The Report was launched in Washington, D.C., by UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa and the newly appointed Director of the United States Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske.

The Report shows that global markets for cocaine, opiates and cannabis are steady or in decline, while the production and use of synthetic drugs is feared to be increasing in the developing world.

The Report shows a downward trend in major drug markets. Opium cultivation in Afghanistan, where 93 per cent of the world's opium is produced, decreased by 19 per cent in 2008. Colombia, which produces half of the world's cocaine, saw a fall of 18 per cent in cultivation and a staggering 28 per cent decline in production compared to 2007.

Global coca production, at 845 tons, is at a five-year low, despite some increases in cultivation in Peru and the Bolivia.

Cannabis remains the drug that is most widely cultivated and used around the world, although estimates are less precise. Data also show that it is more harmful than commonly believed.

The average tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content - the harmful component - of hydroponic marijuana in North America has almost doubled in the past decade. This has major implications for health, as evidenced by a significant rise in the number of people seeking treatment.

While the use of synthetic drugs - amphetamines, methamphetamine and Ecstasy - has levelled off in developed countries, new data, though limited, suggest an increase in their use in the developing world.

The Report documents a shift in the routes used for drug trafficking. In West Africa, for instance, there has been a decrease in seizures, which appears to reflect lesser cocaine flows, following five years of rapid growth. While 41 per cent of the world's cocaine is being seized (mostly in Colombia), only one fifth (19 per cent) of all opiates are being intercepted.

The Report pays special attention to the impact of drug-related crime, and calls for stronger measures to fight such crime and for more resources for drug prevention and treatment.

It also offers several recommendations on how to improve drug control. These include universal access to drug treatment, international agreements against organized crime and greater efficiency in law enforcement.

In an effort to improve transparency and the quality of drug data, this year UNODC has introduced ranges into country-level estimates used in the World Drug Report. For many regions, and for some drugs (such as ATS and cannabis) the ranges are relatively wide since information is more limited.

Bulgaria and to a lesser degree Turkey are believed to be the sources for counterfeit pharmaceuticals sold as Captagon - believed to contain amphetamine - increasingly reported throughout the Near and Middle East.

This is one of the conclusions of World Drug Report 2009, released on Wednesday by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

Over the last decade (1998-2007) Europe has reported the dismantling of 971 clandestine amphetamine laboratories (72% of the global total). The largest numbers of dismantled operations were reported by the Russian Federation (61% of the European total), Poland (13%), the Netherlands (10%), Germany (4%), the UK (3%), Belgium and Bulgaria (2% each).

Cannabis remains the drug that is most widely cultivated and used around the world, although estimates are less precise, according to the report. Data also show that it is more harmful than commonly believed.

Cannabis use appears to have increased in some of the countries at the geographical fringes of Europe such as Ireland, Portugal, Bulgaria, Latvia and Finland. However, some of these increases were small and not statistically significant.

Turkey remains the key transit country for heroin produced in South-West Asia and consumed in Europe, in spite of alternative trafficking routes emerging in recent years. According to Turkish authorities, 80% of the heroin illegally imported into Turkey was from Afghanistan; the remaining 20% is believed to have originated in Iran.

Once in Turkey, heroin is smuggled from eastern Turkey to Istanbul towards Bulgaria for subsequent transport to Serbia and Romania for shipments to various countries in Western Europe.

Heroin and morphine seizures madeby the Bulgarian authorities rose by 66% in 2007. According to Bulgarian authorities, most of the heroin seized in 2007 was destined for Croatia and Germany.

According to information from the Romanian authorities major destination countries were the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Another transit country for heroin leaving Bulgaria is the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.