Marijuana, opium and cocaine - UN drug report

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In June 2019, the UN and the European Union published "drug reports". They describe consumption by country and type of substance, drug policies of different countries, health problems in 2017-2018. The world report was prepared by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime based on data received from 108 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Oceania. The European report was prepared by the EU Drugs Agency - it includes 28 EU member states, as well as Norway and Turkey. The columnist for theBabel, Sergei Pivovarov, carefully read both reports. Marijuana remains the most widespread drug in the world, in the USA and Africa - the crisis of synthetic opioids, in Europe, the consumption of cocaine and the production of synthetic "designer" drugs are growing. Ukraine is not mentioned in these documents.

Marijuana

Cannabis remains the world's most widely used drug, with about 188 million people using it at least once. This is primarily attributed to the fact that more and more countries fully or partially legalize marijuana.

Cannabis is being grown outdoors on a much larger scale than indoors. Advances in cultivation and breeding technology over the past ten years have led to higher yields. In addition, the percentage of the main psychoactive substance, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), has doubled.

As legal markets for cannabis are created, a wide range of cannabis-based products have emerged. These are concentrates high in THC, foods and liquids with added cannabis; synthetic cannabinoids - today there are more than 180 types; cannabis medicines and other products.

The number of marijuana users has grown particularly in North America, where markets for cannabis for medical or personal use have been legalized in Canada and over 30 US states. Cannabis also remains the most widely used drug in Europe. According to the EU Narcotics Agency, about 17.5 million residents of the EU member states between the ages of 15 and 34 were using cannabis last year.

And the amount of cannabis seized is already declining markedly - especially in North America, although it is still the largest number of other drugs.

Cocaine

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, in 2017 the cultivation of coca and the production of cocaine reached a record level of about 1.9 thousand tons (this is 25 percent more than in 2016). The amount of confiscated cocaine is also growing: in 2017, law enforcement officers from around the world seized a record 1,200 tons.

Cocaine use is gradually increasing in North America, Oceania and parts of South America, and could potentially increase in parts of Asia and West Africa.

In Western and Central Europe, cocaine has become the second most common drug after cannabis. In 2017, it was used by about 2.6 million people between the ages of 15 and 34. In terms of prevalence among European cities, Bristol, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Lisbon, Paris, Milan, Copenhagen and Berlin are in the lead.

The EU Narcotics Agency claims to "uberize" the cocaine trade - it is sold through applications for mobile phones, on social networks, on darknet marketplaces.

Opioids

A UN report describes the synthetic opioid epidemic in North America and Africa. Fentanyl is the key problem in America

reference

A synthetic opioid used in medicine for anesthesia and pain relief, such as cancer patients. Fentanyl is 25-50 times stronger than heroin and 50-100 times stronger than morphine. It is usually given intravenously, but it can also be smoked or snorted.

and its derivatives. In 2017, more than 47 thousand deaths due to an overdose of fentanyl were recorded in the United States, and four thousand deaths in Canada.

West, Central and North Africa are in crisis for another synthetic opioid pain reliever, tramadol. According to the UN, it is illegally manufactured in South Asia, from where it goes to Africa and the countries of the Near and Middle East. The report states that "tramadol has been used for its sedative and pain-relieving effects to improve mental, physical and work performance, as well as reduce the need for sleep and reduce appetite." The volume of tramadol seized worldwide increased from less than 10 kilograms in 2010 to 125 tons in 2017.

In Europe, opioids have a relatively small share of the drug market. The most common of these is the potent semi-synthetic opioid heroin.

Synthetic drugs

UN data show that use of synthetic stimulants such as amphetamine, methamphetamine and ecstasy is prevalent in North America, East and Southeast Asia.

A report from the EU Narcotics Agency refers to the growing role of Europe in the production of synthetic drugs. In 2017, 21 MDMA laboratories were dismantled in the Netherlands alone

Methylenedioxymethamphetamine is a semi-synthetic psychoactive amphetamine compound, the main ingredient in ecstasy. The production, storage, transportation and distribution of MDMA is a criminal offense in most countries of the world, including Ukraine.

compared to 11 laboratories in 2016. And the number of MDMA pills seized reached a record 6.6 million. The production of methamphetamine is concentrated in the Czech Republic and the border regions of neighboring countries. And its consumption increased in Cyprus, East Germany, Spain, Finland and Norway. It follows from the report that Turkey has become one of the main transit points for the distribution of synthetic drugs. They seized 8, 6 million MDMA tablets, 6, 6 tons of amphetamine, 658 kilograms of methamphetamine - more than in the entire European Union.

The situation is similar with new psychoactive substances - "designer drugs". If the global trend shows a decrease in the number of new substances discovered for the first time, then in Europe the opposite is true. In 2018 alone, 55 new psychoactive substances were first discovered in the European Union, bringing their total to 730.