Director-General/Executive Director
Mr. Chair,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is my pleasure to address you today to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking and launch this year’s edition of the World Drug Report.
At this pivotal time for drug-related challenges around the globe, governments and all stakeholders need to be equipped with data and evidence, to inform responses and galvanize action.
And that is the role of the World Drug Report.
This year’s report sends a clear message: the world drug problem is evolving in dynamic and dangerous ways, and vulnerable people are paying the price with their health and wellbeing.
Excellencies,
The synthetic drug trade continues to grow with fatal consequences.
These potent drugs can be made anywhere, and illicit manufacturing is growing in different countries across the development spectrum, while large-scale production remains a concern in areas facing governance and rule of law challenges.
Methamphetamine production in Southeast Asia is outpacing traditional opiates like heroin and opium.
Captagon is breaking seizure records in the Near and Middle East, while also converging with the methamphetamine market.
The illicit supply and use of ketamine is on the rise in its traditional markets, while diversifying into new regions.
And fentanyl continues to cause record overdose deaths in North America, while new synthetic opioids known as “nitazenes” are driving overdose deaths in some countries.
In parallel to the growing threat of synthetics, the supply and use of cocaine has reached unprecedented levels.
More than 2,700 tons of cocaine were produced in 2022, stemming primarily from Latin America, and the market continues to grow in Western and Central Europe, where we are seeing more use, more hospitalizations, and more fatalities.
And countries in Africa and Asia are also witnessing more cocaine use and related harms.
Meanwhile, the opium ban by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan succeeded in pushing cultivation down by 95 per cent, but it has been mirrored by a similar plunge in the income of farmers.
Whether it is plant-based or synthetic drugs, the illicit market is fueling instability.
We see it in the Golden Triangle where drug trafficking is converging with online criminality and financial fraud; in the Near and Middle East, where synthetic drug flows are linked with armed groups; in Latin America and the Caribbean as well as Western Europe, where cocaine trafficking groups and gangs are taking violence to a new level.
Excellencies,
As the drug trade shifts and grows, the consequences for public health are massive.
The latest data shows that in 2022, one in eighteen people around the world had used drugs in the past year, and around 64 million people were suffering drug use disorders.
The widening range of drugs on the market have encouraged people to use more than one drug at the same time, while new delivery and consumption methods are pushing young people towards more harmful use.
In addition, almost 14 million people injected drugs in 2022, with one in eight of them living with HIV, and almost one in every two of them living with Hepatitis C.
And the world drug problem continues to be characterized by inequality between those with the means to access help and those without.
As of 2022, only around 1 in 11 people with drug use disorders around the world received drug treatment, and coverage is even lower when looking at Asia or Africa alone.
The treatment gap also overlaps with gender inequality. Only one in eighteen women with drug use disorders receives treatment, with women continuing to face greater consequences for drug use and greater stigma and discrimination.
And just as access to drug treatment remains unequal, access to controlled substances for medical use is also sharply unequal.
87 per cent of the global population lacks access to pharmaceutical opioids for pain relief and care.
It is worth noting that in recent years there have been positive strides in removing some of the stigma and obstacles surrounding important drug treatment and care services, as well as making some specific controlled medicines more equally available.
But there remains much work to be done.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The evidence paints a picture of a swiftly evolving drug landscape problem that perpetuates suffering, disease, and death.
It underlines the need to fulfil the right to health of people who use drugs and of communities, including by ensuring adequate drug treatment is available to all.
It reinforces the importance of strategic responses that aim to disrupt the illicit drug market and target its big players, while helping the victims.
And crucially, it speaks to the importance of prioritizing prevention, to break the cycle of suffering caused by the world drug problem.
The theme of this year’s world drug day focuses on investing in prevention.
By investing more, we can prevent drug use by young people, prevent many overdose deaths, and prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
We can alleviate pain and loss today, while building resilience to the drug challenges of tomorrow.
At this year’s session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, I was proud to pledge UNODC’s commitment to step up our support to Member States on prevention.
And I was glad to see the that the CND continues to bring countries and stakeholders together to address common challenges and share experiences, as it is bringing you together today to discuss the World Drug Report and the importance of evidence.
I hope that this World Drug Report will provide strong incentives to invest more in prevention, and to adopt comprehensive responses that safeguard the health, safety, and dignity of all. And before ending, I would like to take this opportunity to express gratitude to our research and analysis team, led by Angela Me, to thank her and her team for their hard work on this report and for constantly innovating and bringing new topics to the discussion.
Thank you.
