2023-06-26 02:13:00
The “cheap, quick and easy production” of synthetic drugs has profoundly transformed several world markets, the UN said this Sunday, warning of “disastrous consequences”.
Fentanyl, 50 times more potent than heroin, “has radically changed opioid use in North America,” the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a statement accompanying its annual report. .
In 2021, the majority of overdose deaths in North America were attributed to this drug, whose production may increase. The office warns of the impact of the war in Ukraine, with “some signs that it could trigger an expansion of synthetic drug trafficking, due to the existing technical knowledge and the large markets that are developing in that region”.
The report also highlights the environmental consequences of the drug market. In the Amazon Basin, coca cultivation, with “still a record supply” and “increasingly agile networks”, “aggravates criminal activities”, such as illegal deforestation and the trafficking of wild animals.
UNODC also cites the situation in Afghanistan, where the predicted reduction in poppy cultivation as a result of the Taliban ban could lead to a shift to methamphetamine production, in a country that is already one of the largest producers of this stimulant, “Major illegally manufactured synthetic drug in the world”.
“We have to step up the fight against traffickers who exploit conflicts and global crises to expand drug production, especially synthetic substances,” warned Ghada Waly, executive director of UNODC, quoted in the statement.
Worldwide, “more than 296 million people used drugs in 2021, an increase of 23% in 10 years”, with marijuana being the most consumed drug, according to the office. The number of people suffering from drug-related disorders has increased by 45% over the same period, but only one in five receives treatment.
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