United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime – 2008 World Drug Report (310 pages, PDF): “This Report provides evidence of a surge in the supply of illicit drugs in 2007. Afghanistan had a record opium harvest, and world opium production (because of higher yields) almost doubled between 2005 and 2007. Coca cultivation increased in the Andean countries last year, although cocaine production remained stable because of lower yields per hectare. In the cannabis market, there are two worrying trends: Afghanistan has become a major producer of cannabis resin; in developed countries, indoor cultivation is producing more potent strains of cannabis herb.

The past few World Drug Reports have stated that the world
drug problem is being contained in the sense that it had stabilized. This year’s Report shows that containment is under threat. Urgent steps must be taken to prevent the unravelling of progress that has been made in the past few decades of drug control. Furthermore, containment should not be seen as an end in itself. Real success will only come when supply and demand actually go down (rather than
level off ), across the world. The current upsurge in supply
together with the development of new trafficking routes (mostly through Africa) could eventually strengthen demand where it already exists (mostly in developed countries) and create new markets for some of the world’s deadliest substances (mostly in developing countries).”