Reading global var as string when it should be Number

Hi guys,
Trying to get myself upto speed with AS2
I have a little script that checks “user access level” on my site

[LEFT][FONT=Courier New][/FONT][/LEFT]
[FONT=Courier New]trace[COLOR=#000000]([/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000]“USER LEVEL=”[/COLOR] + [COLOR=#000000]_global[/COLOR].[COLOR=#000080]userLevel[/COLOR][COLOR=#000000])[/COLOR];[/FONT]
[LEFT][FONT=Courier New]trace[COLOR=#000000]([/COLOR][COLOR=#ff0000]“type of=”[/COLOR] + [COLOR=#0000ff]typeof[/COLOR] COLOR=#000000[/COLOR][COLOR=#000000])[/COLOR];[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New][COLOR=#808080]//typeof returns string</p>[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New][COLOR=#808080]//string does not work for the if statement[/COLOR][/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]if [COLOR=#000000]([/COLOR][COLOR=#000000]_global[/COLOR].[COLOR=#000080]userLevel[/COLOR] != [COLOR=#ff0000]“5”[/COLOR] || [COLOR=#000000]_global[/COLOR].[COLOR=#000080]userLevel[/COLOR] == [COLOR=#ff0000]""[/COLOR] || [COLOR=#000000]_global[/COLOR].[COLOR=#000080]userLevel[/COLOR] == [COLOR=#0000ff]undefined[/COLOR][COLOR=#000000])[/COLOR] {[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New] adm.[COLOR=#0000ff]_visible[/COLOR] = [COLOR=#000000]false[/COLOR];[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New][COLOR=#000000]}[/COLOR][/FONT]
[/LEFT]
UserLevel is set when the user logs in

ActionScript Code:
[LEFT][FONT=Courier New]var userLevel:[COLOR=#0000ff]Number[/COLOR] = loadedUserData.[COLOR=#000080]userLevel[/COLOR];[/FONT]
[FONT=Courier New]_global.[COLOR=#000080]userLevel[/COLOR] = userLevel;[/FONT]
[/LEFT]

What do i need to do to set _global.userLevel as a number?
Thanks
Paul