| Unique among African countries, the ancient Ethiopian monarchy maintained its freedom from colonial rule, one exception being the Italian occupation of 1936-41. In 1974 a military junta, the Derg, deposed Emperor Haile SALASSIE (who had ruled since 1930) and established a socialist state. Torn by bloody coups, uprisings, wide-scale drought, and massive refugee problems, the regime was finally toppled by a coalition of rebel forces, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), in 1991. A constitution was adopted in 1994 and Ethiopia's first multiparty elections were held in 1995. A border war with Eritrea that erupted in May 1998 has strengthened the ruling coalition, but has hurt the nation's economy.  Ethiopia's economy is based on agriculture, which accounts for half of GDP, 90% of exports, and 80% of total employment. The agricultural sector suffers from frequent periods of drought and poor cultivation practices, and as many as 4.6 million people need food assistance annually. Coffee is critical to the Ethiopian economy, and Ethiopia earned $267 million in 1999 by exporting 105,000 metric tons. According to current estimates, coffee contributes 10% of Ethiopia's GDP. More than 15 million people (25% of the population) derive their livelihood from the coffee sector. Other exports include live animals, hides, gold, and qat. In December 1999, Ethiopia signed a $1.4 billion joint venture deal to develop a huge natural gas field in the Somali Regional State. The war with Eritrea has forced the government to spend scarce resources on the military and forced the government to scale back ambitious development plans. Foreign investment has declined significantly. Government taxes imposed in late 1999 to raise money for the war will depress an already weak economy. The war has forced the government to improve roads and other parts of the previously neglected infrastructure, but only certain regions of the nation have benefited.
Ethiopia has had no central body co-ordinating anti-drug activities. Faced with other competing demands, the government lacks sufficient resources to combat the narcotics trade. Although drug consumption is increasing, most drugs transiting Ethiopia are primarily destined for Europe and, to a lesser extent, the USA. The various Ethiopian ministries and agencies involved in counternarcotics are dedicated and committed, but hampered by insufficient resources.
Increased drug control action of the OAU secretariat also aims at promoting stronger action at national levels, including Ethiopia, and the physical presence of the drug control unit in Addis might be helpful in this regard. The work of this new unit is well underway, including recruitment and training of local staff, and the provision of office infrastructure.
In the context of the UNDCP study on illicit drug trends in Africa (Drug Nexus Report), field research was undertaken in Ethiopia in early 1998, which confirmed the following trends:
- The cultivation of khat is financially attractive and spreads into new areas, apparently at the expense of traditional staple and cash crops.
- There is an increasing trend in cultivation and consumption of khat, which is legal in Ethiopia.
- Farmers cultivate cannabis illicitly in Shashamane and Wondo Guenet districts, and co-operate in cannabis cultivation and supply with the local Rastafarian community.
Ethiopia is currently not an important country in money laundering, precursor chemicals, or in the production of narcotic drugs.
While little is known of the extent of the drug problem in Ethiopia, it is clear that the country's strategic geographic location in the horn of Africa, good road and rail transport connections with neighbouring Djibouti, air links to West Africa, Asia and Europe and long, unpatrolled borders with all five of its neighbouring countries, make it a prime target for drug trafficking. The Ethiopian Counternarcotics Unit (ECNU) maintains an interdiction team at Bole International Airport, which is where its two sniffer dogs are primarily employed. The interdiction unit routinely screens passengers, luggage, and cargo on flights arriving from "high risk" origins, i.e. Bangkok, New Delhi, Mumbai, and Islamabad. Many of the flights require up to a two-day layover in Addis Ababa that permits the introduction of these drugs to the local populace. Overall, the ECNU needs more training, better facilities, and improved access to resources if it is to prove effective in meeting the growing challenge. The Ethiopian police have requested ROEA to assist and upgrade their dog sniffer programme.
Regarding drug abuse, the Government of Ethiopia (Ministry of Health responsible for demand reduction), until recently had very little reliable information on its scope and nature in the country. Through a UNDCP rapid assessment study completed in 1995, this situation was improved. Young people are the main consumers of cannabis, although illegal, in herbal form for recreational purposes as well as in certain religious rites and for curative purposes.
Khat has been used for centuries in the eastern part of the country. Today khat consumption is widespread throughout the country. There are no laws restricting its use, although the government discourages it. Khat abuse begins at a young age and there seems to be no upper age limit for the average chewer.
Heroin abuse has been recorded for the past three years, albeit, to a limited extent in comparison to the drugs mentioned above.
Drug abuse and general crime rates are increasing, in particular among street children in Addis and local slum-areas.
Ethiopia is a party to all three international drug control conventions: 1961, 1871 and 1988. The Ministry of Health is leading efforts towards creating an operational inter-ministerial drug control committee and developing a national drug control policy. Nevertheless, no national drug control strategy has yet been formulated and national laws enabling Ethiopia to fully enforce provisions of the three UN drug control conventions still need to be adopted. (Ethiopian authorities envisage a national workshop to define a strategy and plan of action whose title should then be "National Drug Policy" published by the "Drug Control Committee" within the Department of Pharmacy.)
Drug control does not appear among the top national priorities. Individual drug law enforcement and demand reduction measures aim at limiting the increasing local supply of and demand for, mainly, khat and cannabis which are cultivated locally. Different from cannabis, cultivation and consumption of khat is legal in Ethiopia. Currently, the maximum sentence for trafficking is two to three years, which does not serve as an effective deterrent to using Ethiopia as a transit country.
In view of the current border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, there are drug control dimensions emerging from this war situation. It has been acknowledged that armed conflicts in Africa, Asia, and Europe have caused rapid spread of drug control problems in the affected zones, which often included the involvement of military in illicit trafficking and peddling, growing drug abuse of inhabitants of the affected regions, and the co-operation between criminal networks in the illicit supply of arms and drugs. Also, influx of refugees, child soldiers, and HIV/AIDS present a real challenge in drug control activities. The foregoing emphasises the increasing challenge in drug control in Ethiopia
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