Pubdate: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 Source: Associated Press Copyright: 2000 Associated Press NET BECOMES DRUG PUSHERS' TOOL DRUG pushers and consumers are using the Internet more and more to exchange information on illegal substances, even publicising recipes on how to manufacture narcotics, the head of the United Nations drug control office said today. Pino Arlacchi, head of the UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, said the UN was "increasingly worried about the use of Web sites and the Internet for propaganda of drugs manufacturing". By searching one key word, "you receive advice on how to manufacture drugs, you receive advice on where to find drugs, you receive a lot of extremely dangerous information," Arlacchi told a news conference at UN headquarters ahead of the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on Monday. He refused to reveal the key word. The Internet is being used to "expand the market" of consumers, Arlacchi said, although the actual sale of illicit drugs online remains marginal. Arlacchi said the issue would be addressed at an international meeting later this year in Palermo, Italy, on expanding universal jurisdiction to Internet crimes and money laundering. Meanwhile, in a message for the international day against drug abuse, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan praised greater cross-border co-operation that "is finally catching up with the global nature of the drug trade." But "in this rapidly globalising world, the drug menace knows no boundaries. It is restricted to no social class and is exclusive to no region. It is a global problem with staggering economic and social costs," Annan said in the message released today. The secretary-general said the root of the problem - the demand for drugs - had to be addressed. "Young people need protection, support and guidance of their parents and communities. They need role models to help them find a positive path - a path without drugs - through the uneasy environment in which we live," the secretary-general said. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck