New York: Twenty-seven years since its inception by the UN General Assembly International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is being championed with the theme ‘A message of hope: Drug use disorders are preventable and treatable’. The day observed on June 26 is to strengthen action and cooperation to achieve the goal of a society free of drug abuse.
According to the UNODC 200,000 people die every year due to illicit drug use. Currently world heroin consumption (340 tons) and seizures represent an annual flow of 430-450 tons of heroin into the global heroin market. Of that total, opium from Myanmar and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic yields some 50 tons, while the rest, some 380 tons of heroin and morphine, is produced exclusively from Afghan opium.
While approximately five tons are consumed and seized in Afghanistan, the remaining bulk of 375 tons is trafficked worldwide via routes flowing into and through the countries neighbouring Afghanistan.
The Balkan and northern routes are the main heroin trafficking corridors linking Afghanistan to the huge markets of the Russian Federation and Western Europe.
The Balkan route traverses the Islamic Republic of Iran (often via Pakistan), Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria across South-East Europe to the Western European market, with an annual market value of some $20 billion. The northern route runs mainly through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan (or Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan) to Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. The size of that market is estimated to total $13 billion per year.
It is necessary to mention here that jihadist, past and present, have financed their holy wars through this billion dollar market.
In Pakistan an estimate of 4.25 million people are considered drug-dependent according to the most recent report by the UNODC. In a country where almost a quarter of the population is estimated to be living on less than $1.25 a day, the barriers preventing access to structured treatment are exceptionally high.
In all, Pakistan’s illegal drug trade is believed to generate $2 billion a year. Peshawar is at the centre of this phenomenon due to its close proximity to extensive opium-poppy fields in the Afghan provinces.
However it’s not just the developing world suffering. Australia is facing a crystal meth pandemic, as arrests and seizures over illicit drugs reached an all-time high last year. During the financial year to July 2013, a record 101,749 arrests were made and there were 86,918 seizures of illicit drugs – a 66% increase over the past decade.
Police have previously said Australia’s wealth and the strength of the Australian dollar meant traffickers were pouring drugs into the country.
In 2007 and 2008, cocaine was used by some 16 to 17 million people worldwide, similar to the number of global opiate users. North America accounted for more than 40% of global cocaine consumption (the total was estimated at around 470 tons), while the 27 European Union and four European Free Trade Association countries accounted for more than a quarter of total consumption. These two regions account for more than 80% of the total value of the global cocaine market, which was estimated at $88 billion in 2008.
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