The World - News from June 18, 1987
Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar opened a U.N. conference in Vienna on drug abuse, saying that drugs create a “hell on Earth,” breed corruption and could threaten the independence of many states. The 135-nation conference heard messages from President Reagan, who said drugs generate crime, and from Pope John Paul II, who described drug abuse as a plague. “Wherever (the drugs problem) manifests itself, it breeds organized crime, depletes vital government resources and most disturbingly saps the energy and ambition of youth,” Reagan said.
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