
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 2, 1990                   TAG: 9003023167
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                 LENGTH: Medium

GLOBAL DRUG RISE DETAILED/ ANDEAN COUNTRIES ESCAPE CENSURE

Worldwide production of coca, marijuana and opium soared to record levels last year and drug traffickers undermined U.S.-backed law enforcement efforts by corrupting officials in a growing number of countries, according to a State Department narcotics report released Thursday.

The 401-page report cited rising drug abuse around the world and the spread of "drug mafias" to new countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Melvyn Levitsky, assistant secretary of state for international narcotics, said the report nevertheless showed a "mixed" picture including successes such as disruption of the powerful Medellin cocaine cartel of Colombia.

The annual country-by-country review is part of a process in which the president and Congress certify whether foreign governments "fully cooperate" with U.S. anti-narcotics efforts to qualify for foreign aid. But as in previous years, President Bush gave the green light to all major drug-producing countries in Latin America. He recommended "decertifying" only Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and Myanmar (formerly Burma).

A fifth nation, Lebanon, cited for supplying a major share of the world's hashish, was given a special "national interest" waiver based on U.S. efforts to restore stability there.

The most alarming aspect of the State Department report, officials said, was its new world drug production figures. The report estimated 775 metric tons of cocaine is being produced yearly in Latin America, nearly twice the amount calculated a few years ago. It estimated global opium production increased by at least 28 percent, to 4,209 tons this year, primarily because of a near doubling of output in Myanmar, the world's largest producer.

by CNB