The World - News from Jan. 13, 1989

Drug-related deaths rose sharply in Western Europe in 1987 and the beginning of 1988, the U.N.’s International Narcotics Control Board said in its annual report. Although the use of some drugs stabilized or fell in some countries, the emergence of new, more potent drugs increased health hazards, the report said. The Vienna-based agency said international cooperation brought some successes in battling international criminal syndicates involved in illegal drug production and distribution. In some parts of Europe and the United States, more than half the AIDS sufferers contracted the disease through intravenous drug abuse, the board added. The report gave no specific data; a spokesman said it is the board’s policy not to publish figures.