Plus 23 percent in 10 years: the number of drug users is increasing enormously

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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.

In its annual report, the UNODC warned of 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. This highly flexible 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.

In Afghanistan, the UNODC sees signs of a decline in opium production under Taliban rule. However, the UN drug experts pointed out that Afghanistan is not only the world’s leading exporter of the heroin raw material opium, but has also developed into a major producer of methamphetamine. Declining opium cultivation could drive a shift to synthetic drugs, the UNODC warned.

In Ukraine, the UN agency is concerned that the production and smuggling of synthetics could increase in the aftermath of Russia’s offensive war. The UNODC has recently observed an increase in such drugs in and around Ukraine.

(SDA)

Source: Blick