Teens hardest hit by drug use, says new drug report

According to the UN report, the global number of drug users has increased by almost a quarter in a decade. Between 2011 and 2021, the number of people using drugs will increase from 240 million to 296 million, an increase of 23 percent.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported in Vienna on Sunday that it estimates that only about half of this increase is due to global population growth.

The number of people with an addiction has now risen to 39.5 million, an increase of 45 percent in 10 years. According to the report, only one in five addicts will receive treatment by 2021.

Young people are most affected by drug use, especially in Africa: 70 percent of those treated are under 35 years old. In countries such as Liberia, Niger and Sierra Leone, treatments indicate a sharp increase in the use of tramadol, a synthetic opioid used medicinally as a pain reliever and addictive in a manner similar to morphine and other opioids.

In its annual report, the UN also warns against the rise of chemical drugs such as methamphetamine, fentanyl and the many newly developed substances on the market. “Synthetic drug production is cheap, easy and fast,” it says. This sector of the drug trade is more difficult for authorities to track because it is not tied to specific growing areas or growth cycles like cocaine or heroin.

Fentanyl has dramatically changed the opioid market, especially in North America – with devastating consequences: In 2021, 90,000 people died of drug overdose in North America alone.

The UN writes that drug trafficking thrives in situations of war and when the rule of law is weakened, as can be seen in Haiti and the Sahel zone. Trade routes are blocked in Ukraine, but the UN is concerned that the production and smuggling of synthetics could increase as Russia’s war of aggression intensifies. The UNODC has recently observed an increase in such drugs in and around Ukraine.

In Afghanistan, there are signs of a decline in opium production under Taliban rule. However, the UN drug experts pointed out that in addition to being the world’s leading exporter of the heroin raw material opium, Afghanistan has also become a major producer of methamphetamine. Declining opium cultivation could drive a shift to synthetic drugs, the UNODC warned.

Drug trafficking accelerates environmental degradation and crime, particularly in the Amazon region. According to the report, drug cultivation and trafficking are steadily increasing – with serious consequences: criminal networks not only exacerbate the problem of deforestation, but also accelerate the exploitation of underage workers.

(cst, with material from sda and dpa)