DRUG ABUSE
ACHARA ASHAYAGACHAT
Use of synthetic drugs is worsening in this region and other developing countries in East Asia and the Middle East, says the United Nations drugs agency. ''Asia, with its huge population and increasing affluence, is driving demand,'' said a report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
While demand for amphetamine pills and other stimulants had stabilised or even declined in North America, Europe and Oceania, it was growing in developing markets, the report said.
The world-wide market for amphetamine-type stimulants was worth US$65 billion. Once a cottage industry, the drugs were now big business in Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and Burma.
Worldwide, consumption of amphetamines, methamphetamines and ecstasy now exceeded that of cocaine and heroin combined.
Launching the report, UNODC executive director Antonio Maria Costa said that unlike plant-based drugs such as cocaine and heroin, production of synthetic drugs, estimated at 500 tonnes globally a year, was hard to trace since the ingredients were readily available for legitimate industrial purposes.
''When one lab is shut, another opens. When one type of precursor chemical is unavailable, producers switch to an alternative,'' Mr Costa said.
''This presents a challenge to law enforcement since production is so close to retail outlets. Therefore, greater emphasis should be put on prevention.''
In 2006, almost half of Asian countries reported an increase in methamphetamine use. Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) were falsely perceived as being harmless, he said.
''ATS is being used as a cheap and available tonic for our fast and competitive times _ for entertainment in discos [mostly in the West], and for greater stamina in assembly lines and behind a steering wheel [in the East].''
A new UNODC programme, Smart, would help governments fight the spread of the drugs, by encouraging pooling of information on ATS products, their use, and on trafficking routes
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