite the U.S. and NATO military presence, 92% of opium poppy cultivation derives from there and it is believed that the opium business has an annual income of around $5 billion, which, according the UN, will fall into the hands of the Taliban. War – impunity or complicity?

Facts presented by the United Nations in the above-mentioned event signal that drugs are thought to be the second highest business in the raw materials sector following oil. Their world trade value is greater than chocolate, coffee, tobacco, wine, beer, and tea combined.

Other important alerts in recent UN reports such as the International Narcotic Control Board report for 2008, published in February, indicate that Central America and the Caribbean continues to be one of the main drug trafficking routes between South America and North America and Europe, the principal consumers worldwide. This corrupts our geographical area not only with drug trafficking and consumption but also with the nightmare of rising crime associated with it.

It is estimated that some 5,000 gangs from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras are operating in Mexico and 75% of them have links with other gangs and criminal groups in the United States, thus strengthening and spreading international criminal associations throughout the entire continent and intermingling with "borderless" Asian and European mafias.

Now that the world is in agreement about giving greater attention to forgotten and preventative face of consumption and achieving a greater social equilibrium between bullets, rehabilitation and the social reintegration of drug abusers; the syndrome of "narco-violence" and "narco-terrorism;" and the U.S. fear of "becoming infected" by its neighbor, has precipitated an announcement from Washington that it is preparing a new "hemispheric" strategy regarding this matter.

"It will be a strategy based on greater participation by the Defense Department in providing training, intelligence teams, transportation and specialized tracking to its Mexican, Central American, and South American counterparts," as a U.S. official told El Proceso magazine.

The current administration has emphasized the need to open new opportunities for the prevention of drug consumption inside the United States as the fundamental tool in the war on drugs; however, to date, the United States has only offered bullets in the name of U.S. national security.

While the world has lost 10 years in combating drug trafficking and has not been able to unite on the correct path, Washington’s military formula has cost U.S. taxpayers more than $25 billion and thousands of deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean.

International cooperation without hypocrisy or opportunism, a genuine and committed political will to engage in a comprehensive battle against the crisis, and giving preventative labor its deserved level of importance and priority, without neglecting a guaranteed rational confrontation, indicate that the new tactics announced by the United Nations have been successfully used by Cuba, with the highest level of effectiveness seen over last 10 years, precisely at a time when the challenges have been the greatest.