SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2024
A report released by the United Nations Office on drugs and crime in Vienna has revealed many shocking facts. In March 2024, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna that synthetic drugs, or opioids, are the leading cause of death in the United States for people between the age of 18 and 45. According to a recently published report, 1.8 lakh people died worldwide due to overdose of synthetic drugs in 2022. Not just America, but Canada is also struggling with the problem of powerful synthetic drugs. The report has revealed the harmful effects of drug trafficking and the illicit drug economy in the form of instability, violence and environmental destruction.
It is a matter of great concern that the network of illegal drug trafficking is expanding worldwide. India’s security forces have succeeded in preventing the smuggling of drugs worth billions of rupees into India by sea, in the past few months. According to the report, the number of drug users rose from 240 million in 2011 to 296 million in 2021, a 23 per cent increase due to population growth. The report states that there are an estimated 219 million drug users in 2021. Marijuana is the most commonly used drug. While the majority of marijuana users globally are male (about 70%), women account for 42 percent of marijuana users in North America. It is estimated that in 2021, around 36 million people used amphetamines, 22 million used cocaine, and 20 million used a drug called Ecstasy. Female users account for a higher proportion of amphetamine-type stimulants (45 percent of users are female) and nonmedical use of the drug (45 to 49 percent of users are female), while the highest proportion of males are found among users of opium (75 per cent) and cocaine (73 per cent). Opioids continue to be the group of substances that contribute the most to fatal drug overdose harm. The report states that in 2021 an estimated 60 million people used opioids. About 31.5 million people used heroin. Most of these opioids have emerged as the most dangerous drugs.
Of all countries ranked for drug use disorders, 46 per cent reported hashish or marijuana use as the number one drug of use. Around 31 percent of countries report the primary use of opioids, mainly heroin. Thirteen per cent of countries reported the use of amphetamine-type stimulants, particularly methamphetamine, as number one. In most sub regions of Europe and Asia, opioids (synthetic drugs) are the most commonly used drugs. While in Latin America it’s cocaine, in parts of Africa it is hashish (cannabis) and in East and South East Asia it is methamphetamine. However, opioids remain the leading cause of fatal overdose deaths. Drug use disorders accounted for nearly 70 percent of the 1.28 lakh deaths in 2019. The report says that 13.2 million people were injecting drugs in 2021. This is an increase of 18 per cent from the United States and some other countries. North America, and now East and South East Asia, have the highest number of people who inject drugs. People who inject drugs are 35 times more likely to get HIV.
The WHO estimates that 23% of new hepatitis C infections are caused by unsafe drug injections. Overall, more than half of drug-related deaths are caused by Hepatitis C. If we look at all these statistics, we can see how drug addiction is slowly increasing all over the world. In developing countries like India there is a need to bring the youth, which are lost to drug addiction, to the right path. This course correction is vital as India is emerging as the country with the largest youth population in the world.
The Hyderabad police have already claimed that Goa is becoming a hub for drug supply in India. The anti-narcotics department of the Hyderabad police has also made a serious allegation that drug rackets in India are being run from Goa’s prisons. In such a situation, if an international tourist centre like Goa wants to wipe out this blot, it has no other option but for the government to act swiftly and with a heavy hand.
