Warning about the use of new stimulants

(Baonghean) - Recently, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) of the United Nations said that the number of cocaine users in the world is gradually decreasing, but the use of new stimulants is increasing alarmingly.

In its annual report, the International Narcotics Control Board said the number of people using new stimulants is increasing at an alarming rate and is becoming a global phenomenon. The INCB warned that this situation will “cause a more serious problem” for the health of people around the world.

INCB condemns the relaxation of cannabis laws by some countries in the Americas in 2014. Photo: AFP/Desiree Martin

As of October 1, 2014, 388 new stimulants were detected worldwide, an increase of 11% compared to 2013 and double that of 2009. Through rapid analysis in laboratories, studies show that new stimulants including synthetic cannabis and phenethylamine are not at levels exceeding the prohibition level set by many countries. These drugs are all openly sold on the market, especially on the internet, and continue to mushroom.

What is more dangerous, INCB said, is that “these substances are often presented as legal or natural alternatives to controlled drugs and are considered safe.” According to INCB, last year, 150 traffickers and hundreds of thousands of boxes of drugs, hundreds of kilograms of stimulants were seized in the US. It is known that the US is one of the 50 countries most affected by the above stimulants. The situation of new stimulants is spreading around the world and is becoming “more serious”. INCB's report also revealed that China is “one of the main sources of new stimulants” and this country is not exempt from the spiral of using new stimulants.

Despite the increasing consumption of new stimulants, the INCB also recorded a significant decrease in the supply of cocaine in South America in particular and in the world in general. The INCB assessed this as “a remarkable signal in the market believed to be the main consumer of cocaine in the world”. Accordingly, the INCB particularly welcomed Bolivia - a country that has reduced its cocaine cultivation areas to the lowest level since 2002 and 67 clandestine laboratories and nearly 6,000 cocaine production facilities were also closed last year.

However, the INCB remains concerned about the resurgence of opium poppy cultivation in Myanmar, as well as a 17% increase in opium production in Afghanistan, the world’s leading producer of cocaine. The INCB also condemned the relaxation of cannabis laws in 2014 in several countries in the Americas, including Uruguay, and several US states.

Chu Thanh

(According to Liberation)