Nitazenes, 500 times stronger than morphine, “have recently appeared in high-income countries, causing an increase in overdose deaths,” writes the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Expert Angela Me noted during a press briefing “the expansion of these very powerful opiates.” Coming mainly from China, they have been identified in the United States and Canada, as well as in Great Britain, Belgium, Estonia, Latvia and Slovenia. “It is the biggest threat currently,” commented the researcher, evoking a probable link with “the situation in Afghanistan”.
The world’s largest producer until the Taliban’s supreme leader banned poppy cultivation in April 2022, the country saw its opium production plummet last year, leading to a 74% drop worldwide. However, the UNODC fears that “heroin users are turning to synthetic opioids that pose serious health risks”, such as fentanyl, opioid substitution treatments (methadone, subutex) and now nitazenes.
In its annual report published earlier in June, the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) was also concerned about this phenomenon. For the UNODC based in Vienna, Austria, these substances, which are cheaper and easier to produce than heroin, are “particularly worrying”.
The organization also warns of the “continued growth” of cocaine, the supply of which has reached “record” levels in 2022, with more than 2,700 tonnes, or 20% more than a year earlier. It is increasingly popular in Europe and the United States, but also in “emerging markets” such as Africa and Asia.
Globally, nearly 292 million people used drugs in 2022, a figure up 20% in a decade, with cannabis remaining by far the most widely used drug according to the UN, which cites the possible impact ” harmful” of the legalization of cannabis on the American continent.
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