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The injection of substances of unknown quality is particularly dangerous (symbolic image)
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According to a UN report, the global number of drug users has risen by almost a quarter within a decade. In its annual report, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Vienna also expressed concern about the spread of synthetic drugs – and about trouble spots such as Ukraine and Afghanistan.
Between 2011 and 2021, the estimated number of people using illicit drugs grew from 240 million to 296 million. This corresponds to an increase of 23 percent. According to the UN agency, about half of this increase is due to the growth of the world's population.
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The number of people with drug-related health problems, such as addictions, increased by 45 percent to 39.5 million during this period. The UNODC warned against the proliferation of synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine ("crystal meth"), amphetamine ("speed"), the painkiller fentanyl and also against the many newly developed substances on the market. The production of synthetic drugs is cheap, easy and fast," it said.
This highly flexible sector of the narcotics business is more difficult for authorities to detect because, unlike cocaine and heroin, for example, it is not tied to specific cultivation areas and growth cycles. UNODC is therefore particularly monitoring the situation in Ukraine, where 79 amphetamine laboratories were shut down by the authorities in the year before the start of the war – the highest number in the world.
Trouble spots change the market situation
Since the Russian invasion in early 2022, the number of seizures of synthetic drugs in Ukraine has increased, while the market for such substances has grown in neighboring countries, UNODC chief analyst Angela Me reported. "This is a danger that we see as a consequence of the war," she said.
In Afghanistan, UNODC is observing 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 most important exporter of the heroin raw material opium, but has also become a major producer of methamphetamine.
The decline in opium cultivation could spur a shift towards synthetic drugs, UNODC speculates. In the past three years, Afghan methamphetamine has reached not only countries in the surrounding region, but also France, Hong Kong and Australia.
But the United Nations drug watchdogs are also concerned about the continued growth of the cocaine market: "In the global cocaine market, we are seeing a spiral in which demand leads to more supply, and supply leads to more demand," Me said. In 2021, a record amount of 2300 tons of cocaine was produced.
However, most cases of drug-related problems such as addictions continue to be due to opioids such as heroin or fentanyl, according to UNODC. For example, illegally produced fentanyl in particular has drastically changed the opioid market in North America and led to serious problems. In 2021, about most of the approximately 90,000 overdose deaths in North America were due to illegally produced fentanyl.
The report also addresses the increasing use of cannabis, according to which cannabis is responsible for a significant proportion of drug-related harm worldwide – which is also due to the very large number of users. In 2021, about 46 percent of individual countries reported that cannabis was associated with the majority of drug use disorders.
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About a third of countries said that cannabis is the main drug that is important for people undergoing appropriate therapy. Worldwide, however, only one-fifth of people with drug problems have access to treatment, according to the UN drug agency.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime was established in 1997 and is part of the UN Secretariat, the governing body of the United Nations. It is largely financed by the voluntary contributions of individual member states and provides analysis and research to support states in the fight against illegal drugs, organized crime, corruption and terrorism.
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