Bangkok--4 Sep--UNIS Bangkok The Government of Thailand and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will jointly launch Amphetamines and Ecstasy: 2008 Global ATS Assessment and the Global SMART Programme in Bangkok on Tuesday, 9 September, 2008. “Amphetamines and Ecstasy: 2008 Global ATS Assessment” assesses the current synthetic drug situation worldwide and signals a call to action for United Nations Member States to respond to the threat posed by synthetic drugs. The study’s findings include that the use of synthetic drugs, while stabilizing in most developed countries, is worsening in developing countries, for example in East and South-East Asia and the Middle East (especially in the Gulf countries). The ‘Global SMART Programme’ (the acronym stands for Global Synthetics Monitoring: Analyses, Reporting and Trends) is aimed at improving understanding of the illicit synthetic drugs situation globally and in selected key regions, and providing the international community with an evidence-base for effective operational responses and interventions to the problem of illicit synthetic drugs. The Programme represents the start of an international strategic response to the problem which will help Member States in need of technical assistance in priority regions of the world. The launch will be opened by His Excellency Mr. Sompong Amornvivat, Thailand’s Minister of Justice, and the UNODC’s Executive Director. Mr. Antonio Maria Costa. Mr. Costa will take questions from media.