Production has «Climbed by almost 34%”in one year and the number of users has” increased from 17 to 25 million in ten years, “said the United Nations Office against Drugs and Crime (ONUDC). In 2023, 6% of the world’s population aged 15 to 64 consumed drugs.
The production, seizures and consumption of cocaine reached new heights in 2023 with an organized crime reinforced by crises, according to the annual report of the United Nations Office against drugs and crime (ONUDC) made on Thursday. “Cocaine is the market for drugs illicit who knows the strongest growth in the world ”estimates this body based in Vienna, Austria, in a press release.
Production, carried by an increase in the area of coca illicit crops in Colombia, has “Climbed by almost 34%” In one year, the seizures have “Increased by 68% over the period 2019-2023” and the number of users is “Past of 17 to 25 million in ten years”specifies the ONUDC.
Traffickers enter new markets in Asia and Africa and violence, “Formerly confined to Latin America”now extends “To Western Europe”according to the document, evoking “Hundreds of billions of dollars brewed each year”.
“Fashionable in the easier circles of society”
“Cocaine has become fashionable in the easier circles of society”said Angela Me, chief researcher of the ONUDC, noting a “vicious circle” increase in consumption and production.
The seizures of amphetamine type stimulants have also reached a record level, representing almost half of all seizures of synthetic drugs, followed by opioids, including fentanyl. “A new era of global instability has strengthened the power of organized crime and pushed consumption at historically high levels”deplores the Onudc.
The report also evokes the case of Captagon, the fall in early December of Bashar el-Assad in Syria in early December “Created an uncertainty around the future of this traffic”. The power of Assad, who had transformed the country into narco-etat, was known to produce this amphetamine derived from a drug supposed to treat narcolepsy or deficit disorders.
In 2023, 6% of the world’s population aged 15 to 64 had consumed drugs, compared to 5.2% in 2013, cannabis remaining the most consumed.
