  | The picturesque islands of the Caribbean are neither major producers nor consumers of illegal drugs. However, they are located at the centre of the drug shipment route that goes form South to North America. Those who think this is the road to "easy money" should think again... |
 | In two Caribbean countries, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, the governments are seizing the large real estate properties of drug lords and converting them into rehabilitation centres. Even the drug dealers' limousines are taken and turned into ambulances for the victims of the drug trade! |
 | The battle to stop the trade of illegal drugs doesn't end with the traffickers. In this episode, addicts talk about their efforts to break the losing streak of drug dependency. |
 | This programme reviews the patterns of illegal drug trading in and through the Caribbean region, revealing the initiatives of governments and private groups in raising the stakes for drug traffickers. |
 | THE WORLD DRUG PROBLEM: MONEY LAUNDERING (Part I) The United Nations estimates the global trade in illicit drugs to be worth $400 billion a year. Those who profit from this illegal trade must find ways to make their profits appear to be legitimate in origin, a process known as money laundering. In this programme, we look at some of the ways "unclean" money is laundered and at what the United Nations, the international community and individual states are doing to prevent, detect and prosecute the crime of money laundering. |
 | THE WORLD DRUG PROBLEM: MONEY LAUNDERING (Part II) The practice of money laundering has been defined as finding a way to make illicitly earned funds appear to be legally earned Income. The 1988 United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances brought the issue of money laundering onto the world agenda, outlining a series of measures Member States should take to counter the practice. But according to Pino Arlaachi, Executive Director of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme, to date, fewer than 40 countries have fully complied with the Convention and other international standards. |
 | HELPING TEENAGERS BEAT DRUG ADDICTION An U.S. expert on adolescent chemical dependency talks about her approach to teenage drug addiction recovery and about her work in Russia. |
 | ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT ELIMINATES OPIUM CULTIVATION IN THE HIGHLANDS OF THAILAND A crop substitution project sponsored by the German government succeeds in curtailing illicit drug production and raising farmers' incomes. |
 | THE IMPACT OF WOMEN OF THE UN DECLARATION ON DRUGS Where and how do women fit in the attempt to reduce the supply and demand of illicit drugs worldwide. |
 | OPIUM PRODUCTION IN PAKISTAN DROPS TO RECORD LOW LEVELS The UN's latest report on drug use shows some encouraging statistics about drug control efforts in Pakistan. Opium output is down to record low levels dropping from 800 metric tonnes in 1979 to 27 tonnes in 1998. In this programme we'll hear from the man in charge of the UN's drug control efforts in Pakistan. He describes how the UN's drug control agency is working with farmers to provide them alternative crops to the lucrative poppy plant. And later on, does marijuana have medicinal value? The UN's drug agency says research should be conducted to settle the issue once and for all. |
 | INTERNATIONAL LEADERS VOW TO CONQUER THE DRUG PROBLEM IN TEN YEARS At the UN drug summit, 150 countries pledged to reduce the demand for a supply of illicit drugs by the year 2008. In this programme we'll talk to Mr. Rafiqul Islam, Bangladesh's Minister of Home Affairs, who headed up his country's delegation to the summit. Bangladesh, because of its location, is a transit area for drug trafficking. Minister Islam describes how Bangladesh tackles its drug problems by increasing surveillance at its borders and coastline and by raising awareness about the danger of drugs. And later in the programme, is there a relationship between domestic violence and drug abuse? One non-profit organization working in India says there is. |
 | THE GLAMORIZATION OF ILLEGAL DRUGS IS SENDING THE WRONG MESSAGE TO YOUNG PEOPLE Some experts believe the world environment has become tolerant and even favourable towards drug abuse. In this programme a senior member of the UN's Narcotics Control Board criticizes some contemporary pop stars and athletes for promoting the recreational use of drugs as an acceptable part of a person's lifestyle. The difficulties this glamorization of drugs is posing to efforts to combat drug abuse will also be discussed. |
