Vienna, 26 June 2023 (dpa/MIA) – The number of drug-takers worldwide rose sharply in the decade 2011-21, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The number of people taking drugs rose by 23% over the period to 296 million from 240 million at the start of the decade, according to the World Drug Report 2023 published late on Sunday.

UNODC believes that only half the increase can be attributed to population growth.

The report draws special attention to the rise of synthetic drugs, such as methamphetamine, fentanyl and a range of recently developed chemicals that have reached the market. It describes the manufacture of synthetic drugs as cheap, simple and quick.

According to the report, authorities are having difficulty tracing this extremely flexible sector of the drugs trade, as it is not linked to specific growing regions or cycles, by contrast with heroin and cocaine.

The UNODC discerns signs of a decline in opium production in Afghanistan under Taliban rule, but also notes that Afghanistan is not only the most important exporter of opium, the raw material for heroin, but has also become a major source of methamphetamine.

Declining opium cultivation could mean a shift in the direction of synthetic drugs, it warns.

The UNODC expressed concern at an increase in the manufacture and smuggling of synthetic drugs in Ukraine following the Russian invasion.

Photo: MIA archive