Meth Continues to Dominate Market for Amphetamine-type Stimulants

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - On 23 June 2016, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released the World Drug Report 2016. This report comes soon after April’s UN General Assembly special session on the world drug problem (UNGASS), a landmark moment in global drug policy which resulted in a series of concrete operational recommendations. The 2016 World Drug Report highlights support for a comprehensive, balanced and integrated rights-based approaches as reflected in the outcome document which emerged from the UNGASS.

During the launch of the report conducted simultaneously in Vienna, New York, and Geneva, UNODC Executive Director, Mr. Yury Fedotov stated that “the report also calls for development-sensitive drug policies that are environmentally friendly, gender sensitive, and ensure that "no one is left behind", including problem drug users.”

At the national briefing of the report held at the UN Office in Indonesia, UNODC Country Manager for Indonesia, Mr. Collie Brown delivered the report’s findings with a view on the national and regional implications.

In East and South-East Asia, there is large and growing market for both methamphetamine tablets and crystalline methamphetamine. In 2014, Crystalline methamphetamine was the primary drug of concern in Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines and the Republic of Korea, while methamphetamine tablets were the main drug of concern in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Thailand.

In recent years, there have also been indications of an increasingly diversified “ecstasy” market. The presence of different “ecstasy” products in the market is the result of different circumstances. In 2013, seizures of “ecstasy” tablets included new psychoactive substances were reported in China, Republic of Korea, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. While fatalities caused by “ecstasy” are generally low, consumption of high doses can lead to death as a result of direct toxicity or following hyperthermia and dehydration.

Cannabis, meanwhile, remains the most commonly used drug at the global level, with an estimated 183 million people having used it in 2014. By analysing trends over several years, the report shows that with changing social norms towards cannabis – predominantly in the west – cannabis use has climbed in parallel with higher acceptability towards the drug. In many regions, more people have entered treatment for cannabis use disorders over the past decade.

Highlighting the challenges posed by illicit drug use in South-East Asia and Indonesia, Mr. Brown emphasised the “importance of implementing drug response strategies and policies which are comprehensive and balanced.”

The report also includes new findings related to people who inject drugs (PWID). For example, the link between the use of stimulants (among them new psychoactive substances which are not under international control) and engaging in risky injecting and sexual behaviours which can result in a higher risk of HIV infection, is looked at. A report by the Commission on AIDS in Asia described one example in Indonesia in which HIV did not spread in the sex industry until a few years after it had reached a very high level among PWID.

Additional findings point to high levels of drug use in prison, including the use of opiates and injecting drug use. Prisons therefore remain a high-risk environment for infectious diseases, and the prevalence of HIV, hepatitis and tuberculosis among persons held in prison can be substantially higher than among the general population. The risk from overdose continues to be high among ex-prisoners particularly shortly after their release from prison.

The report notes that men are three times more likely than women to use cannabis, cocaine or amphetamines, whereas women are more likely than men to engage in the non-medical use of opioids and tranquilizers. Gender disparities can be attributed to the opportunity of drug use in a social environment, rather than gender being a factor determining drug use. Despite the fact that more men use drugs than women, the impact of drug use is greater on women than it is on men, because women tend to lack access to the continuum of care for drug use dependence. Within the family context, female partners and children of drug users are also more likely to be the victims of drug-related violence.

With 2016 marking the first year of the adoption of the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the report provides a special focus on the world drug problem within this context. In analysing these linkages the SDGs have been divided in five broad areas: social development; economic development; environmental sustainability; peaceful, just and inclusive societies; and partnerships.

TEMPO