To make matters worse, in recent years designer drugsb have entered the scene. These synthetic chemicals are designed to give the consumer a high, or a euphoric feeling. Since designer drugs can be manufactured cheaply almost anywhere, police forces are practically powerless to control them. In 1997 the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs warned that in many countries these synthetic drugs have become part of “mainstream consumer culture” and that they must be viewed as a “formidable threat to international society in the next century.”

The newer drugs are no less potent than their predecessors. Crack cocaine is even more addictive than cocaine. New strains of cannabisc have greater hallucinogenic effects, and a new designer drug called ice may be among the most destructive of all.