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US Department of State: Domestic consumption and cultivation of narcotics are low in Azerbaijan

02 March 2007 13:45 (UTC +04:00)

The report describes the efforts of key countries to attack all aspects of the international drug trade in 2006. It also covers the situation in Azerbaijan.
â€œAzerbaijan is located along a drug transit route running from Afghanistan and Central Asia to Western Europe, and from Iran to Russia and Western Europe. Domestic consumption and cultivation of narcotics are low, but levels of use are increasing,â€? the report reads.
It says Azerbaijanâ€™s main narcotics problem is the transit of drugs through its territory.
â€œAccording to the Government of Azerbaijan (GOAJ), the majority of narcotics transiting Azerbaijan originates in Afghanistan and follows one of four primary routes: Afghanistan-Iran-Azerbaijan-Georgia-western Europe; Afghanistan-Iran-Azerbaijan-Armenia-Georgia-Western Europe; Afghanistan-Iran-Azerbaijan-Russia; or Afghanistan-Central Asia-the Caspian Sea-Azerbaijan-Georgia-western Europe. Azerbaijan shares a 380 mile (611 km) frontier with Iran, and its border control forces are insufficiently trained and equipped to patrol it effectively. Iranian and other traffickers are exploiting this situation. Cannabis and poppy are cultivated illegally, mostly in southern Azerbaijan, but not in large quantities. The most widely abused drugs in Azerbaijan are opiates, especially heroin, licit medicines, hemp, and hashish. Domestic consumption continues to grow with the official GOAJ estimate of drug addicts reaching 18,000 persons. Unofficial figures are estimated at approximately 180,000 to 200,000, the majority of which are heroin addicts. Students are thought to be a large share of total drug abusers at 30-35 percent. Drug use among young women has been rising,â€? it reads.
â€œThe U.S. and Azerbaijan will continue to cooperate in law enforcement assistance programs in Azerbaijan. Such programs will include: helping the GOAJ modernize its criminal records system; training and exchanges for Azerbaijanâ€™s law enforcement officials and police officers; and forensic lab development, in addition to counternarcotics/drug enforcement programs,â€? it concludes. /APA/