CurrenT aFFairs

Drugs trade takes its toll in Mıddle East region All too frequently the death and destruction the international drugs trade leaves in its wake is regarded as a purely western problem. However, the annual report of the United Nations International Narcotics Control Board released in Vienna, describes an unfolding tragedy fed by the illegal Afghan drug exports smuggled into the prosperous markets of the Gulf area. The trade has stimulated a raft of initiatives by worried lawmakers trying to mitigate the disaster, reports Thomas Land.

20 The Middle easT June 2008