The United Nations Conference on Drug Abuse that took place earlier this year in Vienna, was a very productive meeting. As never before, the nations of the world demonstrated a willingness to confront a common threat. Most previous international gatherings on this subject have not seen the same intensity of delegate inter est. Many nations have gone through a shock of recognition. A decade ago, only those nations identified as 'producing countries' also become 'consuming countries', but many have witnessed the growth within their borders of drug trafficking gangs (often allied with terrorists) so powerful they present a danger to the state's stability. Many developing countries now have the worst of both worlds, in that they grow their own people. There is a growing sense of fright in ninny governments that matters are out of control and the single way to recover is through cooperation with other countries. The high points of the conference were the drafting of two documents, both of which were adopted with out a disagreed vote. One was a joint declaration of intent to combat drag abuse and traffic. The other consisted of many detailed suggestions for particular regional and national policies. Overall, the conference developed a two-level action plan. The focus was on ways to curb the demand for dangerous drugs and on methods of destroying at least interrupting the distribution process. On the demand side, the delegates recommended the establishment of a system for collecting information on the nature and scope of narcotics use. In addition, they concluded that drug education should be taught in schools and that governments and labor organizations should act together in the anti-drug campaign in the work place. The delegates also recommended strict adherence to international agreements to curb the supply of narcotics. The United Nations Conference was held to discuss ______.