Written question asked by Paul Flynn (Labour) on Tuesday, 10 February 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 23 February 2004. It was answered by Chris Mullin (Labour) on Monday, 23 February 2004 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the results of Plan Colombia on drugs production and use (a) in Colombia and (b) elsewhere. - Inc figures.

Answer: Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the results of Plan Colombia on drugs production and use (a) in Colombia and (b) elsewhere. [154939] Mr. Mullin: According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's (UNODC) latest survey, available on the UN website: www.un.org, there was a 30 per cent. decrease in the amount of coca cultivated in Colombia in 2002: 102,071 hectares at the end of 2002, compared with 144,807 hectares at the end of 2001. While cultivation in Colombia decreased in 2002, there was an increase in Peru and Bolivia and farmers have increased productivity through the introduction of higher yielding varieties of coca and by increasing the number of plants planted per hectare. Drug consumption is believed to be rising in Colombia. Latest UN figures for global consumption indicate that the number of people consuming drugs regularly were 200 million worldwide in the period 2000-01 compared to 185 million worldwide in the period 1998-2000.

Secondary information