Review of the UNODC World Drug Report

The annual publishing of the world drug report by the UNODC inevitably creates a surge of debate surrounding how best to analyse and deal with the global drug market and drugs trade. Although there will be some clear inaccuracies in how to data is compared between different countries when there are different methodologies involved in data collection, what the report does successfully do is allow the drawing up of global trends and patterns of the drugs trade.

There are a number of clear conclusions in the report which highlight significant developments in global drug trade and global consumption.  One of the most significant developments the report highlights is increase in the consumption of synthetic drugs (such as amphetamines and prescription drugs) over opiates and cocaine based drugs. The UNODC predicts that in a few years, the number of people consuming synthetic drugs will surpass cocaine, opium and heroin put together. The increase in synthetic drugs is particularly strong in Asia where increases in consumption rates are the highest. While in the UK for example, ecstasy consumption rates are decreasing, there has been a clear increase in other synthetic drugs such as the legal high phenomenon which the report fails to address and as such the synthetic drug consumption levels with high rates of “legal high” use should be taken with a pinch of salt

Another interesting shift the report highlights is the reduction in demand and use of cocaine in the United States. Meanwhile, cocaine use and demand in Europe has doubled. This growth in European demand has had clearly adverse effects outside of Europe.  One of the key impacts of the increase in demand in Europe is the establishing and entrenching of trading routes through West Africa which the report spends some time explaining. 

The establishing of new routes in West Africa by South American cartels is having a clear impact on consumption patterns in West Africa and can be seen by the increased levels of cocaine use among those in developing countries.  While cocaine use has greatly increased in West Africa, heroin use has also increased in East Africa. This, one can assume is the result of the wider availability of these drugs in these countries as they find themselves along growing trade routes towards Europe. Therefore while drug use in developed countries may be slightly declining on the whole, it seems new markets are developing for Heroin, cocaine and opium. 

The report also highlights the success in reducing production in certain countries, particularly Colombia which has seen a 28% reduction in coca production. It seems that the emphasis on highlighting reducing levels of production is an attempt to justify the overarching policy of the United nations in promoting the widespread destruction of coca and poppy fields and so on.  However, these reductions have simply been replaced by increases in production in surrounding countries like Peru and Bolivia, signifying a clear “balloon effect” where pressures in one geographical area merely disperses production to another area. This goes some way to explaining the rising influence of Mexican cartels over Colombian cartels  

Furthermore, the decline in drug production and drug use which the report trumps as successes, especially in the developed world, should not necessarily be seen as a victory. Rather, the problems that have been faced by developed countries are now being faced by developing countries that have far less resources to deal with the effects of increased consumption, like adequate healthcare and drug treatment services.

The report does however have some positive sections, such as the report highlighting that drug use and addiction should be treated as a public health issue rather than a law enforcement issue, something drug workers have been campaigning for, for decades. Although the United Nations have claimed that eliminating drug use has been their objective for decades, the elimination of production and the reduction in consumption has clearly been a failure. Levels of consumption have hardly changed; production levels may have declined for some drugs in some areas, but has increased for other drugs in other areas. The idea that treatment for addiction should be extensively expanded and that drug consumption should be seen as a public health issue rather than a law enforcement signifies a clear realisation of their failed policies over the last decade and is certainly a step in the right direction. It is a shame however that it has taken decades of enacting the wrong policies before they have realised the futility of their approach.