But after years of experience, it is clear that no matter how many pushers we put in jail, shipments we seize, or fields we eradicate, drugs will continue to be produced as long as an appetite for them remains. Long-term progress will only come through a balanced approach. Drug abuse has spread out in recent years, leaving no society untouched. Demand for plant-based narcotics has largely stagnated in developed countries, but it has skyrocketed in the developing world where drugs prices are well below the average international market value. For instance, a gram of heroin costs an average of 28 dollars in Nigeria, about one-twelfth of the price on the American market.
Every community has a responsibility.
This is particularly true, because consumption does not follow the usual rules of supply and demand. Reducing demand signals a more permanent change. Only when people stop asking for narcotics, and our societies have accepted this change as non-negotiable, will the situation dramatically improve. And I am pleased by your decision to transfer this Declaration into a Plan of Action. However, only about 10 per cent of the world's nations have sufficient knowledge about the extent of their drug abuse situation.