The “cheap, quick and easy production” of synthetic drugs has profoundly changed many markets around the world, the UN warned on Sunday, pointing to “disastrous consequences”.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 50 times more potent than heroin, “has revolutionized opioid consumption in North America,” the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) wrote in a statement accompanying the release of its annual report.
By 2021, the majority of overdose deaths in this region were attributed to opioids. And the production of these substances will probably increase even more, according to the organization from Vienna, the capital of Austria.
UNODC also warned of the impact of the war in Ukraine, citing “some indications that it could provoke an expansion of the synthetic drug trade given the existing experience and the large markets developing in the area”.
The UN also refers to the situation in Afghanistan, where the expected decrease in poppy cultivation banned by the Taliban regime could lead to a shift towards methamphetamine production.
The country is already one of the leading producers of this addictive stimulant, which remains “the world’s leading illicitly manufactured synthetic drug.”
“We must step up the fight against human traffickers who exploit conflicts and world crises to expand the production of drugs, especially synthetics,” said Ghada Waly, UNODC’s executive director, quoted in the press release.
The report also warns of the environmental consequences of the drug economy.
In the Amazon basin, the cultivation of the coca plant, with an “expanding supply” and “increasingly flexible networks”, is “exacerbating criminal activities” such as illegal deforestation and trade in wild species.
Globally, “more than 296 million people used drugs in 2021, a 23% increase in 10 years,” with cannabis still by far the most commonly used drug, according to the United Nations.
Even more worrying, the international organization notes, is the fact that the number of people suffering from drug-related illnesses has increased by 45% over the same period. However, only one in five of these people receive treatment.
Source: DN
